I thought that would be a great car to make a painting of fort my History of Shelby cars colleciton and did so but I guess the history of the actual car is still shrouded in lost facts. After his successful April tests, French racer and sometime Shelby dealer Claude Dubois sent a telegram to Carroll Shelby implying how bad it would be to race this car in front of 300,000 spectators only to have the car DNF so he conned Shelby into new parts--a 289ci GT40 Mk I engine developing 390 horsepower, a new transmission, new steering, and a new rear axle. Ray Geddes, who managed the relationship between Shelby and Ford, greenlighted the expense.
Dubois' mods included a specific windshield wiper, new front and rear supports to allow the jack to lift the car quickly, a NASCAR type fire extinguisher, Marchal headlights, spoilers on the front bumper to bring the car lower in the Hunaudières straight.
5R539 was as fast as the Ferrari that Claude Dubois had piloted the previous year, but Claude and teammate Chris Tuerlinckx struggled to reach a required 4'13 per lap, by slipstreaming a bulkier car and winding it out to 7300 rpm, 300 rpm past the redline to make a 4'10 lap!
Whoever attached that front bumper did it wrong because they lost a front spoiler and without that , on the high speed Hunaudières straight it was unmanageable.
One hour in, 5R539 was in last place.But they hung in there for six more hours. Next the Borg Warner T10 gearbox broke.
Shelby fans want to know what happened to the original? A look alike showed up at recent car events in Yurrip.I'll post a pitcher of the art when I find it in the stack.
Wherever that original chassis went, if it still exists, I predict, if restored properly, it would be a million dollar '65. (And then of course the present Shelby-American could make a tribute series...)
Thanks for sharing that great story
https://ponynsnake.com/1965-shelby-gt350r-5r539-24h-le-mans-1967/
This article has some interesting info about the car's life after the '67 LeMans race, including it being converted to a coupe to satisfy racing regulations. No details as to its whereabouts post 2004.
Quote from: spiller on August 31, 2024, 07:22:40 AMhttps://ponynsnake.com/1965-shelby-gt350r-5r539-24h-le-mans-1967/
This article has some interesting info about the car's life after the '67 LeMans race, including it being converted to a coupe to satisfy racing regulations. No details as to its whereabouts post 2004.
Thanks for the info much appreciated
Interview with Claude Dubois in 2002 :
http://www.ponysite.de/sheleur_dubois2.htm
That car is dead and scrapped ,but there's a wannabe in belgium that claim to be 5R539.
Quote from: joephil on September 10, 2024, 03:31:44 PMInterview with Claude Dubois in 2002 :
http://www.ponysite.de/sheleur_dubois2.htm
Nice article. I think it explains a lot.