Shelby American wants to turn our wildest dreams into reality, as the famed company has just announced plans to unleash Carroll Shelby’s “secret weapon” for the 24 Hours of Le Mans onto the streets, as soon as possible. Back in 1964, Shelby had asked a fabricator to lengthen the chassis of one of his Daytona Coupes to allow the standard 4.7-liter V8 engine to be replaced with a big block unit inspired by NASCAR.
This was all part of Carroll Shelby’s intentions to use the car to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the universe had other plans. The truck carrying the vehicle was involved in an accident and unfortunately that one-of-a-kind Daytona Coupe couldn’t be repaired in time for the iconic race from Le Mans.
Today, over 50 years later, the team at Shelby American will build six continuation models to the same specifications as the original racer, each of them showing off a jaw dropping aluminum body and a chassis and hood that have been lengthened as well.
An aluminum 427 big block motor, sourced from the Shelby Engine Company, will be developing over 550 hp through a period-correct four-speed manual transmission, providing the driver of this beast the thrills of a lifetime. The 550hp race-spec Daytona Coupe was previewed at Laguna Seca earlier this week and will probably make six people really happy in the near future. The price of such happiness? We don’t know yet..
