After WWII, auto racing often was centered around two-seat, open-topped, quasi-road-legal racing cars. While there were usually more design restrictions for Le Mans and other "World Championship" events, there were always sprint road races all over the world that allowed these type of cars.
While Caroll Shelby is famous for the Cobra, Le Mans 1959, Chili Seasoning, and turning around the GT40 program, there was a time when he was a fearsome racer. He conqered all in 1957, with the powerful Maserati 450S.
Sports Car Club of America National Championship 1957 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| SCCA National Championship - Riverside | |||||
| 1 | Maserati 450S Carroll Shelby  | 98 CM | Bang | 7274 |  |
| Nassau (Non-Championship) | |||||
| 1 | Maserati 450S Masten Gregory | 4 C | Bang | 7343 |  |
Juan Manuel Fangio was kidnapped at gunpoint by rebel forces loyal to Castro the night before the race, and that was the least fucked-up thing that happened. A few laps in a Ferrari spun into the crowd, killing seven spectators. In the ensuing chaos, Sterling Moss passed Masten Gregory under a red-flag. Gregory had been in a comfortable lead, and was furious when they got to the pits. They colluded to split the prize money, and get out of the country as fast as (fucking) possible.
1958 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| GP Cuba (Non-Championship) | |||||
| 11 | Maserati 450S Maurice Trintignant  | 2 | Bang | 7282 |  |
| 2 | Grani & Partners (Maserati Press Collection) | Issue #5 (of 25) |  | ||
In 1958, the first major professional road race was held at Riverside. It was sanctioned by USAC and sponsored by the L.A. Times. This event attracted major international talent and huge crowds. Soon after, a similar event at Laguna Seca began. The Canadian GP and these events would form the backbone of the future Can-Am Series.
United States Auto Club Road Racing Championship 1960 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| L.A. Times Grand Prix - Riverside | |||||
| 1 | Maserati Tipo 61 Bill Krause | 53 S+2.0 | Minichamps | 400 601253 | |
| Progetto K | 026 | ||||
| 5 | Maserati Tipo 61 Carroll Shelby | 98 S+2.0 | Minichamps | 400 601298 | |
The sports-racer world became more popular when F1 changed to 1.5 litre engines. The 2.5 litre Lotus 19 was essentially a two-seat version of the Lotus 18 F1 car.
United States Auto Club Road Racing Championship 1961 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Pacific Grand Prix - Laguna Seca | |||||
| 1 | Lotus 19 Stirling Moss  | 7 S+2.0 | Spark | S0257 |  |
The Shelby Cobra and Chevrolet Corvette Z06 both made their racing debut at a professional GT race at Riverside in late 1962. This independently-organized event was part of the L.A. Times GP weekend, and featured a large crowd and excellent fan interest. While a Corvette eventually won, the Cobra was over a lap ahead when a suspension failure took it out of the race. This performance difference eventually led Chevrolet to develop the Corvette Grand Sport.
North American Racing Cars 1962 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Riverside (Non-Championship L.A. Times GP Preliminary GT Race) | |||||
| DNF | Shelby Cobra Bill Krause | 98 XP | Bang | 422 |  |
| Box | 8422 | ||||
| Mosport Player's 200 (Part of the Canadian Sports Car Championship) | |||||
| DNF | Ferrari Dino 246 SP Innes Ireland | 3 | Art Model | ART120 |  |
| Nassau (Non-Championship Race) | |||||
| 1 | Lotus 19 Innes Ireland | 6 | Spark | S0258 |  |
In 1963 the SCCA created the United States Road Racing Championship. It was their first attempt at a professional-level road racing championship. This series included the large club events throughout the spring and summer.
There was a very similar championship in Canada, with many of the teams racing on both sides of the border.
While the series top level was the open sports-racer class, they also ran a concurrent GT championship until 1965. The first year was a single class of large-bore Shelby Cobras, Corvettes and the occasional Jaguar or Ferrari GTO. An under 2.0 litre class was added for 1964 and 1965.
USRRC 1963 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| USRRC - Laguna Seca | |||||
| 1 | Lotus 23 Ford Chuck Parsons | 10 2.0 | Spark | S0261 |  |
| 17 | Ferrari Dino 196 SP Doug Thiem (Error: Box lists "Riverside") | 1 2.0 | Art Model | ART033 | |
| DNF | Ferrari 250 GTO Ed Cantrell | 9 GT | Box | 8433 | |
| Bang | 433 |  | |||
| USRRC - Road America | |||||
| DNF | Porsche 718 RS61 Don Wester | 50 2.0 | Minichamps | 430 636560 |  |
The big money-paying 200-mile events in the autumn still went on, but without an overall championship points system. Many of the top F1 drivers competed in these during the North American rounds of the GP season. There were races at Kent, Riverside, and Laguna Seca.
In some ways, this nameless series of races was the purest expression of motorsport that has ever existed. It was considered to be "Group 9" in the FIA Yellow Book.
1963 "Fall Season" | ||
|---|---|---|
Track |
Organizer |
Comments |
Mosport |
CRDC |
Canada GP |
Riverside |
CSCC |
L.A. Times GP |
Laguna Seca |
SCRAMP |
Pacific Grand Prix |
Kent, Washington |
? |
Pacific Northwest Grand Prix |
'Fall Season' 1963 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Canadian Grand Prix - Mosport | |||||
| 1 | Ferrari 250 P Pedro Rodriguez  | 5 S+2.0 | Art Model | 225 | |
| DNF | Ferrari 250 P John Surtees | 4 S+2.0 | Art Model | 155 | |
| L.A. Times Grand Prix - Riverside (Preliminary GT Race) | |||||
| 3 | Shelby Cobra 'Coventry Motors' Allen Grant | 96 | Bang | 7292 |  |
| Pacific Grand Prix - Laguna Seca | |||||
| 11 | Shelby Cobra 'Coventry Motors' Allen Grant | 96 | Bang | 421 |  |
| Box | 8421 | ||||
| 12 | Lotus 23B Graham Hill | 1 S+2.0 | Spark | S0254 |  |
| Nassau Speed Weeks | |||||
| 3 | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Roger Penske | 50 GTP | Eagle's Race | 2009 |  |
| 4 | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Augie Pabst | 65 GTP | Eagle's Race | 2008 |  |
| 6 | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Dick Thompson | 80 GTP | Eagle's Race | 2003 |  |
| 7 | Ferrari Dino 196 SP Bob Grossman | 90 S2.0 | Art Model | 090 |  |
The 'Group 9' series attracted more attention, and there was a dedicated series in the UK, where Lotus, Brabham, and Lister took part.
United States Road Racing Championship 1964 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Daytona - 'American Challenge Cup' (Non-Championship) | |||||
| 13 | Cheetah GT Ralph Salyer | 14 | Spark | S1452 |  |
| DNF | Porsche 904 Chuck Cassel | 50 GT 2.0 | HighSpeed | HF9191B |  |
| Minichamps (Unreleased) | 400 646550 | ||||
| USRRC - Laguna Seca | |||||
| DNF | Cheetah Jerry Titus | 58 (Prototypes) O2L | Spark | S1451 |  |
| USRRC - Road America '500' | |||||
| 3 | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Roger Penske Jim Hall Hap Sharp | 67 (Prototypes) O2L | Eagle's Race | 2006 |  |
| DNF | Cheetah (Cro-Sal Special) Ralph Salyer | 26 (Prototypes) O2L | Spark | S1453 |  |
| L.A. Times Grand Prix - Riverside | |||||
| DNF | Cheetah Mike Jones | 33 | Spark | S1454 |  |
| DNF | Cheetah Allen Grant | 81 | Spark | S1455 |  |
| Nassau Speed Weeks | |||||
| 3 | Ferrari 330P Pedro Rodriguez | 10 S 5.0 | Art Model | 217 |  |
By far the most famous car of this era is Ken Miles' #98 Shelby Cobra (289), which won the 1965 GT chamionship. There are many examples of this car in all scales of models (especially 1:1).
Ken Miles also raced one of the very first 427 Cobras (Chassis CSX3002) in the Prototype class at Riverside. While the cars had similar paint schemes, the 289 and 427 are completely different and are often confused. This was the only time that the Shelby American team raced a 427 Cobra in top-level competition.
Possibly as the result of shifting fan and competitor interest, the GT class was eliminated in 1966. In its place, the Trans-Am championship was created for pony cars in the AS (Sedan) class.
The entry list for this race was off the fucking chain. If you were a race car driver in 1965 and were not there, well then just go bag your face...
Jim Clark scored an excellent second-place finish with the notoriously shitty Lotus 40.
The fearsome white Chaparral cars absolutely dominated 1965. Who could have predicted that they would only win only one Can-Am race?
Team Lotus launched a full scale assault on "Group 9" racing in 1965. Jim Clark ran a full season of the British Sports Car Championship in the spring. For the "Fall Season" Ritchie Ginther and A.J. Foyt were added. Regretfully, all of this talent was wasted as the type 40 was easily the worst object to ever roll out of Coventry. There were numerous design issues, but the inherent flexibility of the wish-bone chassis made the car practically undriveable. (A.J. parked his after a few laps of the season-ending Nassau race in disgust...)
United States Road Racing Championship 1965 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | Chaparral 2 Jim Hall | 66 S+2.0 | Auto Art | 66956 |  |
| 1 | Shelby Cobra (289) Ken Miles | 98 GT+2.0 | Bang | 7341 |  |
| USRRC - Pensacola | |||||
| 1 | Lotus 23 George Follmer | 16 S+2.0 | Spark | S0255 |  |
| USRRC - Riverside | |||||
| DNF | Shelby Cobra 427 Ken Miles | 98 S+2.0 | Kyosho | 03016BL |  |
| Mosport Player's 200 (Part of the Canadian Sports Car Championship) | |||||
| DNF | Lola T70 Spider Hugh Dibley | 5 Group 7 | Best | 9194 |  |