Dave MacDonald & Ole Olsen getting their hands dirty building the new King Cobra (CM/1/63). Dave approached Carroll with
the idea of building a lighter racer to compete in the modified ranks. Carroll liked the idea and purchased two Cooper-Monaco
chassis from England. Dave helped to build two new factory racers they planned to debut in the lucrative Grand Prix circuit's
west coast swing - starting with the Pacific GP in Kent WA. The cars were 1400 lbs lighter than the Cobra Roadsters and ran the
same Ford 289ci engine. Dave is installing the alternator in this Dave Friedman photo

Dave MacDonald and Ole Olsen again doing a little 289 engine work. Photo courtesy of Dave Friedman

Photo courtesy of Dave Friedman

SAI chief mechanic Wally Peat [Dave Friedman]

Photo courtesy of Dave Friedman

Dave MacDonald's King Cobra on the right (CM/1/63) and Bob Holbert's on the left (CM/3/63). Photo Dave Friedman

Carroll Shelby and Dave MacDonald roll out (literally) the sparkling new King Cobra for a photo op. The cars are not yet finished
so they placed the body on the chassis and pushed it out behind the shop for this shoot. Photos Dave Friedman

Carroll and Dave discussing the many benefits of this new lightweight modified racer. Photos courtesy Dave Friedman

Photos courtesy Dave Friedman

Photos courtesy Dave Friedman

Imagine this baby with fat tires ... Photos courtesy Dave Friedman

After the shoot CM/1/63 is pushed back to the garage and the build continues. Exhaust system is fitted on the 289.

The schedule was tight and the crew worked feverishly to get the King Cobras race ready for their debut race Sep 28-29 at
the Northwest Grand Prix at Pacific Raceways in Kent Washington. Master mechanic Dave MacDonald putting final touches on SAI's new
modified beast. Photo courtesy of Dave Friedman

Shakedown time! September 13th and Carroll sends Dave and the crew out to Riverside Raceway for CM/1/63's the initial testing.

Photo Dave Friedman

Dave MacDonald back out blasting thru the Riverside road course for more testing. Photo Dave Friedman

Shakedown went spectacularly well speed wise with Dave running CM/1/63 to a new unofficial track record!

So off to Kent they went ... for better or worse. This is how Dave's King Cobra (CM/1/63) looked for this debut race. Both Dave's
& Bob's cars suffered mechanical issues, mainly overheating, and neither finished at Kent. Dave did however lead a good portion
of the race before retiring. After the race Shelby would tell the press "The cars weren't really ready but we went racing anyway".

After the Pacific Northwest GP the Shelby crew had three weeks to get the cars in "real race shape" for the LA Times Grand Prix.
The King Cobras would have to be in top shape to face off against the world's best cars & drivers. Dave MacDonald won the
Times GP giving the Shelby King Cobra its first win. Holbert was a dnf. Photos below are Dave MacDonald & 1960's trophy
queen Marilyn Fox in a 1964 Shelby American photo op. Photo courtesy of Dave Friedman

Photo courtesy Dave Friedman

Photo courtesy Dave Friedman

Photo courtesy Dave Friedman

Photo courtesy Dave Friedman

Photo courtesy Dave Friedman

Photo courtesy Dave Friedman

Photo courtesy Dave Friedman

Photo courtesy Dave Friedman

Victory circle photo of Dave & Sherry MacDonald after winning the LA Times Grand Prix (the first-ever win for the King Cobra).
The following week Dave won the Monterey Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna Seca giving Dave and Carroll back-to-back wins in the
two biggest & richest road races in America.