VIN: the Edward Freutel / John Woolfe AC Shelby Cobra chassis CSX 3019

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History of chassis CSX 3019

Chassis CSX 3019 was an AC Shelby Cobra built to competition specification in left-hand drive with a seven-litre dry-sumped engine. Painted black, it was ordered by attorney, Edward Freutel Jr., who was a Partner at O’Melveny & Myers on Spring Street, Los Angeles.

Freutel was a keen amateur driver. Between 1952 and 1961, he had successfully raced an MG TC, a Porsche 356, a Stanguellini Formula Junior and a brace of Lotuses (a MkVI and Eleven).

After a five year break from motor racing, Freutel returned to the sport in 1966. He teamed up with his good friend, Tony Settember, and together they would drive Freutel’s menacing black Cobra in some of Europe’s most historic events.

For their travels around the continent, Freutel also purchased a black left-hand drive Cobra road car (CSX 3167).

Entries were lodged for the Targa Florio, the 1000km races at Spa and the Nurburgring and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Things got off to a bad start at the Targa Florio when, on lap two, Freutel hit a marker stone and badly damaged a wheel.

The car was repaired in time to participate at Spa two weeks later. Freutel and Settember qualified 19th out of 31 starters, but failed to finish because of mechanical problems.

There was another two-week break before the Nurburgring 1000km where Freutel and Settember qualified 23rd on a grid of 77 cars. The Cobra was still running when the winning Chaparral 2D crossed the line, but as CSX 3019 had only covered 32 of the allotted 44 laps, it was not classified as a finisher.

Freutel’s entry for the Le Mans 24 Hours never materialised.

Up against a new generation of Sports cars like the Ford GT40 and Ferrari 250 LM, the Cobra was simply not competitive in amateur hands.

Rather than take the cars back to the US, Edward Freutel sold both his European-domiciled Cobras to John Tojeiro. The price was £500 apiece and Tojeiro quickly sold them on for £1000 each.

The buyer of both cars was John Woolfe who, together with his business partner, Arnold Burton, ran John Woolfe Racing, a major UK retailer of high performance automotive parts.

Like Freutel, Woolfe was also planning a return to competition after a prolonged absence. Between 1959 and 1962, he had raced a Lola Mk1 and TVR Grantura.

Woolfe added a pair of blue stripes to CSX 3019 and made a winning return at Silverstone in May 1967.

This was followed by a pair of second place finishes later in the year.

A trip to Portugal for the annual race at Vila Real ended with retirement.

In October 1969, Woolfe had CSX 3019 road registered. It was issued licence plate GTM 700F and thereafter took in the occasional hillclimb, sometimes with John Macklin at the wheel.

For 1968, John Woolfe purchased a Lola T70 Mk3 GT and Chevron B12. He followed these up with a McLaren M6B and Porsche 917 for 1969.

Unfortunately, Woolfe lost his life in a fiery accident at the 1969 Le Mans 24 Hours (his maiden run in the 917).

Via executors, both Woolfe’s Cobras passed to Hexagon of Highgate run by Paul Michaels.

CSX 3019 later went on long-term on display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.

Notable History

Sold to Edward Freutel, Los Angeles

Ecurie Cinquante Cinq

08/05/1966 WSC Targa Florio (E. Freutel / T. Settember) DNF (#178)
22/05/1966 WSC Spa 1000km (T. Settember / E. Freutel) DNF (#5)
05/06/1966 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (T. Settember / E. Freutel) NC (#53)
19/06/1966 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (T. Settember / E. Freutel) DNA (#-)

Sold to John Tojeiro

Sold to John Woolfe

14/05/1967 IND Silverstone (J. Woolfe) 1st oa
14/05/1967 IND Snetterton (J. Woolfe) 2nd oa
09/07/1967 IND Vila Real (J. Woolfe) ran (#26)
30/07/1967 IND Silverstone (J. Woolfe) 2nd oa
13/08/1967 IND Wills Trophy, Croft (J. Woolfe) DNS
09/06/1968 IND Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb (J. Macklin) ran (#27)

John Woolfe died in an accident at Le Mans in 1969

Sold by the executors of Woolfe's estate to Paul Michaels, Hexagon of Highgate

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Supercar Nostalgia