Gentleman Tom Payne's Shelby Cobra factory team 289 roadster

An up-close look at a 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 Factory Team Roadster, & wild history & car story behind its origins with Shelby American driver, "Gentleman" Tom Payne.
- One of the most original 289 Competition Cobras
- 1 of 20 289 Cobra Roadsters raced under the Shelby American banner
- Raced as a factory team car by Shelby American in many races
- Restored by the highly regarded Cobra authority, Bill Murray
- Displayed at the Shelby American Collection for nearly 25 years
- Eligible for Tour Auto, Le Mans Classic, Goodwood Revival, etc
- Over 100 period photos and large archive of paperwork
- Previously owned by notable owners - Rick Nagel, Ken Eber, Steven Volk, and Larry Bowman, who are of the most astute Shelby connoisseurs on the planet
- One of only 38 factory-built 289 Competition Cobra Roadsters
Here is one of the rarest of all Cobras: a 'Factory-Prepared Full Competition Car', the latter being the designation of cars prepared to full-race specification by Shelby. Only 38 Factory 289ci Competition Roadsters were ever produced from 1962-1965 and have accounted for winning a substantial number of races all over North America backing up their reputation as a light, reliable, winning machine.
Of those 38, only 24 Cobra roadsters had raced under the Team Shelby American banner. This car was campaigned by "Gentlemen" racer Tom Payne and raced as a factory team car by Shelby American in many events.
Jacques Passino, vice president of Ford's Special Vehicle Division approved the build of the 1964 Competition Cobra for Tom Payne, Shelby American began work right away on the car with theunderstanding that it would remain the property of Ford. The Factory built the Cobra it into a factory-specification competition car with its equipment list including but, not limited to; hood scoop, chrome roll bar, 6�-inch Halibrand front wheels (8�-inch at the rear), flared wings, Koni shocks, front and rear sway bars, competition brakes, quick-jack points, side pipes, dual long-range fuel tanks, Monza snap-open fuel cap, racing seat, Sun tachometer, fuel- pressure gauge, differential cooler, oil cooler, electric Stewart-Warner fuel pump, and an aluminum Harrison header tank.
Of course, the soul of the roadster was a full race-specification 289ci V-8 that had Weber carburetors and 12:1 compression, which could deliver about 400 horsepower. Once completed the car was billed to Ford Motorcar Company and delivered to Detroit in late July. Under the ownership and sponsorship of Ford, Payne campaigned the car through the 1964-1965 seasons with many races as a Shelby American Team entrant.
Payne's debut race was at the Greenwood raceway USRRC event, and his first victory came less than two weeks later at Waterford Hills SCCA Divisional in August of 1964. The season consisted of; Lyndale Farms, the extremely dangerous Meadowdale USRRC finishing 3rd, Mid-Ohio USRRC finishing 3rd, Kent Fields and Greenwood SCCA with a 1st overall in both events. Tom finished off the season racing in the Nassau Bahamas Speed Weeks. Payne had a remarkable 1964 season in America, in which, every race that he completed resulted in a podium finish. Payne was able to capture, three 1st place finishes throughout the season.
Photos provided by:
Bahamas Speed week, book published by Dalton Watson
Lionel Birnbom
John McCollister
Alan Boe
IMRRC
Ron Lathrop
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