The legendary Daytona Coupe was a world-beater on the international racing circuit in the mid-'60s. From its design, several kit and replicar companies have been inspired to create replicas or original homages to the marque. As only six primary Daytonas were ever completed, this makes the 21st century clones very special cars. When Superformance chose to add a Coupe to its line, they went to the Daytona's original designer, Peter Brock, to create the Superformance Brock Coupe.
While the Daytona was originally designed for racing, the Superformance Brock Coupe is a sophisticated grand touring car capable of transporting two people great distances at high speeds in comfort.
Peter Brock and a design team were approached by Superformance's Jim Price with the question: "If you had the chance to do it over again, would you do it differently? Could you do it better?" For Brock, the designer of the original Daytona Coupe, Bob Negstad, designer of the 427 Cobra chassis and suspension, and Bob Olthoff, driver of the winning-est Coupe of all, the answer would be, "Yes!"
Price had intended for the Coupe to be part of the Superformance product line from the beginning. His early research told him that an exact replica was impossible. There was no definitive Daytona Coupe design. There were six Daytona Coupes, all hand-made and all different. The only solution was to create the definitive Coupe from scratch, drawing on history, but in the end creating a new, modern car with spiritual ties to the past. So Price went to the man who had hand-built three of the Coupes-Brock.
The Brock body model is a derivative design, slightly larger than the original, to improve both suspension design and interior space. The lines are more voluptuous. The windshield has a sharper rake and more curvature. These and other design changes make it a car that evokes the image of the original but handles better, rides better, and is more aerodynamic, more spacious, and arguably, more beautiful.
To the naked eye, the new car looks to be the same size as the original Daytona Coupe, but it is slightly larger in every dimension. The shape is so tuned to 21st century areodynamics that an original looks somehow off by comparison.
The body is made of hand-laid fiberglass cloth and polyester resin. The body, doors, and nose section are hand-designed and fitted before painting to ensure a world-class finish and a carefully controlled fit in final assembly. Carbon fiber is used in several under-hood components, such as the radiator duct and the heater/air conditioning box.
Negstad created the new car's chassis design. He had done the original GT-40 and 427 Cobra chassis designs while working for Ford. He helped create the Superformance Brock Coupe to be equally at home on the road or on the track, a car that can be a 200-mph car with handling and braking to match.
The new Coupe's round tube space frame chassis is as modern as they come. Negstad and Dan Bamford of Roush Engineering completed the chassis design using the latest design techniques and principles. Wes Schultz of ACT did the finite element analysis. The frame is made of jig-welded, seamless round mild steel tubing. Unlike the original 289 chassis, the Superformance Coupe chassis is quite rigid.
The design team decided to extend the wheelbase 3 inches and to increase length, width, and height proportionally. The longer and wider chassis allowed room to optimize the suspension design.