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by Shelby American employee Jim
Findlay who intended to race it and
added competition components as his
budget allowed. After modifying the
car to competition specifications, Find-
lay ran out of money and turned the
Cobra over to Shelby’s dealership
where it was purchased by Roberts.
Roberts, from Glendale, Arizona
began competing in autocrosses and
won every one he entered. In 1967 he
won two hillclimbs and then began
racing in SCCA; in two years he
racked up 25 first-place finishes. In
1968 he won the B/P National Cham-
pionship at Riverside, establishing a
new qualifying record and fastest race
lap in the process. Roberts then sold
the car and it continued to be raced.
He repurchased it in 1972 and fin-
ished second at the SCCA run-offs.
The car was then sold again and went
to Europe where it continued to be
raced. In 1987 it was returned to the
U.S. and vintage raced by two subse-
quent owners before being purchased
by Click. It was restored by Roberts
who drove it on occasion. To say this
Cobra is the winningest Cobra ever is
not an exaggeration.
When Don Roberts didn’t have the
Cobra to drive it didn’t mean he was
out of racing. He maintained a race
shop and prepared other cars, among
them a ‘66 GT350 B/P racer, 6S2363.
In 1969 Roberts was occasionally
asked to drive the Shelby and ended
up purchasing it in 1971. After win-
ning a few races he received an invita-
tion to the SCCA run-offs where he
finished third. By 1983 the car was
owned by Jere Clark and was being ac-
tively vintage raced. Click purchased
it in 2002 and continued to vintage
race it. He had Don Roberts maintain
it.
The other Cobra in Click’s collec-
tion is CSX2326. It was originally a
street car that was purchased by Click
in 1974. After selling it two years later,
he got it back again by trading a
Porsche 930 for it. In early ‘91 Click of-
fered the car for sale but when no
buyer emerged he sent it to Roberts’
shop to have it converted into a vin-
tage racer and he drove it in events
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Summer 2016 87
CSX2473
CSX2326
6S2363