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Willment was a British racing team owned by John Willment and financed by his Ford dealership which was the largest in the UK at the time. The team had very close links to Ford, winning the 1963 BSCC with a Ford Galaxie driven by Jack Sears and also being entrusted by Ford with the race development of the Ford Cortina 1500GT. In 1967 John Willment and John Wyer formed JW Automotive Engineering Ltd winning the World Sportscar title in 1968 and the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1968 and 1969.
In 1964 the Willment team decided to build their own version of the Daytona Coupe. John Willment had approached Shelby about buying a Daytona Coupe but was turned down flat. John Olsen, who had been badly burned in the first Coupe’s outing at Daytona, had returned to England and as luck would have it was working for the Willment team.
A set of Daytona Coupe plans was sent to England and with John Ohlsen’s first hand experience a new body buck was constructed. Frank Gardner did the re- engineering of the new version, which had slightly less frontal area, the result of a “chopped top”. Geoff Gilbert and Frank Shattock built the car. Their car was visually similar to the Daytona Coupe, the primary difference being a nearly horizontal rear window, which resulted in a larger truncation at the rear end. The Willment Coupe was not ready in time for Le Mans, but it eventually went on to a long and successful career.
At the end of the 1964 European season, the Willment team travelled to South Africa to run the Springbok Series, this time with a Cobra roadster, the Willment Coupe, a Lotus Cortina, and the Holman-Moody prepared 427 Galaxie. The performances of Bob Olthoff and Jack Sears with this stable remain a part of South African racing lore.
There probably isn't much chance of getting this incredibly rare version of the Cobra Daytona Coupe in the game - but one can only ask - and hope! Perhaps PD could give us an option of the Willment livery on the in game Cobra Daytona Coupe as the shape of the cars is very similar.
A second car was started by Willment, but not finished - it is possible that the second car may have been finished at a later date or that there are replicas as internet searches appear to produce images of more than one car.
The car has great historical significance and it entered and won more races than any other Cobra Daytona Coupe.
Below - the Willment Cobra Daytona Coupe racing in South Africa in 1964.
Above in the 1970's sadly the rear window was replaced with a small vertical unit. You can see the lower profile of this car from the lower roof height, which resulted in a reduced frontal area compared with the Shelby version on which it was based.
In 1964 the Willment team decided to build their own version of the Daytona Coupe. John Willment had approached Shelby about buying a Daytona Coupe but was turned down flat. John Olsen, who had been badly burned in the first Coupe’s outing at Daytona, had returned to England and as luck would have it was working for the Willment team.
A set of Daytona Coupe plans was sent to England and with John Ohlsen’s first hand experience a new body buck was constructed. Frank Gardner did the re- engineering of the new version, which had slightly less frontal area, the result of a “chopped top”. Geoff Gilbert and Frank Shattock built the car. Their car was visually similar to the Daytona Coupe, the primary difference being a nearly horizontal rear window, which resulted in a larger truncation at the rear end. The Willment Coupe was not ready in time for Le Mans, but it eventually went on to a long and successful career.
At the end of the 1964 European season, the Willment team travelled to South Africa to run the Springbok Series, this time with a Cobra roadster, the Willment Coupe, a Lotus Cortina, and the Holman-Moody prepared 427 Galaxie. The performances of Bob Olthoff and Jack Sears with this stable remain a part of South African racing lore.
There probably isn't much chance of getting this incredibly rare version of the Cobra Daytona Coupe in the game - but one can only ask - and hope! Perhaps PD could give us an option of the Willment livery on the in game Cobra Daytona Coupe as the shape of the cars is very similar.
A second car was started by Willment, but not finished - it is possible that the second car may have been finished at a later date or that there are replicas as internet searches appear to produce images of more than one car.
The car has great historical significance and it entered and won more races than any other Cobra Daytona Coupe.
Below - the Willment Cobra Daytona Coupe racing in South Africa in 1964.
Above in the 1970's sadly the rear window was replaced with a small vertical unit. You can see the lower profile of this car from the lower roof height, which resulted in a reduced frontal area compared with the Shelby version on which it was based.
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