Cliff Davis at speed in his famous Cooper MG JOY 500, the car which is acknowledged as the 'Grandfather of the Shelby Cobra'. The body design became the basis for the coachowrk on the new AC Ace sportscar which Carrol Shelby later re-engined with a Ford 289 V8 to make the first Cobra.
Cliff Davis was a great character and raced in sportscars and later in stock cars and Midgets. Here he's seen at Turnberry in Scotland, a circuit on a former RAF airfield near the famous golf course. Turnberry wasn't used very often but this particular meeting featured such famous names as Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorn and Reg Parnell and the cars racing that day included the BRM V16 and Thinwall Special.
Davis other famous car was the Tojiero Bristol LOY 500 the chassis of which was a further link in the Cobra story, forming ther basis of the AC Ace chasis and thus the Cobra.
10x8 inch (254x203mm)
