Two well-known Cobras – the first to race in the UK and the last to contest a World Sports Car Championship – are expected to take part in the Graham Hill Trophy for pre-'66 GT cars at the 73rd Members' Meeting this weekend (21-22 March).
The first – and older – car will be campaigned by owner Shaun Lynn, with a little help from former Le Mans-winner and star of last year's Gerry Marshall Trophy Emanuele Pirro. The ex-Willment 1963 Cobra was driven in period by Jack Sears, Ed Hugus and Bob Oltoff, and was built to race at Le Mans that year. '644 CGT' – which bears the chassis number CSX2130 – was an unused spare during that race, with sister car '39 PH' going on to finish seventh at the hands of Peter Bolton and Ninian Sanderson – albeit behind six Ferraris.
A rich competition history followed, with outings at the Nürburgring 1000km in 1964 and the Ilford Films Trophy Race at Brands Hatch in the same year before it returned to South Africa with Olthoff in 1966.
Photo credit: Fiskens
