The Daytona Sports Cars Coupe
Daytona Sports Cars Pty Ltd is more or less the by-product of a retirement project for Richard Bendell, the man behind fuel injection and data logging company, MoTeC.
A long time fan of the original cars curvaceous and muscular design, Richard imported a fibreglass body in from America, with the intent of using it for his own car project.
Upon it's arrival, and subsequent inspection, the 'boat builder' quality of the fibreglass, and the very questionable symmetry of the body, Richard, with the help of his son James, decided to scrap the body, and used it as the basis of a new buck.
Over the following 12 months, the main body, bonnet and doors were shaped, in keeping with the 'American made' bodies. (see History – The Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe) After painting, polishing and waxing, moulds of the highest quality moulding resin were produced from the patterns, by expert mould maker Richard Struthers of Cobrax Composites.
During the time between the de-moulding of the patterns, and the production of new glass fibre parts, the prototype chassis was in the final stages of its construction. Chassis design drawings had been provided by Ross Holder of Deep Thought Engineering, with input from Michael Borland of Borland Racing and Richard Bendell.
Following a successful fit up of engine and drivetrain, suspension, bodywork et al, production jigs were then constructed by Michael Borland. A swift complete assembly followed, with the car signed off literally hours before its public and race debut at Targa Tasmania 2001.
A challenging event at the best of times, and with limited preparation, and poor advice on tires, The Daytona Sports Cars Coupe ultimately came unstuck on Day 4 of the rally. Data retrieved from the MoTeC E.C.U. showed that a loss of rear wheel traction was to blame. The section of road the car was competing on was wet, and of particular note, the centre white line had been re-painted so often that it was considerably higher than the road surface. The application of the throttle as the car crested the smooth white line, just bad timing. The car clipped a tree on its front right, spun 360 on its own length and nosed into a bank. Both the driver, Richard Bendell, and his navigator son James, walked uninjured from the car, which was later revealed (again from MoTeC data) to have suffered a negative 7G hit. Not a glorious debut for the car, but proof positive of the cars design and construction strength.
Over the following years, the Daytona Sports Cars factory race car has had few revisions, and in fact, subsequent chassis are still built to its original design. It has competed in over 100 race meetings, finishing 1st in the 2003 Tourist Trophy at Phillip Island with Adam Macrow at the wheel. Rex Broadbent and Michael Goedheer have driven it to three Top Ten results at Targa Tasmania, 4th Outright their best in 2005, and 5th in 2004. Rex has also finished 3rd at The Mt Buller Sprint, and Peter Brock posted a 2nd Outright at the 2006 Lake Mountain Sprint, and finishing 12th Outright, after running 5th at the 2006 Targa Tasmania, the last two days driven with only forth gear.Daytona Sports Cars commitment to race car development, has seen the construction of a new factory race car. Following the passing of Peter Brock, the team retired from competition for a year, but have since made a return to racing where they started out; Targa Tasmania.
2007 saw the 2nd factory car make it's way around Tasmania, again with Richard Bendell at the wheel, this time teaming up with his brother John. Despite a careful and relaxed drive the 'happy amateurs' were sidelined by a defective drive-by-wire motor.