Feb. 28, 1965
The writing was on the wall for Ferrari right from the first race of 1965. Each of the four Daytona Coupes entered by Shelby easily out-qualified the lone Ferrari GTO. In fact, the only cars faster were the Shelby-prepared Ford GT40s driven by Bondurant/Ginther and Miles/Ruby, and a pair of Ferrari prototype class racers.
Day and night, the Ford-powered cars displayed exceptional reliability and speed. Between the GT40s and Cobra Daytona Coupes, Shelby owned the race from start to finish.
Jo Schlesser and Hal Keck, in Cobra Daytona chassis CSX 2299 bearing the number 13, drove a perfect race. In the final hours they passed the Cobra of Muther/Timanus to take first in class and second overall. By the time the checkered flag fell, the Shelby team had swept the first four places - GT40, Cobra, GT40, Cobra. The three Daytona Coupes also swept the GT class podium. Only one Coupe failed to finish the grueling 24-hour classic.
And so the Shelby Steamroller began...
