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Shame on Shelby
I finally figured it out and made peace with my emotions. In 1971 when we were buying and autocrossing Shelby GT350's cause they were cheap and fast, we worshiped The Man because he created our treasured Mustangs and Cobras. As the years wore on we felt racing the cars, showing them once in a while to drum up new members and driving them all over the East Coast was necessary to preserve the memory of the great things Shelby American did. Ford quit racing as we were building the killer 66 Shelby racer car and parts dried up. Noone cared except the few of us who owned and loved the cars. Over the years Shelby lovers had conventions, formed clubs, exchanged ideas and drove the *** out of the little cars from Los Angles. Standing in a motel parking lot all night talking Shelbys and Cobras was as normal as puting gas in the tank. We invited Shelby to all the events, but his health and commitments to Chrysler kept him away. Running across him at a vintage race in the 1980's at Road Atlanta and having him sign the racing Shelby was a highlight of my life. I have several things signed by him before he started charging for it. Then all the **** with the Mustang and Shelby vendors over copywrites, telling us we could not get parts for our beloved Shelby's anymore cause he would not build them, trying to buy SAAC, charging for autographs, putting his name on anything for a price, and wanting to control the market we created over love of the cars created great raw spots. My peace came when I finally realized it was the cars we honored. We included the man because he was the creator of our passions and we wanted him to know how much we appreciated what he did. He could have cared less until he realized how much these old Mustangs were getting to be worth and wanted part of the action. Today, I drive a Shelby GT daily, run solos and open tracks. It averages 26 MPG at 80 and 24 around town if you keep your accelleration modest. It is a 1966 Shelby with aminitys. It came from Las Vega already signed. I don't think much of Shelby and his crowd because of what they have done in the past few years. I no longer run with Shelby collectors, I can not afford the price of admission. I honor the car and the heritage of the car because of what it is, not who built it. I do drive the 07 and have savored each of the 30,000 miles behind the wheel. I am building an old school GT350H clone, no restomod here. You want current technology and comfort, buy a new Shelby. They have more new ones on the market than I can keep up with. The 66 will slide around corners with gobs of go pedal, take two feet on the brakes to stop it, wrestler arms for the quick steering and I'll be grinning all the way. No AC, no radio, ten spokes and all the parts that would have been installed by Shelby. You will not be able to tell it from an orginal until you look for the Shelby VIN. Two cars, one new and one old, each the best of it's herd, and the time to drive them with vigor. Drive the cars Carrol gave us, enjoy them for the awsome machines they are. SEE YA
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