Photography by Jan Morgan
Driver’s Notebook: Real Retro
August 1, 2005
Looking at the superformance Brock Coupe, it is hard to imagine that the body style dates back more than 40 years. This new rendition of the famous Daytona Cobra Coupe is not the usual retro-futurist impression of an old design, merely rendered to suit a modern mood. This Coupe is the work of the original designer, Peter Brock, and not so much a modern rendition, but rather the actual car that he had first outlined on a wall at the Cobra factory back in 1963. “I wanted to build more Cobra Coupes, with a modern chassis, but Ford went with GT40, ending the Cobra Coupe program,” says Brock.
The bricklike 1963 Cobra roadster didn’t have enough speed for Europe’s
longer, faster circuits, so Carroll Shelby allowed the then-22-year-old Brock to
design a new streamlined coupe body specifically for chasing the Ferraris and the FIA
GT Championship. The upshot was an unusual body shape, with a hump back,
chopped-off tail, and blunt front end with a tiny radiator opening. Although Brock’s
concept was not well received by the “aerodynamic authorities” of the time, Shelby
stuck with the young designer. He really had no choice; the racing season was fast approaching and there was no time to produce another prototype. Known today
as the Daytona Coupe, the car was devastatingly quick and immediately successful.
Only six of the coupes were built (all with slightly different rooflines) and, surprisingly, all have survived.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Unquestionably built for speed: The Brock Coupe will sprint to 60
mph in less than four seconds and its top speed bests 200 mph. (Click image to enlarge)
Though there have been several attempts to build Daytona Coupe replicas, most
are amalgamations of crew at the original body styles. When Jimmy Price, owner of
Hi-Tech Automotive, the South African manufacturer of the finely crafted
Superformance Cobra replica, approached Brock with the intent of producing an
exact replica of the race-winning cars, Brock was hesitant. “There were a lot of
compromises in those cars,” says Brock.
Brock’s reluctance to build a replica of the original hot, noisy, and cramped Cobra Coupe was understandable. Though successful at the time, the Cobra roadster was at best an engineering anachronism with its transverse buggy springs and antediluvian suspension geometry when Brock sketched the outline of the Coupe on Shelby’s shop wall. Brock knew that the 1964 racing car should reflect more modern thinking, but the limited time and budget had him applying his new aluminum wardrobe to that hoary Cobra chassis, rather than the wider, more rigid, coil-sprung underpinnings he had in mind.
Price agreed to build the Brock Coupe as it was originally conceived, using a wider, far more rigid chassis designed by former GT40 and 427 Cobra chassis engineer Bob Negstad. The passengers are positioned within the new chassis, which lowers the center of gravity and provides increased comfort and crash protection. Instead of the 15-inch wheels and tall tires of the ’60s models, the Coupe rolls on 18-inch center-lock wheels and low-profile, modern tires. An unequal-length double A-arm suspension takes advantage of the improved rubber and offers contemporary levels of road holding.
While ripping along a country road at over 100 mph in the new Brock Coupe, it
becomes evident that this yellow rocket is not a replica of anything, and
certainly not the 1964 racecar. Although the body design loudly echoes the 1965
GT champion, this is a new car, and a very special one at that.
Getting into the Brock is a puzzle for the uninitiated, for there are no external door releases. Entry requires the push-button immobilizer on the key ring to release the doors. Interior door-release buttons are on the center console, with manual door releases hidden under the armrests. Superformance plans to add external door release buttons in the near future.
advertisement
