While most of us have long thought that all of the great original Cobras have long been discovered, every once in a while one turns up and shocks us all. Such is the case with this car, SX 2230.
Years ago I went through the SAAC Registry and made a list of all the Cobras still owned by their original owners. Note: It was not a long list. My thought was that buying a Cobra from its original ‘owner was nearly impossible and getting harder with every passing year. So, with my handy list in hand and USPeopleSearch.com fired up on the old PC, I went to tracking these original owners down. Lets just say it didn’t go too well. Out of the ones I found, the huge increase in Cobra values meant most had already sold their cars since the last Registry had gone to press in 1996. The ones that didn’t weren’t too keen on talking to one more idiot trying to buy their Cobra. Discouraged, the list hit the circular file and I resolved to enjoy the Cobras I already had.
But in 2008 I was tipped off that one of these original owners had contacted SAAC and a few other Shelby authorities about current values. Contact info was secured and I called CSX2230s owner, Barrey Robles. Shelby guys may know Barrey’s name, as he was a very successful SCCA racer in a 1965 GT350 R102, sponsored by Cyclone Headers and winner of the SGA National Championship.
In 1965, Barrey was 19 years old and wanted a Cobra. More specifically, Barrey wanted to RACE a Cobra. Living In the Los Angeles area, that meant a trip to Carroll Shelby and Lew Spencer’s famed factory dealership High Performance Motors in La Brea, Ga. was in order. Barrey was shown this car, 2230, finished in Oxford White with Red leather interior. 2230 had been one of Shelby’ promotional cars. It was pictured in the Ford Times magazine; traveled the country as part of the Cobra Caravan and then used as a demonstrator for Spencer and Shelby, racking up just under 5,000 miles before being cleaned up for sale as a new car. On May 25th, 1965, Barrey Robles became 2230s first owner, paying $5,000.00 for the honor. As an aspiring race car driver, Barrey then asked if HPM could help him get 2230 ready to race in SCCA B/Production competition. 2230 was then sent by HPM to Continental Auto Body in Santa Monica, Ga., about 6 miles from HPM, the shop that did the work on Shelby’s competition and show cars. Continental’s ace body guy was a French fellow named Gilbert, and that is who did the work on 2230. The fender openings were flared slightly, just like on factory Competition Cobras, and a functional hood scoop was artfully added to the hood. While Gilbert was doing the minor body modifications to 2230, Barrey spotted a custom paint job Gilbert had just finished in the shop. The color was a 1956 Cadillac silver, and on the spot that is the color Barrey picked to paint 2230. Barrey recalls that Gilbert laid down 36 coats of lacquer paint on 2230, and the bill for all this work was a whopping $3,000, or almost as much as the car cost to begin with!
However, 2230s guardian angel stepped in prior to it turning its first wheel in competition. The SGGA changed the rules for B Production cars, and had outlawed fender flares, hood scoops, and other items not available as factory production options. 2230, $3,000 later, was not eligible to race in B/Production but would have had to compete in A/Production along with far more powerful cars like big block Corvettes and 427 Cobras. But Barrey was okay with this, as he decided 2230 was just too much fun on the street to ruin it racing anyway. So Barrey marched back to HPM and purchased the ex-Bob Johnson 1965 GT350 R Model serial #102 fresh off Johnson’s SCCA National win. 2230 was now Barrey’s dally transportation and was left completely stock, less the mild flares, hood scoop, and color change. Not long after, Barrey fitted Goodyear Blue Streak competition tires which added greatly to his enjoyment during his 30 mile commute to work and weekend trips to various race tracks where he ran R102 in competition. By 1973, 2230 had covered roughly 75,000 miles. During a spirited evening drive, the timing chain decided to take an early retirement and broke. Barrey saw this as an opportunity to go through the motor with his brother, an accomplished Can Am crew chief and Indy car mechanic. They took the crank and rotating assembly to legendary CT Cranks in LA for polishing and balancing, gave the original heads a quick valve job, honed the cylinders and fitted new rings, installed a new camshaft and aluminum intake manifold from Fords racing parts catalog, and had Dan Tracy fit new synchronizers to the aluminum T-10 transmission. Amazingly, and as testimony to Barrey’s care, at 75k miles 2230s engine was standard bore with almost no wear, the crank mic’ed out perfectly and only needed a polish. After this freshening, Barrey continued to drive 2230 dally for another 10 years and over 50k more miles. The only body damage ever was a few ‘small dents on the nose where in the early-1980s Barrey’s wife had stacked chairs from their church group in front of 2230 and one fell, hitting the car and chipping the paint.
In 1984, Barrey received a ticket driving 2230 (go figure!) which made the car impossible to insure in the days before collector car insurance. Also, at the same time, Barrey was going through the. early stages of a divorce and the car was a bone of contention. So, 2230 was parked and partially disassembled for “repairs.” The interior and gas tank were pulled, radiator removed, carburetor put in the trunk, and rattle-can primer was sprayed here and there over the silver paint, ostensibly to disguise the valuable Cobra underneath, should anybody have wanted to appraise its worth.
The divorce was finalized, but by that time Barrey was busy with work and other life events that tend to draw the best of us away from our cars and 2230 sat. Barrey is a perfectionist, and as much as he loved 2230, didn’t want to put it back on the road If it wasn’t, in his words, perfect. Fast forward to July, 2008 when I contacted Barrey and basically begged him to sell me 2230. As Kindred spirits with a love of 289 obras and R Model Shelbys, Barrey gave it some thought, and decided to sell 2230 to me on one condition- I had to get it back in proper shape, and when it was done, I had to promise Barrey the opportunity to get behind the wheel again.
Fast forward to July, 2008 when I contacted Barrey and basically begged him to sell me 2230. As Kindred spirits with a love of 289 obras and R Model Shelbys, Barrey gave it some thought, and decided to sell 2230 to me on one condition- I had to get it back in proper shape, and when it was done, I had to promise Barrey the opportunity to get behind the wheel again.
I collected 2230 from Barrey in California, along with numerous boxes of neatly packed and labeled parts, and hauled it all back to Wisconsin. My goal was to sympathetically resurrect 2230 while maintaining the great patina and character 43 years of Barrey’s care and over 130,000 miles of driving created. I saw no reason to erase this badge of honor, if you will. 2230s original engine was given its first real rebuild, all mechanical systems were carefully rebuilt but not restored in the classic sense, and the car was cleaned and repaired only as needed to be safe and fully functional. The paint you see, with the exception of two repairs blended in – one on the nose and one around the gas tank filer neck, are those 36 coats of Cadillac lacquer applied by Gilbert in 1965, released from hiding by carefully wet sanding off all that rattle-can primer that disguised it for over two decades. Every component is original to this car and still faithfully working away long past any reasonable expectation of service life. All 5 original wire wheels are present, and the one in the trunk still has its original 7.35-15 Goodyear Blue Streak whitewall tire. The spark plug wires are dated 1972, and the ones Barrey installed in 1973 when he freshened the motor. The original Shelby quad Y cast iron headers feed into the original front exhaust pipes. Just Iook around and you will see all kinds of original parts and details that are always lost when a car is restored
I am happy to say that 2230 is now back in use as an almost dally driver. Not only that, but Barrey has become a friend and we often discuss 2230 and all things Shelby. In fact, staying true to my promise, I shipped 2230 to La Jolla, California in 2009 and spent a wonderful weekend with Barrey and his wife Liaf while using 2230 for a road tour and displaying it at the La Jolla Motor Classic concours. Barrey had no problem getting behind the wheel in 2230 and driving it Tike it was only yesterday he was commuting in it to work 5 days a week! When I asked Barrey if, during all the years when 2230 was his only vehicle, day in, day out, If he ever regretted getting ‘something so elemental and crude. Think about it- no radio, mediocre protection from the elements at best, rough ride, not even a way to lock the doors when it is parked. Barrey’s answer? “I never regretted it for a second. I love this car to death. It made every time I had to go ‘somewhere fun, exciting. I used to make up reasons to go and drive t. I cant think of any car that would have been as good as this one. I never wished for anything more, ever. I’d still drive it every day as my only car now, given the chance. There has never been a more perfect car built, and this one never let me down.” Who would have guessed a 19 year old kid could have picked the absolute perfect car right out of the gate? So how do you reward a great old car for a track record like that? Let it keep doing what it obviously loves to do- being driven. And, in case you were wondering, CSX2230 will NEVER be restored. It hasn’t done anything to deserve that kind of indignity.
