Driving Line VOLUME V ISSUE 1 | WINTER 2019 | Page 24

CARS ARE
GOOD FOR PEOPLE
Story by Greg Friend
Photos by Luke Munnell
Back in the mid-’60s, Carroll Shelby loosely based the 65 Coupe from Factory Five Racing, that start at just $21,000 in 1983, I was in the Air Force working as a crew chief for
Daytona Coupe on the chassis and drivetrain of the AC Cobra, (unassembled and without engine/transmission/rear-end/ a B-52 and a KC-135 for the Strategic Air Command. One
but the Daytona was able to achieve a higher top speed wheels/tire/paint job). If an enthusiast is interested in racing of my friends took me out to race a stock car on a dirt
than the AC Cobra because of the better aerodynamics of a a Daytona-style car, there’s no reason not to at that price. track in the Central Valley in California. I loved the feeling
closed cockpit. Unfortunately, there were only six Daytonas Which is exactly why Karen Salvaggio built one for herself. of racing so much that the next week I bought a ’70 4-4-2
ever built. It’s no surprise that racing enthusiasts would
Oldsmobile so I could race on my own,” Salvaggio said.
be interested in owning one, but most people don’t have This Factory Five Type 65 Coupe wasn’t Karen’s first
a disposable income that numbers in the millions. Luckily, race car. She knew that she wanted to race since she was
there are reasonably priced replicas available, like the Type a child, but didn’t really get into it until the early ’80s. “Back
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