Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe: first auto on U.S. Historic Register
Historic Vehicle Assn. makes history with 1964 original at the WAS
The Historic Vehicle Association (HVA) announced at The Washington Auto Show that the 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe will become the first ever automobile to be recorded under the Secretary of Interiors Standards for Heritage Documentation. The documentation initiates the National Historic Vehicle Register and Historic American Engineering Record that is permanently archived in the Library of Congress. The HVA and U.S. Interior Department collaborated on the effort, setting in motion a course that opens the door to documenting other historically significant cars, much the same as houses are placed on the Historic Register.
The Shelby Coupe will be kept at Fort Meade in Maryland and will be available to all on the Interior Department website, said Richard OConnor, chief of the agencys Heritage Documentation Program. It joins other engineering icons such as the Statue of Liberty and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Peter Brock, who designed the Coupe and was on hand at the Auto Show, said it was the last automobile built on the garage floor. After that, cars were built on computers.
The Shelby Coupe had been housed at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, where it was stored for 30 years. It is so important to preserve the Coupe in its original condition rather than to restore it, said Dr. Frederick Simeone, executive director of the museum. HVA presented Simeone its National Automotive Heritage and Stewardship Award after the unveiling of the classic, and likely priceless, Shelby original from 1964.
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