1964 Cooper Monaco Racer

After the 1963 United States Road Racing Championship ended, Carroll Shelby knew his Cobras would not be competitive against the new rear-engined sports racers. He realized the prestige and publicity that the west coast races brought, so Shelby purchased a couple of John Cooper's newest sports racers, the Cooper-Monaco, and installed his Cobra race engines. After having problems finishing races in 1963, Shelby had Richie Ginther help sort out the 1964 King Cobras (as the press called them.) Their first race, the L.A. Times Grand Prix, proved the cars were competitive finishing 1st, 4th, 5th and 7th. The 1964 Shelby team car, CM/6/64, was painted Guardsman Blue with Wimbledon White stripes and was driven by Parnelli Jones at the 1964 L.A. Times Grand Prix at Riverside to a first place finish. Parnelli tried for another win at the Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in October but crashed on the first lap.

That was the end of Shelby's foray into modified road racing. The King Cobras had served their purpose and Shelby was busy with his 427 Cobras and the Ford GT40 project. The Cooper-Monaco had become obsolete in only two years, overshadowed by monocoque chassis, and alloy engined sports racers by Chaparral, Lola and McLaren.

In 2010, the car was offered for sale at the Sports & Classics of Monterey presented by RM Auctions. It was estimated to sell for $600,000 - $800,000. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $425,000 inclusive of buyer's premium.