The Tamiya “King Cobra” is actually a “DeTomaso Sport 5000 Spider (Fantuzzi)” and is not affiliated with the Shelby “King Cobra” like the name suggests. The link between the DeTomaso and Shelby was created by the Tamiya slot car and because of rumours that Shelby wanted to buy some of the cars. The design of the original was by Peter Brock, Shelby Engineer, who delivered something similar in design to the 1964 “Lang-Cooper”, a special Version of the King Cobra.
The full name of the car was Ghia-DeTomaso Sport 5000 since Ghia assisted in funding the project. 10 Cars where built with this money by Fantuzzi adhering to the FIA Group 9 reglement. The 4.7 litre Ford V8 engine which powered this car was an integral part of the rigid backbone chassis. One special feature of the car was the rear wing which was self adjusting relative to the speed of the car. It was linked to the gear shift lever. In 1965 the car had its first public appearance at the Turin Motor Show.
Looking at some history and images of the original car it seems that the Tamiya Model is a mixture between the original prototype and the later modified homologation version for the GT class. The wheel arches and the rear spoiler are taken from the original prototype while the engine air intake does look more like the street legal homologation version.
The box of the Tamiya kit depicted the car itself in a blue colour scheme similar to the colour scheme of the Shelby works cars. The is no proof, that the car actually has been shown in public with that colour. The colour has always been a traditional Italian red.
More information about the prototype can be found on following sites:
Tags: History, King Cobra, Slot Cars, Tamiya