399: Inside the Snake Pit: A Shelby Cobra Walk-Through with Lynn Park
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Car
AC Cobra
The AC Cobra is a very fast and famous car from the 1960s. It was made in Britain but had big American engines, so it looks and drives like a muscle car.
Term
salvage titles
A label that says a car was written off by insurance and might have hidden problems.
Car
Daytona Coupe
The Daytona Coupe is a special, very fast version of the Porsche 911 car made in the 1960s. It has a lighter body and a strong engine, so people who like classic cars want it.
Part
Austin Healey wheel
This is a special kind of wheel that was made by the company Austin Healey. It looks different from regular wheels and was popular on old racing cars.
Part
gusset
It’s a small metal piece that makes the car’s frame stronger by adding extra support where parts meet.
Term
welds
It’s the spot where two pieces of metal are melted together to make a single, strong piece.
Car
Ford Mustang 1965 K-Code Convertible
It’s a 1965 Ford Mustang that can be driven with the roof up or down. The “K-Code” just tells you which version it is.
Car
Shelby Cobra
The Shelby Cobra is a famous racing car made by an American company that used Ford parts. It’s known for being fast and very light.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Corvette is a well-known American sports car that’s been made for many years. It’s famous for being fast and stylish.
Part
hoist
A hoist is a machine that lifts cars so mechanics can see and fix the parts underneath. Think of it like a big, strong crane that holds a car up.
Part
Daytona Cobra exhaust
The Daytona Cobra exhaust is a special set of pipes that lets the car's engine breathe better, making it faster and giving it a louder, more exciting sound.
Brand
AC Cars
AC Cars made small, fast cars in the UK a long time ago. They were popular with racing fans and collectors.
Term
FIA cars
FIA cars are special race cars that follow rules from the big international racing organization. They usually have extra safety parts and performance tweaks compared to regular cars.
Part
oil cooler scoop
An oil cooler scoop is a little opening that lets air cool the engine’s oil, keeping it from getting too hot when you race.
Term
dash configuration
The dash configuration is how all the gauges, buttons, and screens are set up inside a car’s front area. It can change how easy it is to see and use the controls while driving.
Term
racing seat
A racing seat is a special seat you find in race cars. It’s thinner and tighter than normal seats, so the driver stays put when the car turns fast.
Term
street seat
A street seat is the regular seat you sit in when driving a normal car. It’s more cushy and roomy than a racing seat.
Term
street legal
A "street legal" car is one that can legally drive on public roads because it has all the necessary parts and passes safety checks.
Concept
Road America
Road America is a famous race track in Wisconsin where many cars compete. It’s known for its long straight sections and fast corners.
Part
intake manifold
Think of the intake manifold as a pipe that sends air to each part of the engine where it mixes with fuel. It helps the car run smoothly and powerfully.
Part
glove box latch
The glove box latch is the little part that keeps your car's glove compartment door closed and lets you open it when needed.
Brand
Shelby American
Shelby American is a company that makes sporty cars and special versions of regular cars, like the famous Shelby Cobra.
Part
exhaust manifolds
Exhaust manifolds gather the hot gases from your car’s engine and send them out through the exhaust pipe. They help the engine run smoother and keep emissions low.
Term
motor oil
Motor oil is the fluid you pour into a car’s engine to keep everything moving without grinding or breaking apart. It keeps the engine parts slick and protected.
Company
Smith's gauges
Smith's makes the little meters you see inside cars that show speed, temperature, and other important numbers. They’ve been around for a long time and are trusted by many car makers.
Company
Stuart Warner gauges
Stuart Warner makes the little meters inside cars that tell you things like speed or temperature. They’re a different brand from Smith's and are also well respected.
Brand
Norton
Norton makes motorcycles, especially famous for their classic look and racing history. The speaker mentions parts from old Norton bikes.
Part
289
A 289 is a type of engine that was used in many classic American cars. It has a size of 289 cubic inches, which is about 4.7 liters, and it’s famous for being powerful and fun to drive.
LIVE
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you. If you're joining me this Thursday morning, it is Christmas Day and I am not home as it looks like on the video. I'm actually with family enjoying the holidays and I hope that you are doing the same as well. Now this is a fun, interesting, exciting episode because it kind of happens spur of the moment. I was out in California a couple of weeks ago and I had a chance to visit Jay Leno's garage, which is very cool and spent about an hour there getting a tour by one of his employees.
He was a guy named John who had been with him for over 30 years and it was a great visit. I was not able to take pictures except for one at the end and then as we were leaving, literally as we were, as I was grabbing for the door knob to leave, Jay walks in and he then proceeds to give us an hour and a half tour himself walking us through, showing us behind the doors, going to different areas where we weren't allowed before and so it was really, really a cool time.
It could have been longer but I had this next visit set up to Lynn Park. Now Lynn is a very notable Cobra owner and we had to leave Jay's because I had a visit set up with Lynn and I didn't want to delay that any further
and then when, as you'll see here in a minute, when I got to Lynn's house, I wasn't planning to be an interview but I just couldn't get by his first room with all the automobile and all the stories he was telling
and you'll see here in a moment that I asked him, hey, could I flip on the camera and put on a couple of microphones and we walk and talk and he was all for it. My buddy Todd acted as the cameraman and he did a wonderful job. So this is a spur of the moment, visit, spur of the moment, interview
and it just turned out absolutely fantastic. If you're listening audio only, I highly recommend you go to the YouTube channel so you can just see the scope of his collection really, really impressive. Whether you're an AC Cobra person or not, I think that you will be impressed.
And on another note, next week I'm making the big announcement. This is kind of the preview is I am publishing a book called The Enthusiast Guide to Collector Cars.
It's meant to be an entry point for new enthusiasts. I'm picturing my 15-year-old nephews who like cars but maybe they don't know what a brass era car is from a muscle car.
So much more to talk about next week, so be sure to listen to that. Until then, you can go to the collectorcarpodcast.com and get a sneak peek and see what the book is all about.
And you can pre-order one now and get that. It should be launched end of April. So before we visit with Lynn and see his incredible AC Cobra's, let's take a moment to listen to my sponsors.
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All right. Hey, it's Greg with the Collector Car Podcast. I'm incredibly excited to have Lynn Park with me, sir. You got some incredible history with AC Cobra. So thank you for being on the podcast.
Well, I appreciate it. I'd like to share my passion with anybody that will listen to me.
Well, so a little bit behind-the-scenes. This was not planned at all. I contacted Lynn yesterday. And then as I got here, I couldn't get out of this first room without him telling me so many amazing facts and stories.
I'm like, do you mind if I turn on the camera and throw on a couple mics? And he's like, yeah, sure. So I have not seen his collection. I haven't been beyond this room.
And so you're going to see it as I see it. But like I said, I can't get past this room first.
So if you want to tell me like kind of where did the love for Cobra has come from. You mentioned this magazine over here.
I'll tell you what, in 1962, I was a Ford Hot Roder. I had a 1956 Ford that I'd put a big Edsel motor into. And I had just gotten a 62 Ford 406.
I used to buy him at the wrecking guys. They were called theft strips. The insurance companies would total them. There were no such things as salvage titles in.
And I'd buy the car without a motor or without an interior. Put it back together and resell it and eat some money. So I had a brand new 62 Ford Hot Roder.
My sister's boyfriend was a sports car guy. He had a little lotus elite. And we argued back and forth, which is better handling or horsepower.
Well, excuse me. He came back one day from school and put this in front of me and said, here it is September 1962.
Has that been on that table since 1962? Just about. Just about.
In fact, you'll see him around the garage. These are my props that I used to explain my love for Cobra's. Well, I was a student at UCLA in Venice, where they built the Cobra's were very close.
So I went down to Venice and, well, luckily, I met Shelby and all these guys that were just getting started building Cobra's. And they saw my 62 Ford Hot Roder.
Oh, this kid's going to buy a Cobra. Not knowing I couldn't afford one. But they treated me so well.
So you were in Venice when they were putting these things together? Yes. Wow. I hung out there. I met a very good friend of mine.
I met a friend who became a very good friend there. And he got me more parts and information than I ever needed.
And it just went on for now. I bought an AC Aseka. Cobra's was $6,000. The Aseka was $1500. But it looked like it. It was the same type of car. I put Ford Motor Company motor in it.
And off I went, I had my own Cobra. And I'll tell you what, I had more fun. And then when I got out of the Army in 1969, I said, OK, now I'm going to find a real Cobra.
And I found one. It was wrecked in the front end, but not horribly. And I paid $2,100 for it. Fixed it up. Found another one for $2,000 apart. And just started going from there.
I have never looked back. I've never wavered off of the Cobra fanaticism.
So did you take the AC SEA to Shelby's Venice location? No. But Shelby and I were very good friends, probably because I lived here. He lived here.
And when he needed something, he called me. Link, can you do this? Can you do that? I stored his Daytona Coupe here for five years.
And whenever, of course, part of that was when he needed it for a magazine, he said, Link, can you take it here or take it there? And I did.
Where's that car today? I don't know who's got that one. One of six, right?
But I just had more fun with these cars. A lot of people come into a hobby, stayed for a while, and they're gone.
But with the Cobra, it's just I have never wavered. I just love the cars. And probably as much as the cars that love the people that are associated with them,
there's a bunch of nice, nice people that own the Cobra's and Shelby Mustangs as well.
It's not the Fufu guys that want to pad on their back for owning what they own. They don't know anything about them.
The Cobra people, for the most part, understand their cars and have a passion for them such as I do.
Yeah, absolutely. Well, like I said, I feel like I can't get out of this room because I look at the Hallibur and Wheels behind you.
I look at these incredible valve covers. I mean, those alone by themselves.
I mean, you got the tank up there. I'm just unbelievable. Everything you have in here.
Well, I don't collect per se. I accumulate and I like to put stuff on the shelf that I have.
So other people as well as myself can enjoy them.
We were at a fellas house one time and he had a collection of something. I forgot what it was. And he said, you want to see it?
And we said, yeah, and he pulled his drawer out and there was something in there. We marveled at it for a couple of minutes.
And door went shut. And that's the last we saw of it.
I'm kind of a clutter bug. And I've got stuff everywhere. But it's stuff that I enjoy seeing.
And for the most part, other people like some of it, they may say, oh, that's really neat or that's really neat.
I don't care about that one. But it's stuff up here. How many people see the picture of me and Linda Vaughn there and say, oh my gosh, that's Linda Vaughn right there. Yeah.
And tell us about the jacket to the right here.
Well, one of my good friends at Shelby, the fellow that helped me with the body and the paint on one of my cars.
And he was involved with Shelby heavily and worked there for a long time. He had that racing jacket and he said, I don't need it anymore. So he gave it to me.
And then Chuck and Helen Green were both employees at Shelby's and they were good friends of mine.
And my gosh, when anything neat came in, Helen would say, Linda, you need to buy this. She ran the gift store and the mail order department.
So that that cool brochure, which you can barely see on the bottom.
Down on the bottom down there. Yeah.
That is an original one from Venice back in 1963.
Oh my goodness.
Wow.
They've made reproductions out of them over the years.
But that was an original one.
And I'd just gone on and on and on and I said, you meet the nicest people in the cobra world.
Well, like I said, this is just the first room. Can you lead us back to whatever we got going on back here?
Because I know there's a lot of amazing stuff.
Well, there's pictures every place you go. There's pictures of me and Carol Shelby 30 years ago.
Wow.
And no matter where you look, the trouble is, now people give me something to hang on the wall.
You don't have any more wall space. You need more walls.
Please to put it.
Now, what's with the steering wheels here?
Well, those are just extra wheels that I've either worked on and are going to put on a car.
Are they real? Carver wheels?
Yes.
Oh.
Okay.
Well, people will see that center one, isn't that?
That's an Austin Healey wheel. It's very similar.
It was used on the Wormen sector cars.
Okay. So the very early cars, Wormen sector cars.
But the steering wheel was a little bit different. The cobra wheel came down like this instead of a little bit square.
This is a little thicker. The early cobra wheels, the Wormen sector wheels were famous for breaking right here.
You don't realize when you're driving a car, you don't do this as much as you do this.
Oh, wow.
And they all break right there.
So you'll see so many of them with welds there, or pieces that have added a gusset in here to strengthen it.
I got a 65 K code convertible.
So if you have any hypo parts for sale, be sure to point them out.
I will.
Excuse my messy.
I do a picture book every year and I've just gotten through.
Oh, yeah.
For the last 40 some years, I do a book every year of our events.
And it's a lot of fun for me to do.
And it's fun when people say, Lynn, what year was it when so and so went with us to the races.
And I dig back to my books until I find that event.
Right.
It was 40 years ago.
But we've got this group called the Wild West Racers that we formed in 1985.
And we've been fortunate enough to go all around the country,
adventure races, racing, cobras, Shelby's, Corvettes, there were six of us.
And we had different cars.
Yeah.
But we have had so much fun over the years doing just that.
We take off a load of big, big truck like a reliable, we use passport to haul our cars around.
And we go to three or four different places around the country, winding up at Monterey.
Oh, wow.
We've raised it Monterey for 44 years.
Oh, my goodness.
My two sons do it with me now.
And they're just, they have as much fun as I do.
That's awesome.
Great father, son, hobby, career.
It is good.
We haul our own cars.
Yeah.
We work on our own cars.
At the track, we check tires.
We don't have a crew.
It's just us.
Yeah.
And I think that makes it more fun when you're more aware of your own car.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
You know all the nuances with it.
Yeah.
Well, speaking of which, I see some cars through the doorway here.
Well, why don't you lead the way?
There's a couple in here.
I like how this is like a maze.
Well, you know, it's funny.
A lot of people will be in here and they'll say,
how do you get the cars in here?
Yeah, you hit the garage door.
Doesn't look like a door.
No, it doesn't.
So people are kind of fascinated with stuff.
And one of the things I like, if you look at the wall, which you can't really see for all the stuff on them,
that's all barn wood that I hauled from a friend's house in Colorado
and built the interior of the garage out of old barn wood.
Oh, wow.
That's amazing.
I like the way you decorate.
That's very cool.
Well, some people say it's way too cluttered.
They can't find anything but it's just what I like.
There's a hoist under the red car.
That's why it goes up tall there.
Oh, right.
Yep.
Wow.
To most of my own work, obviously I don't do body and paint work.
There's a fellow in Torrance, a Mike McCluskey, who is, I've known for 50-something years,
who's the best cober store in the world.
It's just so fortunate that I've been good friends with him.
And whatever I need done that I can't do, he can do.
He's amazing.
Well, now I don't want to take up too much of your time.
That's all I need you to talk about every car.
I want you to talk about like your favorite cars or one of the most significant history,
the ones you had the longest, whatever you want to talk about.
Number 97 is the 10th Cobra Bill.
10th Cobra Bill.
And I bought that in about 1971 for $2,000.
It was a part, but Mike restored that car.
And it's just the most fun car to race you can imagine.
Now, it looks like it has the Daytona Cobra exhaust.
I couldn't afford a Daytona Coupe, and I've always wanted it once.
We made this into our Cobra Daytona Coupe, a Daytona roadster.
So what was modified?
Would it have had the flared fenders and the roll bar and everything as such new or did you add that?
We added that.
It had the roll bar.
It was a race car when it was born, so it got beat up.
But we ordered a new body from AC cars back in 1971.
And I wanted the exhaust to look like that.
So Mike carved that in for me.
Wow.
And that's our Daytona Roadster.
The one next to it is one of the five FIA cars.
Wow.
And is it, has it been restored?
No.
Well, it's been restored.
It got wrecked badly.
Okay.
But that was 40 some years ago, almost 50 years ago.
So you can tell it hasn't been restored lately.
But you can tell from the road rash on it.
This has had a lot of vintage races.
I love this.
I love the patina on it.
Yeah.
And it's just belonging to a good friend of mine named Phil Gallant.
And he raced and won a lot of races with it and sold it to me about five years ago.
Explain what the FIA cars look like compared to the base cars.
Is that the roll bar, the flared fenders for the Choiti 9 cars?
It was that they built 11, what they call USRC cars.
Okay.
And they built five FIA cars to comply with different groups of rules.
Okay.
And the FIA cars were very similar, but the FIA cars had the oil cooler scoop on the bottom,
which the USRC cars did not have.
The flared fenders, it's got the bigger brakes, the roll bar.
A little different dash configuration than a street car.
Well, I love the patina on this thing.
This thing is amazing.
Yeah.
This is a good car.
289.
289.
Is this the factory seat set up?
Yes.
Okay, wow.
CD FIA cars had the smaller racing seat.
They came with a street seat, but everybody wound up putting one of these in it.
Okay.
Now, the left eye got all the stickers still on it from the historics and everything.
Yeah.
This car has done well.
Now, this is one of the earlier steering wheels?
No, this is a rack and pinion steering wheel.
The three spokes that they're angled instead of being straight.
And it's just got this in the middle instead of the horn button.
Okay.
And your horns to the side, that little button right there?
Yeah, that's on this car.
So this is hard.
I don't think it's got a horn.
Yeah.
You don't need one.
Wow.
And you look at number 16, that's another one of the five FIA cars.
Wow.
Now, if you'll notice, that was the first one built.
And it's front fender that the rules said that the front fender had to cover the tread of the tires.
Okay.
So you'll notice they built this little spat.
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
That was a pain to build that.
Yeah.
So the next, the first two had that.
And then the rest they built like this.
You'll notice they just took the front flare and build it out.
Yeah.
And added a little at the bottom.
So then all of a sudden it did cover the tread.
But that was just one of those little odd oddities of the FIA rules.
It had to cover the tread of the tire.
Wow.
The fender did.
Are all these real covers, or are there some like CSX 4000 series?
These, well the plaquen, all these are real except the yellow one.
Okay.
And the yellow one is a curcum.
Yeah.
And it's an odd ball because it's what they call it hybrid.
And but not in the sense of the word like it has an electricity to it.
Oh, sure.
It has a 289 body and a 427 chassis.
Oh, wow.
And it's got a 750 NASCAR motor in it.
Wow.
Okay.
Now what about the little black one right here?
That's a friend of mine 289.
He's doing some work in his garage and he asked me to store it for a while.
Well, he's in good company.
So yeah.
Right.
But these, I don't take these out very often except to race them.
Although I've got mufflers on them.
We can drive them on the street.
They're all street legal.
Let's go.
Except for the yellow one and this one.
That number 25 is a car that was raised by a fellow named Fritz Schiffmeier.
Back around the road America most of the time.
And my gosh, it was involved in a wreck at road America probably 15 years ago.
And they restored it and he wanted to sell it.
So I've had it since then.
How about this little red car?
This has got some nice patina on it as well.
This is a sweet car.
This is basically a street car that was turned into a race car when it was born by the owner.
Oh, okay.
Flared fenders but not flared radically like that.
It's just got these little lips on them.
It's got street interior.
The gauges are stock street stuff.
We have mufflers on it now.
It's just a nice car to race.
Wow.
So these are all 289 cars?
Yes.
Except for the yellow car.
Right.
Okay.
I can't help but notice all the crazy stuff on the walls.
I like the car setup there.
The intake manifold.
Those factory cobra things are aftermarket forward?
Yeah.
I think those are both original cobra ones.
I got a buddy of mine called me and said, I need a dual quad setup quickly.
So I had a friend that would sell it to me.
I bought it and then my friend said, oh, I don't need an after all.
So I haven't resold it yet.
Wow.
I'm kind of a parts junkie.
I was in the wheel business.
I made cobra wheels for a long time.
And when people come to me with parts and wheels for sale, I can't say no.
I can see why.
They know I'm a sucker for all that stuff.
What are maybe some other rare parts I might be looking at right now but I just don't recognize them.
Well, what's fun about a cobra is that they use parts from all cars that were made in England.
Yeah.
This latch right here, that's a 48 anglia, is what that's from.
And I see used on a lot of other cars besides a 48 anglia and a cobra.
If you look at the glove box latch on this car, that's a 1955 Nash Metropolitan.
Okay.
Right here.
That little latch.
Yeah.
And they are hard to find.
If you're restoring a car or building a replica, you want it to look real.
And those little devils are hard to find.
And I heard that sometimes depending on when the car was built, half of the screws and bolts might be metric
and the other half might not.
Not metric, but witworth.
Witworth, okay.
Which is English.
Yeah, they're just AC cars was not general motors or Ford Motor Company.
Yeah.
Uniformity hadn't been or that word hadn't been invented yet.
They used whatever they had.
If you took an early 289 cobra and then a middle one and then a late one and started comparing little things on the cars.
You see, wait a minute.
This is different than this car.
They changed as they went.
I mean, little things like on the hood latch.
These things started off.
I don't have one hand here.
It was a little thing to call a toilet seat.
It was just a little flat that came up.
But it was dady and round people would pick it up and break it.
So that didn't work for very long.
The next thing they went to was just a teardrop shape piece.
But it was slippery.
You'd pick it up and it would slip off your hands.
So then they came up with these.
And that's on most of the cobras.
So you see one that's an early call with a little toilet seat.
And you see one on what's the deal with that.
And then you go to one with got the teardrop and you pick it up and it slips out of your hand.
And you say, okay, I know why they got rid of that.
Yeah.
And then...
Yeah, let's look at those engine bags.
Oh, look at that.
These little pieces here on...
I don't know what the number is.
Nobody knows for sure.
They changed that.
For some reason it was breaking.
Now they've got a little piece that comes down like that about the same width.
Who changed the shape of the hood prop rod?
Now, isn't it true that the vent is stamped also up here on the hood?
On the driver's side of the hood, yes.
And then it's also what on the door hinge?
On the door on the rear trunk latch as well as...
Down here on the frame.
On an ARM, yeah.
Yeah.
And then...
Oh, sorry.
People see this little tag, a ventag.
And then they go to an early car, 2200 and earlier and it's not there.
Yeah.
They didn't put that ventag on until...
That really scares people.
Is it real?
Yeah.
Now, did the FIA notice...
This is for...
If I correct my firm wrong here...
But is this for like, luggage?
Yes.
A little bump out and this only FIA cars?
The FIA had a rule to race in the GT class.
It had to hold this trunk.
Like a briefcase or something?
Yeah.
It was a chunk of wood.
And so they got to the first race.
I think it was Charger Florio.
And it went to put that in and it closed and trunk and it wouldn't close.
So they took a hammer out and banged it.
So it did close.
And that's where the five FIA cars have those little dimples.
So all five of them have those little dimples.
Oh, that's cool.
Now, does that have anything to do with the movie Four Vs Ferrari
where Christian Bales' character was hammering the trunk deck out?
Is that...
That was to do that.
Okay.
Is that a true story or is that totally made up?
That's true.
Is it real?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Well, everybody says that movie's so fake.
It's got to hear something true on it.
Well, that movie was fun.
They called me to help them with it.
Yeah.
And I got to go out and, quote unquote,
teach Christian Bale how to drive a cobra.
Right.
And it was fun.
And he was such a nice guy.
But I was out there with him.
Because they filmed a lot of it at Willow Springs.
Yeah.
And it was so fun to just see the stuff they bring into film
or movie.
Like, gosh, they've got more food trucks and people around
and you can ever imagine.
Yeah.
But it was fun to be involved with that movie to the extent I was.
Did you have any of the craft food services?
Some of the food there?
Yeah.
All right.
Cool.
Yeah.
I was like an employee out there was going around and helping
and eating and it was fun.
Well, is there a, I don't want to leave this room yet.
But are there other cars we need to see somewhere else?
There is another car you should see or two.
All right.
Let's look at the wall here again real quick.
I'm sorry.
I just love little.
I just noticed this.
Like this career.
This looks like an old what's the story on anything special
about that or any of this cool stuff on the wall here?
That was a very early Shelby American employee reunion party
we had.
And those of us that were involved, they made those tags for us.
But I did not work at Shelby.
I was there so often that I got invited to all their Shelby reunion,
all their employee reunion parties.
Because when I was young and first involved I was at their shop three or four days
a week.
Wow.
And they thought I worked there.
I mean, just all these little pens.
Oh, so much cool stuff here.
Yeah.
It isn't something you just overload.
It's 50 years or 60 years.
I've throwing stuff on the wall and just.
Have you had any of his chili and do you like it?
Yes.
It was good.
Carol Shelby chili.
It was good.
Okay.
I want to eat that though.
Pardon?
I want to have that though.
Yeah.
Wow.
Now I notice she has some more.
Are these center steering wheel centers here?
Yes.
Those have got to be a rare fine, right?
Well, they're all over the place.
And when I get one that I'm not using again instead of throwing them all in a drawer.
I just stack them up here.
Somebody will call you one day for one.
Oh, I love the AC cover pedal up there.
Yeah.
Wow.
So much cool stuff.
So you're still on the lookout for stuff?
Not as much.
I'm trying to be happy with what I've got.
I don't have plans to sell anything or buy anything.
Yep.
The ones I've got keep me busy.
We're racing enough that it keeps me busy keeping all of those running and just.
Just enjoying them.
Yeah.
You need to get to the racetrack and find out you've forgotten to do something that you should have done a month ago or a year ago.
Yeah.
But my younger son races this one.
And my older son races 97 and I race 16 or number 12.
Must be something else to see them all out there together.
It is a lot of fun.
Yeah.
And we try even though the kids have gotten to be significantly faster than I.
We try to run a lap or two together.
So when people are taking pictures.
Yeah, I get at least one or two pictures.
We're good.
All three of us together.
Which is kind of fun.
I like your 63 championship poster up there.
Yeah.
And that's.
You need to get that taught.
That's a real one.
Okay.
So.
Well, take us to the next.
The next car here.
Come on over.
Oh, that's a good question.
Yeah, here's here's a picture of the three of us at Monterey.
Oh, cool.
Oh, wow.
That's cool.
So now when will you be at Monterey this year?
Yeah, we go our first events in March.
Okay.
And the big events in August.
Yeah.
And the other one we're going to probably do in June.
Okay.
But.
Did you do velocity?
Is that the velocity?
Invitational?
No, that.
That is at our cup of tea.
They're.
They're aimed at more of the foofoo end of stuff.
Gotcha.
And the velocity just.
They've had it.
We've raised to them once.
When does it matter?
And now they've moved it back to Sears Point.
Okay.
And that isn't our favorite track.
So quick question.
Are these AC cover a stir or warner gauges?
Yes.
I had to spell the myth.
I had it in my newsletter recently.
I had thought and was told by a cover expert that they did not have the tenths of a mile.
But you're saying it was some did some didn't it?
Some did.
These are actually not original cobra ones because they don't have as many little marks between the miles.
All right.
All right.
Cool.
All right.
Just about the time you come up with a theory about something being the same on every car.
It's not.
Yeah.
So you just have to make yourself open.
There's just a couple of cobra jacks.
I'm another.
Another thing.
A lot of cobra jacks.
That's what those are.
Yeah.
Wow.
Look at these pictures.
These are real cars.
Uh-huh.
Wow.
Dennis.
I like this picture.
Shelby with one of 66.
Yeah.
Shelby.
He was going to build some more.
Is it convertible?
Convertible.
Yeah.
And I forget what year it was that he built six more.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like a 1990 or something.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So there's four of those real ones.
And two of them I saw on one collection.
The brother's collection up in Oregon.
Oh, yeah.
They have quite the cover collection.
Oh my goodness.
There's more than one car here.
Wow.
Holy guacamole.
All right.
I thought you said one car.
Well, there's everybody likes one different one.
Somebody comes in and they say like the maroon one.
Somebody else said, oh, I like the drag car.
This is one of five drag cars that Shelby built.
So we're all drag cars, 289.
Yes.
Okay.
Because one of the cars I mentioned earlier,
supposedly is one of those.
I want to talk to you about that.
Well, it could have been a drag race 427.
But it was not one of the five original drag and snakes.
It's a 289 car.
Oh, it is.
Yeah.
I'll show that to you.
Okay.
So tell us the drag and snakes.
They were purposely built to go on drag race.
Just to go drag racing.
Wow.
They only built five.
And this one, the fun story about this car is
it belonged to Carol Shelby.
Hmm.
And it was rough.
And everybody was trying to buy it from him to fix it up
and flip it.
So he knew I was a drag racer.
So he said, Lynn, I'll tell you what.
I'll tell you this car, which you can't sell it.
Hmm.
He said, I want to use it for the employee reunions
as a centerpiece, which we've done.
And so I restored it and just made it be the way it is.
Wow.
The way it was.
But the beauty of it is, too.
I've got the original pink slip from Carol Shelby.
Oh.
Everybody says, oh, yeah.
Shelby owned all the cars.
No, Shelby American owned them all.
Carol Shelby owned very, very few cars himself.
So for my hypo Mustang, I need this part.
I need this part.
I need this part.
I don't have the big.
Wow.
Yeah.
This is kind of a demonstration.
This is a, the way a cobra, an early cobra motor looked.
Wow.
The headers are interesting.
Yeah.
See, those are 289.
Those are weird.
Street car headers.
Really?
Okay.
Or exhaust manifolds.
Yeah.
Wow.
Very cool.
Well, it's fun.
You know, a lot of people in the neighborhood know me.
And I had this one little group of cub scouts over learning
one of their little merit badges was still learning something about cars.
So they came over and I was explaining motor oil to them.
And they had no clue.
So I had a pan with some of the gears in it.
And see how sticky and slippery it is.
That's how you learn.
That's what makes stuff not break.
You put motor oil in it and it slips and showed them how it worked.
And one little kid was able to look at it.
And I said, you know, you know, how do you check the oil on a motor?
Of course, they didn't know.
No, I had no idea.
I pulled this out.
Showed them how it worked.
Put this back in.
And I said, you kids know what that's called.
And of course, no one did.
And I said, that's a dipstick.
And the one little kid raised his hand and said, oh, that's my nickname.
But I have a dipstick.
It's so much fun.
So many people, even a lot of the adults, they don't know what a transmission looks like.
Right.
And here you can see transmissions and bell housings.
And you talk about side draft webbers and sporting flamethrower ignitions.
Like the end motor down there has.
And people don't know what that stuff is.
No, you're right.
Yeah.
So.
What's up with the Daytona Cobra?
That's a replica.
A very good.
It's aluminum replica.
It is aluminum.
It's a very good.
Wow.
Who built it?
The Sherry Hawkridge back in England.
He has a place called Hawk Cars.
And very, very well thought of building replicas.
And it's aluminum.
It is.
Yeah.
Mike McCusky built the first one for me back.
I got the car in 73.
I think it was.
It had been in a fire.
Wow.
It was one of those silent auctions.
The police department was at my house before the car was delivered.
And they said, we know exactly why you bought the car.
You bought it for the title.
You're going to steal a car and use the title.
Wow.
We just want you to know we're onto it.
I said, well, that's not the case.
Well, we know it is.
So I took a lady and two guys playing clothes.
Took him down to Mike McCusky's shop and showed him what could be done.
Yeah.
And it was fun.
So we built not this car, but we built one that my gosh, that was, took us 20 years to do it.
Yeah.
Because it was not high in the priority.
But Mike and I built a buck for the car.
And it was, it was perfect.
Well, in this time, I chose the exhaust down there that was on the other cobra.
This is the Daytona exhaust I mentioned earlier.
Very cool.
It can integrate it like that.
And just, I just left seeing these old tires and wheels, halibrand displays around.
Just really incredible stuff.
Is this like one of the original wire wheels from a cobra display?
That was what covers street covers came with.
It had white walls.
They all had the white walls.
735, 15, good year.
And believe it or not, if you had a set of those today, still mounted original tires like that,
you could probably get 20 grand for them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because the guys restoring cars, and they don't make that tire anymore.
Wow.
Now, tell us which cars in here are, would be real AC carbors.
I'm going to guess that that's one.
Is that true?
Yeah, you probably would be right.
Is that your first one?
No.
No.
That is a car we lovingly call dirt bag.
It's awesome.
And it was bought by a dirt pack.
Fred Offenhalzer of the Offenhalzer family.
Oh, yeah.
And he bought it in 75.
No.
In 69, excuse me, in 69, hence the V on the license plate.
Okay.
And he drove it till 75 and something went wrong.
And he doesn't remember exactly what it was.
And threw it under a blue tarp in his backyard.
Wow.
And everybody knew it was there.
I mean, it wasn't a secret.
People tried to buy it.
And his wife and him said, no, get away from me.
Finally, in 1995, a good friend of mine visited and brought his trailer with him.
Talking about optimism.
And they sold him the car.
Wow.
And he said, brought it over here.
And he said, man, I want to make a race car out of it.
And he said, man, first of all, it's too much work.
You've got to find a race car.
And so I did some horse trading with him.
And I wound up with the car.
Wow.
And I had just gotten it.
And we had a big cobra day at the Peterson Museum.
We had all, it's 68 original covers.
And Carol Shelby was there.
And he was standing with me by this car.
And people are all over looking at cars.
And he said, man, there's nobody looking at the shiny ones.
They're all looking at this.
And he called it some sort of bad name.
And he said, you got to leave it alone.
So I said, you know what?
That's a thought.
It's so free.
And Patina frees the soul.
Well, and I've not even had the motor out or a part.
I put a wrench on it, made sure it turned over.
It wasn't frozen.
So.
It's interesting it has a clock.
That was an option, wasn't it?
No.
They all came with clocks.
They all came with clocks.
Yeah.
And see what's funny.
The first 200 cars came with Smith's gauges.
Hence a Smith's clock.
Hmm.
After serial number 2200, they all came with Stuart Warner gauges
and a 62 galaxy clock.
Now it's interesting.
This one doesn't have the tenths in the odometer.
Yeah.
It might be that it's black.
Okay.
See, a lot of them had had the tenths work on a white background like they are.
Yeah.
My sister had that qualifier on her pencil and elementary school.
Oh, really?
The same exact one.
I think I got that from Cleo Shelby.
She brought some friends over one day and we're giving right to you.
Here's a little good luck piece for your car.
Here's what I love.
Look at all the registrations.
Yeah.
On there.
That's like half an inch thick.
Yeah.
It's um.
Wow.
Little, little things like that.
I love this car.
Oh my gosh.
This is, well, this is one that you can't recreate what you can recreate.
But it's obvious original, but it's just smooth, quiet thing to drive.
When my son's and I, when they're over here on the holiday season,
so we take different cars out and drive them around and groups and come back and compare notes.
And this little one and this maroon one are two of the absolute favorites
because they're just the way they were made.
Yeah.
We haven't done what most of us do and that's put a 500 horsepower motor in it
and go to louder mufflers.
That's what I hate is that you get stuff that massive engine.
You put cobras all over to place, little logos and decals and it's just um.
We have a lot of fun with these cars.
Wow.
Now are those unrestored cars back there?
Yeah, look at these.
Holy cow.
There's a restaurant up the road here about 40 miles called Newcombs Ranch
which is hanging out for car guys.
And we'll take this one or this one or dirt bag.
Wow.
I just love patina cars.
But this one is called son of dirt bag.
Son of dirt bag.
But it's a curcum.
SODV.
Oh, it's a curcum, really?
Yeah.
I had more fun.
Wow, this has a ton of patina on it for being a curcum.
I had so much fun.
I built these two cars myself.
Wow.
I had David Widener got me the cars and the paint in it.
But I had him paint them with a flattening agent and then I put some rock chips and different things on them.
Are they aluminum?
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah, all curcums are aluminum.
Okay.
They're still doing it that way.
Yeah.
Good.
And what's the beauty of it is the frame on a curcum is exactly the same as a cobra.
I mean, not just close.
It's exactly the same.
So my, my, in college, my sister's roommate, her dad passed away and he had two cobras and they were auctioned off.
This is early 1990s.
Curcum bought them both.
Sold one and kept the other one as the buck, styling buck for his very first curcum.
Mm-hmm.
And I ran into a son and McCacken, like two weeks ago.
And I, I guess I had sold the cars at some point.
But still, it was a cool story.
He did confirm all that.
Which is cool.
Oh, that's good.
Yeah.
But to do a good, what do you want to call a replica like this?
Yeah.
You need things like seats, dash, steering wheel, gauges.
The things that people see, you gotta make them right.
Gotta make them right.
You're waving a flag that it's a replica.
Now, is that a 427 car?
Yes.
It is.
Okay.
Cool.
But even, I mean.
I went to the toilet.
Oh, my gosh, you patinaed the engine back.
Making the engine look old and busted.
Wow.
My buddy needs one of those.
Wow.
That is amazing.
Well, what else did you want to talk about here?
Is that your little AC up there in the corner?
Is that the one you've had since 16?
That's one just like it.
I sold that when I went in the Army.
But I bought this one in 1990.
And put a Ford motor in it.
Those are pretty rare, aren't they?
Yeah, they only built 350 of them.
Wow, okay.
And some of those were right-hand drive.
That's a beautiful little car.
Well, it is a nice car.
Here's it.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
Here's the toilet seat that I'm talking about.
Oh, yeah, okay.
And the trouble is people would pick them up and...
Yeah, right off.
Yeah.
So...
Wow.
This is a lot to take in.
Kind of gracious.
And this is another sweetheart.
I put a five-speed in this one.
Oh, I bet this is a great driving car, right?
Yeah.
It's just...
It's a sweetheart.
And yet I left the interior looking like an AC.
Yeah.
So many guys take their AC and put great big wide wheels and flared fenders.
This one...
This one fools everybody.
Are those all real body panels up there on the wall?
Mm-hmm.
Wow.
I've won the door prize at certain events.
Now, what's up with this artwork here?
George Martel was an artist that worked for car and driver magazine
and all kinds of other people, as well as Carol Shelby.
And he, a friend of his, came into his office and said
how long is that piece of paper that you're painting on?
A lot of those paintings are around the room of his.
And he said 32 feet long.
And the guy said,
have you ever thought about doing a mural all 32 feet on one piece of paper?
And George Martel said,
I could do that.
And that's the result.
That's amazing.
Well, he did it for a fellow.
It hasn't museum in Orange County,
but the guy never paid him for it.
Oh, wow.
So when a Shelby's birthday, he said,
let's get that thing back.
And let's put it on display.
Well, since the guy never paid for it, we just kept it.
And I bought it.
Okay.
And we put it up here.
When I built this part of the garage,
I said, I need 32 feet with no windows on it.
Ah, he probably thought you were crazy.
But when George Martel painted a painting like Shelby
or Phil Hill, whoever...
I mean, it looked like the guy.
Oh, it's fantastic, yeah.
You didn't have to guess as to who it was.
It's Charles Shelby or Phil Hill or Bob Bonderon
or Andrea D. Whoever it was.
He was just the best.
Now, what about the last car here?
It has some interesting colors on it.
What's the story of Kirkham?
Yeah, that's a Kirkham.
And back in the 20s and 30s,
the Model A's had a color combination of Washington,
blue, Tacoma cream wheels.
And a friend of mine, back in Colorado,
AC, he had done like this.
And I thought that color combination is so good.
And being a UCLA guy,
kind of UCLA colors too, the blues a little dark.
But see, this car, if you were a cobra owner
and you're over here looking at this,
you're not going to be able to tell if it's a real one or a replica.
The little thing, the seats are right,
the seat belts, the dash, the shifter,
little things.
This is a very, very difficult piece to find.
Not so much the cap itself, but the one with this little round tab on it.
Those are old Norton motorcycle pieces.
Oh, my goodness.
And most of them just have a square, a rectangular piece here.
But the early ones had that.
At 289 Cobra has that kind of a gas cap.
A 427 has the rectangular piece.
Oh, wow.
Well, this is just incredible.
Do you have any Cobra's in the barn out back or have we seen all of them?
This is it.
This is it.
This is it.
Wow.
Was there anything else you wanted to cover while we are in this particular round?
The little things.
Look at the license plate on this one.
Oh, yeah.
I do it yourself for 27.
Oh, that's funny.
I bought that plate on eBay a bet 40 years ago.
Oh, my goodness.
California black plate, too.
And I said, somebody is going to want this plate.
Well, turned out it was me, me when I bought the, when I decided to build that car.
Little thing.
Look at the wheels real closely on this side where you can see them in the light.
Oh, yeah.
Those are used wheels.
They spent, I don't know how many months underwater.
A car was stolen.
And when they recovered, of course, the wheels were junk.
Nobody wanted them.
But I said, you know what?
I do.
I'll use those somewhere.
I had those in storage.
I'll bet 30 years before I used them.
Wow.
But on this car, they're perfect.
And believe it or not, they hold air.
Because when the car was stolen, all the tires were on.
And they didn't collapse.
So no water got onto the inside part of the wheel.
Yeah.
Where air goes.
Yeah.
Any of the helibrands ever magnesium?
That's what these all are.
They are all magnesium.
Yeah.
But here's another.
Wow.
Nicely patinaed.
Wow.
So what year was this car built?
I did this about, I'd say, seven or eight years ago.
Okay.
Yeah.
Looks like a fun ride.
It is.
But like most of the cars, it's a little too much motor.
Yeah.
You can't help yourself.
I've got to have a 289 for sure.
Yeah.
Well then, thank you for the impromptu tour.
This is more than I ever expected.
Well, I enjoy showing off the cars that I have to people that appreciate seeing them.
Yeah.
Some people, they can't get past the walls.
And they don't interested in the cars.
They look at the cars for a few minutes and then water up.
When I told you, I did picture books every year.
There's albums that I have for the last 40 years.
And then the earlier ones, when I didn't label what year they're from.
Wow.
Wow.
Absolutely.
All these paintings are George Bartel paintings.
He and I were very good friends and when someone would come to him and commission a painting.
Sometimes he would do two or three and give them their choice.
And he'd give me the leftovers that nobody wanted.
Oh, nice.
So I've got some pictures that don't mean much to anybody.
But they cover the walls well.
Yeah.
Well, thank you so much, sir.
Well, I am glad you enjoyed it.
That was absolutely fantastic.
We have a lot of people like to come and visit the garage.
Yeah.
People that like cobras.
And even someone that doesn't like a cobra, they come in here.
I'll tell you what's fun.
Come over here.
When I have a group of people, especially if there's some girls in the group.
Uh-oh.
You scared them?
Yeah.
I start one of these forms.
I said, this is how a cobra was born.
And they start to burn or just purrs a lot.
Yeah.
And then I come over to El Sid.
Oh.
We got to get this.
This is, um...
Oh.
This is what we wind up doing to the motors in most of them.
We're an awful lot of them.
Oh, see if it's going to start.
No.
Wow.
Yeah.
That's um...
a good motor.
But it's fun.
The difference between a stocked little quiet car and this one.
Yeah.
What does it say?
That was here.
His dad sitting on that bench over next to my mother-in-law there.
And we started this thing.
And I swear he was off the ground and running at the same time.
That's awesome.
Wow.
What did this do in the quarter mile?
This was a 10-88 in the quarter mile.
128 miles an hour.
Which is really good.
I ran in the drag races in the 60s.
And I had turned 1155 at 122,
which is really good.
I beat most of the cobras that I raised.
Yeah.
But this one just, it was the fastest of the bunch.
Well, thank you so much.
I will be sure to look you up at Laguna Sec.
Monterey car week, right?
About this episode
A spontaneous visit to Lynn Park's impressive Cobra collection reveals a wealth of stories and history surrounding the iconic AC Cobra. Lynn shares his journey from a Ford Hot Rodder to a passionate Cobra enthusiast, detailing his friendships with Carroll Shelby and the unique aspects of his collection. The episode features an in-depth walk-through of Lynn's garage, showcasing rare cars, parts, and memorabilia, along with insights into the Cobra community and racing experiences. This engaging conversation highlights the personal connections and memories tied to these legendary vehicles.
Original notes
In this special walk-and-talk episode of The Collector Car Podcast, I'm joined by Lynn Park as we move through his incredible Shelby Cobra collection. Recorded on location, the conversation unfolds car by car—covering history, originality, racing lineage, and what separates truly special Cobras from the rest.
As we walk, Lynn shares insights gained from years of collecting, restoring, and living with these cars, offering perspective you only get from hands-on experience. This episode is less about specs and more about stories, stewardship, and why Cobras continue to sit at the very top of the enthusiast hierarchy.
A must-listen for anyone who appreciates provenance, authenticity, and the magic that only a Cobra can deliver.
#TheCollectorCarPodcast #ShelbyCobra #CobraCollection #CarCulture #CollectorCars #AutomotiveHistory #WhyCarsMatter
Do you need help buying or selling your collector car? Contact Greg directly at [email protected] or [email protected].
A special thank you to our new sponsor, Discover Once, curators of one-of-a-kind automotive adventures you'll never experience twice. Learn more at discoveronce.com/muscle.
And as always, huge thanks to RM Sotheby's for their continual support and for making so many of these automotive dreams possible.
Listen to the "Octane FM: Shift, Rev, Repeat" album on Spotify!
Stay connected with The Collector Car Podcast—find us on our Website, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or reach out to Greg directly via email.
Join RM Sotheby's Car Specialist Greg Stanley as he brings over 25 years of experience and keen market analysis to the world of collector cars. Each week, Greg dives into market trends, interviews industry experts, and shares insights—with a little fun along the way. New episodes drop every Thursday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn more at www.TheCollectorCarPodcast.com or email Greg at [email protected].
Interested in consigning a car at an RM Sotheby's auction? Contact Greg directly at [email protected].
The Collector Car Podcast
Greg Stanley
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