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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#Shelby #Cobra #ShelbyCobra #CarrollShelby #289Cobra #289 #CompCobra #CompetitionCobra #ShelbyHistory #CarHistory #TomPayne #KenMiles #CobraRoadster #ShelbyRoadster

[@LI-FLKayakFisherman]

Wow, this brings back memories. My father raced this car for Tom many times. I backed it off the trailer in the pits when I was 16. As I recall, the “bird” was from the September race at Bridgehampton in 1965 where he gave the 427’s a fit not allowing them to pass. The 427s owned the straights but my father owned “thunder valley” because the 289 out handled the heavier cars. Still have this car’s poster hanging in my garage listing all the race history.

[@overbuiltlimited]

Ha, great story! Thanks.

[@jameseastwood4984]

Outstanding memories

[@reevinriggin3570]

Was having a pretty crappy day. Then, I got to watch this new upload from you guys. Day just got a little brighter when that 289 jumped to life! Thanks for taking the time to share. It is appreciated.

[@charlesdalton985]

Gentleman Tom’s suit story is a perfect mirror image of Shelby racing in his bib overalls (due to being late for a race). Those days of racing were magic for so many reasons. An absolutely stunning Cobra. Great content as always, thank you!

[@JL-bs6yz]

Probably the largest cobra dealer in the world. 👍👍👍👍

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

Yep!

[@crazydjhdgamer2056]

My grandpa own cobras and my uncle worked on cobras. My grandpa was a friend of Carol Shelby. My grandpa died 16 years ago ive never met him

[@RestorationObsession]

One of my favorite things about restoring cars and pinball machines is unearthing the history of the thing I am restoring. I love knowing where it came from, who owned it before, where it was originally manufactured, where it lived. One can find some fascinating information out about their things and I think that gives even more life to the objects. I know that, for me, this process makes them more "lovable" in my mind, if that makes sense. Great video about a great car and great man! Loooooove the Cobra!

[@christopherkraft1327]

Tom Payne is a legendary driver & the Cobra is a legendary automobile!!! Thanks for sharing this fun video!!! 👍👍 Happy Holidays!!! 🎄⛄🤶

[@paulbiondi1323]

Would love to visit your showroom this summer.......and possibly go home with a classic

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

Great vid, really enjoyed!!

[@kevinbarrett9615]

What a beautiful little gem ! Great backstory and racing provenance. Season Greetings to all of you at LM , love this channel.

[@ThomasJoeSanNicolas]

That man thought of everything badass

[@windronner1]

I love the great stories behind the great LM's car videos!!

[@LanceisLawson]

Too valuable to drive and enjoy sowhat's sense of it?

[@pablocespedes5880]

Amazing!!! when men were men... and boys wanted to be men!

[@whitsundaydreaming]

Curious as to the mismatched seats. Any info on that?

[@jameseastwood4984]

$9k is $86k today ref Google.

[@mikemartenson4357]

Learn something new every day, nicely done.

[@ThomasJoeSanNicolas]

Like 👍

[@toomanyhobbies2011]

I'm glad this car was saved. However, "restoring" a race car is just not right. I guess turning it into an investment makes sense for people with enough money. Just too bad they got their hands on it before a true collector. I'd like to see the original hand. The photo makes it look like an index finger, which is far from crude.

[@jeffgagnon4557]

Peter Great review and as a Tom P fan some great details. Love the finger..... As always you guys rock. Merry Christmas

[@jeffharvbrady4466]

Peter, is the 88 Dale Jarret cup car in the background available? I don’t see it on the website.

[@legendarymotorcar]

Hi Jeff, it is available. Speak to Dave at [e-mail]

[@jeffharvbrady4466]

@@legendarymotorcar thank you.

[@nitronixus9402]

Loved the Gran Turismo music in the background!

[@FrankySilverFace]

Peter is correct about the values of these. Way out of my league tho.

[@COBRATV427]

😍 👍