By 1963, Cobras were doing very well in Sports Car Club of America races. Cars driven by Shelby American drivers won the SCCA A Production National Championship. In addition, they won the SCCA Production-Class U.S. Road Racing Championship.
Carroll Shelby, however, wanted to enter and win the unlimited USAC Sports Car Championship. This was a series contested by sports-racing cars that had few of the limitations imposed on so-called production cars that were raced. The problem was that the front-engined Cobras, essentially production cars, would not be competitive.
