1995 Ford Mustang Cobra “Nobody’s Fool” IMSA (Roush Racing chassis 23)

Auction feeds will try to sell you Mustangs every week. This one fails the usual test on purpose: Roush Racing chassis 23 is a tube-frame IMSA GTS-1 silhouette wearing removable Mustang bodywork, not a street SN95 Cobra with stickers. Jack Roush’s road-racing program built a finite set of these NASCAR-inspired space-frame cars across the mid-1980s and 1990s; what matters for Rare Machines is that this chassis is a documented works race car with a countable result — Path C without special pleading.

The result is not folklore. At the 1995 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, Racing Sports Cars and period reports put the No. 70 Roush Ford in third overall and first in GTS-1, completing hundreds of laps with Tommy Kendall, Paul Newman, Mark Martin, and Michael Brockman. Paramount’s leftover marketing budget from Newman’s film Nobody’s Fool paid the sponsorship; the number celebrated Newman’s 70th birthday. Contemporary coverage treated the class win as another chapter in Roush’s then-extraordinary run of Rolex sedan-class titles — the team’s tenth class victory in that stretch, with 1994 the gap year when they did not contest the race. Newman, already a serious amateur with a real race résumé, became the oldest driver on a major sanctioned class-winning endurance team that weekend. That is provenance you can cite, not celebrity adjacency.

After Daytona the car lived as an artifact. Unused spare body panels went on for display at Daytona USA (now in the Motorsports Hall of Fame orbit); the race-worn panels went back to Roush in Michigan and stayed carefully stored. Public Mecum / Roush collection materials say those original panels have been refitted, with the show body included in the package — a transparency note for buyers who care about patina versus display cosmetics. The powertrain story is period Roush: a Roush-built 6.0-litre Ford V8 and five-speed, Alcon brakes, BBS centre-locks, the usual IMSA hardware. We do not certify horsepower claims; we note the package class.

Score 91 — Ultra-rare. Production points reflect works Path C with an honesty haircut for the broader Roush silhouette program versus single-digit factory runs like the P35 or Jordan 191; specification is correct GTS-1 iron; provenance is a Daytona class win with a named star quartet; documentation is solid in race results and secondary motorsport press; market scarcity is exceptional on a first public offering from the Roush collection; condition points credit race-worn originality without pretending the car never sat in a museum. New marque for the Live board — Ford sits cleanly apart from the current Ultra set.

Status: Live catalog — Mecum Nashville Lot S140, 26 September 2026. Live-cap note: rotate Aprilia RS-GP (88) out first per board lock.

Watcher’s checklist

1. Confirm Roush Racing chassis 23 plate vs collection papers.
2. Do not confuse with street Mustang Cobras or later Roush Performance road cars.
3. Inventory race-worn vs included show body panels at inspection.
4. Read Daytona 1995 GTS-1 / overall results from primary race records — not film marketing alone.
5. Bill of Sale title type — plan registration / transport diligence before you bid.
6. Re-check Mecum lot status before you act.