The story of Ford’s battle for sports car racing supremacy against Ferrari in the mid Sixties is legenday. Much has been written on it, often by greater historians than I. I’m happy to bring the story of just one car. CSX 3009. The winningest Cobra of all time.
When talks with Ferrari broke off, Ford decided to beat them at their own game. Given that Carroll Shelby was already having success racing the Ford 289 powered Cobra, it made sense to start with the newest beast on the block. A Cobra powered by an monsterous 427 cubic inch V8. The Essex Wire corporation was also involved in racing and as one of Ford’s major suppliers, they wanted to wave both banners in the victory circle. Their weapon of choice was a Shelby Cobra 427 with the vin CSX 3009.
Essex hired Shelby American alumni Skipp Scott to build the team. His first addition was driver Dick Thompson who was also a Shelby team driver who knew the Cobra well. He was also a practicing dentist and became known as Dr. Thompson around the track. The second seat was filled by a successful hobby racer by the name of Ed Lowther. Lowther would go on to be a big part of the history of CSX 3009.
1965 was the first season for the team and for CSX 3009 and was intended to be a learning year. Through the driving and teaching talents of pro driver Thompson and young Lowther the student, the Cobra finished the 1965 U.S. road racing competition season in 4th place in the championship. Along the way, the car had a habit of belching 2 feet of flame out the hood scoop if the big Weber downdraft carbs weren’t kept throttled up. This earned CSX 3009 the nickname Ollie the Dragon. The name stuck.
For 1966, the Essex Wire team decided to campaign the GT40 on the International Grand Prix Circuit and the Cobra was pretty much parked. At some time during the season, Ed Lowther bought Ollie the Dragon and continued to race him. In 1966, Ed & Ollie won several races including Riverside and Daytona. In 1967, they captured a national championship. All of this is made more incredible when you consider that Ollie the Dragon was a completely stock automobile, as Lowther found the original equipment lasted longer than aftermarket speed equipment. The legend of Ollie The Dragon grew as the pair continued to win races for many years, truly becoming the most winning Cobra of all time.
Somewhere over time, Ollie the Dragon vanished from public sight and the whereabouts of CSX 3009 was listed as unknown on the Shelby registry.
The photos for this story were provided by official Shelby American team photographer, David Friedman. These shots are from the 1966 & 67 seasons and are believed to be from Laguna Seca and Road America.
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In the story above it says that it is unknown exactly where the ESSEX cobra, “Ollie”, is today. It is on display at the National Automotive and Truck Museum of the U.S. (NATMUS) located in Auburn Indiana. It was donated to the museum along with the trailer,helmets, and goggles that was used in its racing life.
Don, I’m trying to find the info, but I believe that car is a replica that Ed built.
The Dave Friedman photos are the inaugural Las Vegas Stardust Raceway (images 1 & 7-10-November 14, 1965), Laguna Seca 200-mile (image 2-6-October 17, 1965) and Nassau Speed Weeks (image 11-November 28-December 5,1965).
The “Ollie the Dragon,” nickname came about during Sam Feinstein’s ownership (1968-1981) of CSX3009 during the 1970 season when it was painted green. The flame belching was from due to the distributer advance causing the backfire of unused gas belching out the hood scoop. The belching flame would scare the …. out of the competition.
Thanks for the info Erik. The statements we made were the belief of the current owner, who was working from memory and was unsure.