Thanks to an internet presence of more than fifteen years, theCoralsnake has become a clearing house for connecting owners and like minded 1968 enthusiasts.
So, here is how the original owner found his old car and
gave the gift of its history.
It's also been my experience that an old school pen and paper work magic!
Original Photograph of # 83 - Hillcrest Park in Fullerton, CA 07/16/1969
On 06/10/2015, I received a call from the service center manager at one of our Valvoline Instant Oil Change locations. He said he had received a strange letter made out to my dad, Rick,
that had been
mailed from Spain. We agreed it was probably a scam or some weird junk mail but I told him to hang onto it.
Later that day, I got ahold of my dad and relayed everything the manager had told me. He said that the name of the author sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn’t place it.
I swore that I had heard that name somewhere, too, but nothing was coming to mind. He told me to go ahead and open it up and to call him back if it was anything interesting.
I wasn’t in any big hurry to solve the mystery, but I did call the manager back a few hours later and told him to open it. I could hear him tear the envelope over the phone and then he was quiet
for a few seconds as he read. Finally he said, “It looks like your dad has another son in Spain!” Funny guy!
As it turned out, this is what was in the strange envelope from Spain:
A letter dated 05/14/2015:
Look at the attached picture. Notice anything familiar? If you still own your GT-350, then we have something in common. I am the original owner of your Shelby and had it for 11 years.
A few days ago, I was wondering if the current owner would be interested in learning of the car’s early history and seeing pictures of it back then ? If so, let me know and I will take you
back in time. For instance, your car was hit by a runaway vehicle. Also, a thief once considered breaking into it, but decided not to when he saw what was inside.
(Not an anti-theft device nor a less-than-friendly Rottweiler.) This is a copy of an e-mail I sent earlier in case you did not receive it. I do not wish to be a bother and unless
I hear from you, I will make no further contact.
Best Regards,
Bob
Spring of 1970 with Rally & Autocross Trophies (Attached photo)
Email to Bob 06/10/2015:
Dear Bob,
I received your letter in the mail at one of my stores today and was absolutely blown away! I am Rick's son and I am sure he is dying to talk to you. I have cc'd him on this email so
you guys can connect. The email that you tried to send the letter to is not any of ours... so thank you for actually mailing a letter! The first question I'm sure he will ask is how
on earth you tracked him down???
He has had the Shelby since 1996 and both of us have had a lot of memories with the car. When we located it, it had been parked in a warehouse for about nine years and was
untouched from what you show in this picture (paint, mags, tires, etc. were all the same). Obviously, we have restored it, but I will let my dad take it from here.
Again, thank you so much for reaching out to us. We thought the information that you will be able to provide was lost forever!
Sincerely,
Ryan
The Search
Rick / Ryan,
It is probably best to start with why and how I found you and the car. As you will see three other people also deserve thanks as they helped me with the search.
Over the past years, I have infrequently wondered what happened to my GT350, but in all honesty, I never gave it any serious time or thought.
About a month ago, I found myself visiting the forum section of SAAC´s web site. I think it was only the second time I had even looked at it so it was not a normal experience.
For some reason it got me to thinking. I eventually learned that one member, Pete aka, Coralsnake was very knowledgeable on 1968 Shelbys so I sent him an email.
I explained that I was the original owner of a 1968 GT350 and was searching for the current owner. Primarily, I thought the present owner might
like to know the early history of it as well as receive pictures of the car.
I told Pete that I had detailed information about the car that could possibly identify it even after a rotisserie restoration.
However, I admitted I lacked one key piece of data, the vehicle identification number. I had the original purchase order up until 2003 but lost it
during a move. Without the VIN, I figured my chances of connecting with the owner were somewhere between slim and none. I got the feeling he agreed with me.
We exchanged a few more emails and then he put me in contact with Vincent who is responsible for the registrar at SAAC.
I gave him the information on the car and after some back and forth he gave me, based on their records, the last known owner of
the car, Rick (Cambria, CA). Since the date was from 1995. I was not holding out much hope this individual would still own the car.
At this point, my wife, Florence picked up the ball and spent time searching the Internet based on what we had to work with.
She eventually matched up the name to a Valvoline business in Visalia, California. Not Cambria, but close. From this she found the business´ web site.
She quickly clicked through pictures on the site and after the last one flew by she thought she spotted a familiar set of wheels.
Clicking back she said to me,
“Look at this.” As soon as I saw the license plate I knew we nailed it.
So that is what led to me to send the email and subsequent letter.
By the way, Florence wants me to assure you we are not stalkers.
History of the Car
Buckle up as we take a drive down Memory Lane.
I have been passionate about cars all the way back to when I was a child. And, when Carroll Shelby came along with the Cobra and Shelby Mustangs, I was hooked on them.
I shot and still have Super 8 movies of them racing at Willow Springs Raceway in Southern California. And I
can even now remember driving by a Ford dealership in Buena Park where they had a used 1966 GT350 sitting on the lot with a price of $2800.
Here is, in a relative chronical order, the early history of the car. In 1968, I was living at home, going to college, and working nights and weekends pumping gas at a
Union 76 Station. Did a lot of oil changes as well. Something Ryan and I have in common.
As much as I liked the ´65 and ´66s, I had a fairly long drive to school every day and I was not sure the first generation version would work as a commuter car. So,
I decided on a new ´68. I visited three dealerships, Theodore Robins Ford, Mel Burns Ford, and finally Downey Auto Center where I bought the car. I gave the salesman,
Polloch a list of how I wanted the car equipped. He came back a few days/week later and said they found a car that met my needs with the exception of color. The only
one they could find was Gold (Yuk). I said it had to be Acapulco Blue.
I can remember the day the car was shipped to the dealer. It was night and my Dad and I went down to see the car. It was parked in their dimly lit garage. It was the
only time I saw it in its original color.
I had to chuckle when I read your email: “Everyone has always found it so interesting that Downey Auto center painted the Shelby Acapulco Blue at no cost for you.” It
did not show up on the purchase order, but I paid $500 extra to have the car painted blue. Downey did not use their in-house paint shop but sent it to an outside shop.
From Pete, I learned that the car was early in the run. Now, here is some information even I did not know about, or forgotten, until last
month. This was sent to me by Vincent.
(VIN#) 8T02J115325-00083. GT350. Shipped to Downey Auto Center (Downey, CA) 5/7/68. Memo from H. E. Mills dated 1/19/68 vehicle was on list of “cars in the hole” that
need work to finish for shipment and defects were to paint hood, deck lid and cowl and thermactor hose. MSRP $4609.69 dealer cost $3813.27 invoice contained no date or
color (original color was gold). Repainted blue by Downey. On 6/19/68 salesmen Polloch of Downey Auto Center sold car to original owner as part of a dealer “Summer Sales
Contest” from May 21 thru Oct 31 Shelby sales rep in charge of zone 1 was Jim Camp. On 6/19/68 as new unit vehicle had warranty service at dealership for replace lugs on
right front and repair radio at a cost of $23.15 with 11 miles. On 8/28/68 original owner J. B. W. (father signed for son Bob) (Rossmore, CA) had warranty service at dealership
for grease cup and leak at rear axle at a cost of $21.80 with 3531 miles. On 11/30/68 the car went back for speedometer recalibration and a power steering leak with 10,743 miles.
I was told that they sourced the car from a dealer in Riverside or San Bernardino area. From what is stated above, it seems rather
ironic that they had to repaint part of the car when it was gold (at the factory) and then paint the whole thing again in blue.
The last name was spelled wrong but that was no big deal. But why did my father sign for the car if I was buying it? As mentioned earlier, between living at home, college and
work my disposable income was shall we say rather limited. I figured if the car was registered in my Dad´s name, I could be listed as the secondary driver and save a fair chunk
of money on insurance.
Jumping forward in time for a moment, once I moved out I had the registration change to my name. When I went to the DMV the clerk wanted to list it as a Ford Mustang but I
insisted it was a Shelby and she eventually relented. OK, I´ll be honest. It probably was a status issue on my part.
It was an afternoon; believe it was a Saturday, that I picked the car up. I remember that they had it parked in the showroom. Polloch handed me the keys and said to back it
out. All I could see was floor to ceiling windows and a narrow opening where the sliding glass door was pushed open. I was nervous. I kept visualizing shattered glass raining
down if I did not get it right so I asked him to take it out which he did.
Soon after we left. This was a family affair with Dad riding shotgun and my Mom and brother following in the folk´s car. I immediately noticed that the frontend was noticeably
out of alignment.
A few days later I called the dealer about the alignment problem and was told it was not covered under warranty and I would have to pay for the work. I asked to speak with Polloch
but was told he was on vacation. Once he returned, I called and he said to bring it in and they would fix it at no charge to me.
This might be a good time to answer your stripe and recall questions. First, Downey could not put the stripe on the car when it was painted because they did not have them. They
were on backorder. When they did come in, I went down to the parts department and picked them up. I decided not to apply them because I liked the clean look and let´s face it,
it added questions and a little mystery. Was it a 350, 500, or 500KR? When I sold the car to Virginia, I gave her the box with the stripes.
The sequential turn lights were functional when the car was new. Later, the sequencer stopped working. Maybe I was just lazy, but I just bypassed it and wired the each bank of
lights to work simultaneously.
You may already be familiar with much of this, but I will mention a few other things. There was a lot of mix and matching going on back then with Shelbys. Throw in recalls and
it is easy to see why there were differences between cars. And to add to things, just because recalls were announced did not mean that they were ever performed. For example,
the Marchals were supposed to be replaced on the cars with Lucas driving lamps, but obviously they were not on mine. If you look at the air cleaner cover you will see it has
a single hold-down post and screw. Later people complained about it so a dual version was used. I was never notified about recalls so any that were performed on the car were
done prior to my purchasing it.
Exterior of the Car
Actually, the car was involved in two accidents. Although both caused damage, neither was extremely serious. I can´t remember the exact dates but I am pretty sure the first
occurred in 1969 and the second between January 1969 and June, 1970. I´ll start with the more dramatic one.
Back to the gas station and a glance at the overhead picture I have attached will simplify things. It was after dark and I happened to be looking out the rear of the station.
A 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 pulled around the rear of the station and the driver, leaving the engine running, parked his car and went into the liquor store next door. Unfortunately,
after he entered the building the car popped out of park and into reverse. I watched as it started backing up, careened off a car parked behind the station and rammed into the
right rear of my car. Since my first thought was to shut the engine off I ran around to the driver´s side to open the door. Except, I found the car locked. Since it was shoving
my car into the car in front of mine I had to find some way of disabling it. I leaned over, grabbed the release popping the hood and yanked out the coil wire which stopped everything.
Seconds later the driver came frantically running up and after things settled down we exchanged information. In the end his insurance paid for the repairs and all was OK.
I do have a picture of the damage but I won´t be able to send it at this time.
When I sold the car there was one very small reminder of this accident. If you looked at the front nose of the car there was/is a thin, brushed metal or chrome strip around the grill
opening. A very small dimple existed on the left side from when the car got pushed into the one parked ahead of it.
There is an interesting side note to the story. A new owner bought the station during the three or so years I worked there. His name was Russ and that is who Google Maps shows as
the present owner after all these years.
The second accident was entirely my fault. My parents owned the yellow house you see in one of the pictures. A low but stout evergreen bush was planted next to the driveway by the
sidewalk. With the motor running and the passenger door open I inadvertently backed up and buckled the door.
When I got the car back from the body shop I was not entirely satisfied with the repair. I always felt they could have done a better job matching the horizontal sculpted seam between
the door and the fender.
I never cared much for the stock wheel covers. I remember one magazine article at the time made an interesting comment about them. It said Carroll probably used them on his ranch
as ashtrays. I would have preferred getting the optional 10-spoke wheels when it was new, but they were way too pricey for me. So, I did the next best thing and put the mag wheels
on the car. I did have some trouble finding rims with a positive offset that would work on the car. I must say they do look sharp on your car now.
Are the fenders you have now the same as when I sold it? With a little close inspection you may be able to tell. For normal driving I did not have any real problems as far as
clearing the tires, but where it would come into play was with my extracurricular activity. More on that later. To gain every fraction of space I trimmed part of the metal where
the wheel opening curves under. If it is perfectly stock and fully rounded they have been replaced. If it is missing an eight to three sixteenths of an inch or it is fully rounded
but has had this amount of metal welded back on, then the fenders are original.
During my emails with Pete I sent him a picture of the car. He noticed that the tires in the shot of the car in front of the house were mismatched. He believes that the small
letter Goodyear Speedways are what were on the car when it was delivered as the large raised white Goodyears were used later in the year. Although he is very knowledgeable with
the make and year, I will have to disagree with him for two reasons. First, my fuzzy memory is that all the tires matched when delivered and all were the latter. Secondly, these
tires only appear in the very early pictures of the car.
Mechanical Repairs
At some point between 1969 and 1970 I replaced the original shocks with Konis.
During a trip, date unknown, Florence and I were travelling to San Francisco and Reno. The car started running rough so we found the nearest Shelby dealer which was in Elk Grove,
CA. They said the carburetor needed to be rebuilt so we left the car, got a motel and stayed the night there. The following afternoon we picked the car up and all was fine.
Between 1972 and 1974 I found a radiator leak upon arriving at work. I pulled it out at lunch and dropped it off at a shop. After work I picked it up, reinstalled it and drove home.
Not too long before I sold the car I had the timing chain replaced. This was the only internal work performed on the engine.
Other than the warranty work described and the above mentioned repairs, the only other work completed on the car were standard oil and filter changes, fluids replaced and brake
jobs. Clutch, transmission and rear end were not touched.
Interior and Security of the Car
I laughed when I read this. “Somebody had wired in a crazy alarm system at some point. I would guess it was of a late-'70s vintage with a big bell under the hood.” Well, I´m
the guy who soon after buying the car installed the crazy alarm system. Believe it or not, Ryan, back in the old days this was state of the art antitheft technology for automobiles.
When you heard one of these go off you knew either a car was being stolen or the nearby school was having a fire drill.
Since we are on the subject of great bodily harm coming to the car I will lump in other related incidents. At that time most interior door knobs were flared at the top making them easier to grip.
And, it made it easier for the bad guys to hook them from the outside with a coat hanger. So, I replaced them with thin, pencil like chrome versions. When I went
to pick up the car on one of the warranty service visits to the dealership, could have been the power steering leak time, I found that they had been stolen. (Do you think it was
an inside job?)
Turning to the 8 track-stereo, I liked the function and look of the Pioneer units. Normally, people had them put at the bottom of the dash in the center. Obviously that would not
work with the car because of the console. I thought it looked tacky to simply hang it somewhere on the passenger side so I decide on a more radical, but elegant and secure solution.
I asked the shop doing the installation to put it in the dash on the passenger side so it would look like it came as a factory built-in. They did the job and charged me $25 extra
for the work. When I went to pick it up they said they´d never do that again since it was more difficult than they expected. I would guess today Shelby purists, upon seeing where
the stereo resided, would go into apoplexy.
So how did I know about the thief and almost theft incident? We had a sleazy guy hang around the gas station once in a while. One day when I was not there he told the guys that he
had been down at Laguna Beach on a particular day and considered breaking into a Shelby to steal its tape deck, but decided against it. He said it was built into the dash and figured
it would be too big a hassle to get it out. Guess who was in Laguna Beach that day? Don´t think too hard on this.
Let´s move to the front of the car. I was concerned that someone would pop the hood and boost something like the air cleaner, valve covers, carb and intake manifold or worse. So,
I installed a pair of eyebolts and padlock in front of the grill to prevent this from happening. It is seen in one of the pictures I have attached to the email. After writing all
this now the first word that comes to my mind is paranoia.
Back to the interior questions. For some reason I did not care for the stock shifter knob that came with the Shelbys so I bought the one you have now. I can´t remember where I got it.
The console cover. I was still living with my folks when the thread holding it together began to fray. I asked my Mother if she could sew it up. It turned out rather crude but it
was not her fault at all. I told her to use whatever thread she had in her kit. Had I known then what I know now, I would have gotten much finer thread for her to use.
What dummy at Ford designed that fragile horn ring? The first time I had a serious need to honk I put my hand through the ring and it broke. I grumbled, bought another one and
installed it. Soon after I did the very same thing again and promptly said forget this. After that when the horn was needed I just hooked my thumb onto the stub that was leftover.
Continuing with my Shelby relationship. (Bob sounds like he´s talking about a girlfriend or something doesn´t he.)
Not only did I have a new car, but four guys rented the house next to my folks. They had already graduated from college and had gotten jobs in the aircraft industry. Why is this
important, because they were all gearheads and I started hanging out with them a lot. From 1968 to 1970 my girlfriend (future wife) and I started going on a number of Friday night
car rallies. I also ran four autocross events with the car. After reading Rick and Ryan about your experiences I´m thinking competition is part of cars DNA.
The first autocross I ran was at Orange County International Raceway. They had a two mile road course. They split everyone into groups of ten and gave us a few practice laps with
no passing allowed before starting the individual timed ones. As luck would have it I was number one in our group. When they let me go I did my best imitation of Steve McQueen in
Bullitt. After about an eighth of a mile I glanced in the mirror and saw a D Sports Racer so far up my…my…(use your imagination) I could only see the back half of the car. At the
end of a long straight on lap three I hit the brakes and thought, hmm why am I not slowing down? Oh wait, I´ve read about this. This is what they call brake fade. At the last second
I spotted an access road to the track at the entrance to the curve. So, as I went straight, everyone else turned right. I made a U-turn, got back on the track and finished the session.
Once I came back into the staging area my gearhead friends came up and told me how considerate I was to pull off the track and let the faster cars go by. Well…I had to admit it was
not exactly voluntary.
I next ran an event at the old Ford plant parking lot in Pico Rivera and two more at Moor Park College. I remember on the last one I approached a corner, turned the wheel left and
surprise, the car kept going straight. Pondering as before I thought, this is probably that understeer thing. The art of thinking you’re going fast when you’re really not. I must
have learned something because on the next go I did better and took 1st place in class. I still have the trophy today.
One time the gearheads and I caravanned up to Laguna Seca with our cars and girlfriends for a Can-Am race. Later three of the guys wanted to go to a Trans-Am race there. Since I
was the only one with a four seater guess who was volunteered to drive. Imagine four of us, three pushing six foot, crammed into that car.
A good friend of mine used to work at the Riverside International Raceway Museum. At one of their annual events, Carroll Shelby was their guest of honor. That is where he picked
up the signed metal painting with his signature you see in the picture.
This was the era of the Viet Nam War and the draft lottery. I happened to be in the car and listening to the radio while they called the numbers. From July, 1970 to March 1972
the car was parked in my parent´s garage and rarely driven.
Why did I sell the car? Well there were two main reasons. First, we had been though the gas shortage time. I can remember pushing the car as it creeped toward the one station
for miles that had fuel. It was not happening when I contemplated selling the car, but it was still in the back of my mind. I was thinking the bottom was going to fall out on
muscle, pony and sports cars so I better get off the train before it crashes.
And secondly, it´s true confession time, I was being seduced by a sexy lady named Porsche. Unfortunately, what I wanted was a 911. What I/we could afford was a 924. Funny, I
have a picture of the latter sitting in the driveway next to the Shelby just before I sold it.
(Thank God Bob did not become an Investment Counselor. Today, Shelbys are worth serious coin. 924 are worth…let me see, what is scrap metal selling for today?)
Eventually though, an air-cooled autobahn express roosted in the garage.
Selling the Shelby
It was 1979. Back then the Internet was just a gleam in some theoretical physicist´s eye. Since the car was a bit different just looking at want ads for fastback Mustangs
would not give a true value of the car. So a few month before I started collecting ads from the L.A. Times.
When it got time to put the car on the market I called the former sellers, explained my situation and politely asked them what they sold their cars for. Most understood and
passed on what they were paid, except one guy. He thought I was some sort of scam artist. I think I even remember the license plate number of his car; it was something like
4 SHELBY. He demanded that I give him my phone number which I did. He called me back but still thought I was a fraud. He told me a couple of thing but I never convinced him I
was legit.
I placed an ad in the Times, gave a description and stated the miles at about 69,000. I got three calls from people who wanted to see the car. The first was from the husband
of a woman named Virginia. (I remember the couple but thanks Vincent for the name.) I told them to come on Saturday at 3 PM. Then a second guy called wanting to see the car.
Guess what day and time I told him to come? And then there was the third guy. He admitted he was not really a buyer. He was actually a teacher from Garden Grove who used to
own a GT350 but later sold it. I think he was sorry he´d gotten rid of it and just felt nostalgic. I told him he could come as well but told him to act like he was a buyer.
Needless to say I told him when he needed to be there.
The first to arrive was the teacher. I remember he drove up in a ´67 or ´68 light blue Mustang Fastback. Shortly thereafter Virginia and her husband showed. We talked about
the car and Virginia´s husband said that he had called Shelby´s offices, wherever that was in Southern California, to ask what to look for to verify the car was real. (Back
then the word clone and tribute did not exist.) He claimed by accident he actually spoke with Carroll himself.
While they were looking the car over the second prospective buyer arrived. He was in his late 20´s and had two friends with him. Virginia wanted to go for a ride but asked
me to drive so I did. When we got back the second buyer said he was interested in the car but wanted to schedule an appointment with his mechanic to inspect the car.
I can´t remember exactly what I was asking for the car, but it was very close to what I paid for it, $4609.69. I said that I did not expect the buyers to get into a bidding
war. Both were willing to pay what I wanted, but Virginia said she would not require an inspection. I took her offer. She asked if she could have the purchase order but I said
that I wanted to keep that for myself. I did make her a photocopy which is what you have now. We met at their bank, probably the following Monday, to finalize the deal.
I never heard anything more about the car until I received your email Ryan. From what little you have told me I can tell the car is important to the both of you. It is good
to learn that it has survived, but equally gratifying to hear that it did not end up as some trailer queen that posed at car shows. It sounds like you not only have kept
it in excellent condition, but also have spent many hours behind the wheel on the road.
Rick and Ryan, I hope your Shelby gives you as much pleasure as it did for me. A person who is passionate about cars knows they are more than transportation, they revive
memories.
Bob
Email from Rick to Bob on 06/15/2015:
Hello Bob,
WOW, what a letter!
How can I ever thank you for taking the time and effort to chase us down? What wonderful stories. Shelby America has just got to love this after the help they gave you.
You need not let your love affair with this Shelby end. You and you dear wife are welcome to visit and take the car for a ride anytime. As Ryan has already stated, we
spent yesterday putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. Ryan took lots of pictures and surely will be sending them to you. He even took a couple of short videos
for your listening pleasure. I see that one has already been sent.
I will be gone and out of the loop until after the 4th of July. My wife Cathy, married her in 1974, has never seen Yellowstone Park. We decided we should go take a visit
before it blows up.
We hope all is well and keep enjoying Spain. We are jealous.
Thanks again for your detailed letter. Your memory is outstanding! What was the final piece of information that allowed Vincent to identify the right car? I’m guessing he was able to use the dealer and sales date to figure out the mystery. Ironically, I had contacted Pete out of the blue a couple of years ago because he had a picture of a license plate fame from for the dealer (Colonial Ford, long since shut down) where my ’68 GT/CS was sold in San Diego. He was willing to part with it and it now rides around on my car! Small world. I’ve already sent you the link for the article that had the picture of the two cars in front of one of our stores, but that was only published less than a year ago. It sounds like if your wife hadn’t found the picture of the cars from the article that I posted on the website, a letter would have likely never been sent to the store and made its way to me. Also amazing is that you were persistent enough to send a letter when you didn’t receive a response from the bad email address. What an incredible story… the stars aligned and I guess it was just meant to be.
A side note to Florence: Thanks for the reassurance that you are not stalkers. I believe my mom thought it was a little strange but both Dad and I thought it was awesome!!!
Shockingly, our story begins almost exactly where you left off. We have a picture of the odometer when we found the car. Ready for this? It read: 69,079! The last memory you have of the car driving off after you sold it was, quite literally, the last time the car was ever driven. My jaw dropped when you said you sold it at around 69,000 miles. I can only assume now that both the owners in between us bought the car for an investment. The problem, of course, is that the car had badly suffered from “garage death” by the time we got our hands on it. We knew it had sat in a warehouse untouched for nine years but now we know she sat for 17 years! I have attached several pictures from that day and it will look very familiar to you. It appears the only things that happened to it over the years was that somebody had taken out the 8-track (it was in a box in the trunk), repaired the horn ring on the steering wheel, and located an original set of 10-spoke wheels but never had them installed.
Believe it or not, we replaced all the fluids, hoses, belts, battery and plugs and were actually able to get the thing started! We even aired up the old Polyglas tires and drove around (slowly) with “squared” tires. As you would imagine, the engine ran really rough, smoked like crazy, and constantly overheated. We didn’t care! We actually drove it around like that for several months, having a ball, before starting into the restoration.
I am going to stop our story briefly at this point and comment on everything that jumped out at me from your letter. First, your Super 8 movies of GT-350s racing at Willow Springs have got to be priceless. If you ever get them converted to DVD I am sure the guys at SAAC would kill for them. This reminded me, however, that the car has also been run on Willow Springs as well as a small track in Central California called Buttonwillow. I think you are correct that it’s just part of the car’s DNA!
Sears Point (now Infineon) Raceway, CA
It makes sense that you had to pay for the paintjob. Nobody could believe you got it done for free, even though that is how it appeared. $500 was a lot of money, though… now I fully understand your (our) utter disdain for Sunlit Gold! You may or may not know this but there is one spot that was missed in the repaint. The fiberglass panel that supports the fog lamps is still gold underneath. We decided to leave it that way when we painted it black. You already know most of the story on how we chose black but we had written to SAAC and asked them if Acapulco Blue would be considered “original” since it was blue before you took possession of the car. It was the basis for an interesting article on “Factory Correct vs. Dealer Installed” that was published in their magazine. The short answer was that only gold is factory correct and that if we didn’t like the gold then we should paint it whatever we wanted and “everyone else be damned!”
If you’ve already looked at the pictures then you have realized we still have your back-ordered side stripes in their box! They actually survived with the car. We seriously thought about using them but decided against it just because they were so old. Besides, that’s a pretty unusual NOS part to have sitting around on display!
You made a wise choice with upgrading to the Koni shocks; they are still on there! We were going to replace them but once we had them off realized they were still in great shape. So, we repainted the orange mounts that show in the shock towers and called it good. She still carves corners with the best of them.
As for your car alarm… I make no claims that I am in any way an expert in such things. We sold it to a museum that had an exhibit on “State of the Art Antitheft Technologies of the Ancient World.”
The story of the console cover is even better now that we know your mom restitched it. I can say with a high degree of confidence that she is responsible for saving it! I guess we never noticed that it wasn’t quite right because we have never seen another original one. I believe the reproductions have simulated stitching and are one-piece (probably because they came apart!). I included a picture for you to reminisce.
It must have been your wife who jumped in and said, “Bob sounds like he’s talking about a girlfriend or something, doesn’t’ he?” That got me thinking, did you ever have a pet name for the car? Maybe Charlotte, Roxanne or Trixie? For some reason, we never named the car… perhaps because Shelby was already a girl’s name. Ha ha!
Jumping back now to the restoration, we were intending to keep it as original as possible (minus the color). The paint was actually in remarkably good shape, except there must have been a large window facing the sun in the warehouse where it sat for the nine years. There was a diagonal line across the car and on one side was nice bright blue and on the other was faded light blue. The mags you had put on it weren’t in great shape anymore either and, well, the new 10-spokes in the boxes were sort of a no-brainer.
The interior was also in pretty good shape; no doubt credit belongs to the Southern California climate.
At the time we basically just cleaned it up and detailed it. After a few years of being used again, though, the dash finally cracked and the driver’s seat started to split. So, a couple “maintenance” things have happened on the inside but by no means has it been completely replaced. It suits the car that way.
The drivetrain obviously needed the most help. I cannot recall if we replaced the seals in the transmission and differential but I can hardly imagine we didn’t.
At any rate they were in very good condition.
Everything including the driveline was balanced. Our first attempt at the engine was a bit of a disappointment and
it was just never quite right. We kept blowing head gaskets and after pulling the engine repeatedly (we were seriously ready to be on a professional race team for
how quickly we could pull it!) and sending it back, it was finally discovered that the machine the shop used to mill the heads and deck the block had bearings going
out, and so there were low spots where the cylinder holes were. The engine was just back from the shop and I was driving when the head gaskets blew the first time.
I felt awful because I had thought I had completely ruined the engine.
Eventually we took the engine to a gentleman named Al who has a small shop in a tiny little Central California town. He eventually warmed up to us but Al was sort of
a grumpy old hermit. Half the battle was just convincing him to build the motor! He was a semi-pro drag racer in the ‘60s and ‘70s with a dark green ’67 big block
Mustang (talk about Bullitt!) but was good enough that he’d earned sponsorships from both Ford and Valvoline. We let him basically choose all the internal parts but
wanted it to look as stock as possible. The valve job in the heads was incredible. They almost touch and, if my memory is correct, they were almost the same specs as
what came in a 428 Cobra Jet crammed into a little 302! Everything was polished and ported, balanced and blueprinted. That thing can spin to 7,000 RPMs with no problem,
which makes track time a lot of fun! We also went with solid lifters to achieve the high RPMs and I’m sure that’s a lot of the reason it sounds so good. The only two areas
we had to visibly “cheat” were upgrading to headers and a 750 Holley double-pumper. You wouldn’t believe how much gas that small block can swallow! Both look completely
natural on the car so I don’t think it’s a big deal. We did keep the compression high (I can’t recall what it’s actually running) and did not go with hardened valve seats
so we have to mix race gas both for the octane and the lead. It’s probably a felony punishable by death in California to run it on the street these days but, hey, it’s
totally worth the risk.
Speaking of California, thank you for not ripping off all the smog equipment like so many guys did. In the late ‘90s the California legislature came dangerously
close to passing a law that would require even vintage cars to pass smog tests. There was a huge run on original smog equipment because nobody was reproducing it.
We were grateful to have all the original parts! After the law failed to be enacted we took the guts out of the smog pump and now it free-wheels without robbing
any power and still looks factory-correct.
Obviously, we did everything else you would expect: new clutch, brakes, etc. Anything that was found to not be in working order was repaired. The high-revving cam
doesn’t make a ton of power in the low end so we decided it was unnecessary to mess with the 3.89 rear end and/or add a posi unit to it. I’m probably missing something
obvious, but that’s all I can think of about the restoration.
I mentioned earlier about how the original seat had started to rip. You may be familiar with the Pismo Beach Car Show. The Shelby took first place in the popular vote
for Mustangs (a HUGE class) one year and got to park out on the pier. A good friend of ours had just finished a perfect rotisserie restoration of a ’69 Boss 302.
He was so mad that he got beaten by a car with a ripped seat! It was beautiful.
Fortunately, we don’t have too many scary stories of our on-the-track events. As I stated earlier, we have never wrecked the car or blown the motor. Our trip out to
Wisconsin to drive Road America for SAAC 22 did have a little excitement, though. Road America is a four-and-a-half mile road course with three big straightaways, too
many corners to count, and a lot of exciting elevation changes. My dad encountered the brake fade you described in your letter. All ended well but that was a little bit
hairy. The biggest heart-attack, however, was actually no big deal at all. When we first got the car, we clogged fuel filters like crazy as the corrosion and who-knows-what-else
came out of the tank. We were going to remove the tank and have it professionally cleaned out but then it cleared up and we never had any other issues… until Road America.
We had always mixed race gas but at the track we ran straight 118 octane. After it marinated for a few hours, that stuff cleaned the remaining junk right out of that old tank!
I was driving at the time and the track is obviously quite large. My dad saw me go by on the first lap but then never again. The session got flagged yellow and a wrecker came out.
He was sure I had crashed it in a corner. The wrecker actually was sent out for me. The spotters knew I was having engine trouble and didn’t think I’d be able to make it all the way
around and back to the pits but I did make it. Dad finally found me under the car replacing the fuel filter. I don’t know if he was more happy to see me alive or that his wife (my mom)
wasn’t going to kill him for allowing me drive and ending up dead!
I mentioned the track at Buttonwillow earlier. We had a good friend named Tony from L.A. who owned a ’65 GT-350. He did a lot of the open track events with us. I was in
college at the time of this particular event and couldn’t go but he and my dad were always pretty evenly matched on the track. I guess there is a little “hop” in one of the
straightaways at that track and as they were chasing each other around they could see the guy in front going just fast enough to get all four wheels off the ground!
Unfortunately, Tony passed away a few years ago. We haven’t done many track events since. It wasn’t as much fun without a friend to race and I have a very young family now that
makes it hard to get away on weekends.
Truthfully, the car hasn’t had the attention it deserves lately. Dad and I were just talking last night about how this is probably the spark
we needed to get back into it, so thank you for that.
I know my dad offered, but if you ever do get back to California it would be really neat to see you reunited with the car for a drive! We live right on the way up to the Giant Sequoias.
If you and your wife have never been to see them, you have two good reasons to stop by and are always welcome.
I feel like it will be a huge letdown when we don’t have any more emails to wake up to with incredible new information. We may not be done yet but, for what it’s worth,
your contacting us has meant an awful lot. All the best to you and Florence and we hope to meet you both someday. Even if you are stalkers.
Sincerely,
Ryan
Email from Bob to Ryan on 06/17/2015:
Ryan,
Answers to your questions and a bit more.
About the key pieces of information that allowed Vincent to find the exact car. I was able to give him the dealer, the model, and very specific info on how it was equipped.
Fortunately, his records, even with the misspelling of the last name, allowed him to find the exact car.
Let´s just say Florence finding the picture of you and your Dad standing next to the car with the original license plate removed any doubts.
I read the article that you sent me. What started out as just a car hobby adventure turned into a wonderful bonding experience for you and your Dad. And as a bonus, it
evolved into a very successful business. I am impressed.
Yes, I was thinking the very same as you. One of them buying it for investment would have been one thing, but it sounds like the next one bought the car for the very same
reason. Very unusual indeed. I have no knock on them doing that, but it seems a bit sad they missed out on the enjoyment of actually driving the car on the road.
I think you did the right thing in not installing the NOS stripes as I would question how long they would last. Besides, you can probably sell them on eBay for a fortune.
About the Koni´s, the closest place I could find that had them was somewhere up in the LA area. Since the place had repair bays and lifts I had them do the installation.
I remember the mechanic telling me that after the Shelby falls apart I could take the Koni´s off and use them again.
Based on the picture you sent, either you or someone prior redid the stitching on the console, because I just don´t did think it looked that good when we sold it.
It makes no difference but Vincent´s documentation says the salesman was Polloch but the purchase order says it was Rusty McD….. I do not remember which is correct.
I have no recollection of writing the note to Virginia, but obviously I did and included it when I sent them the photocopy of the purchase order.
I remember having the discussion with the DMV clerk about the make of the vehicle Ford vs Shelby. Guess I was wrong on who won the argument.
Nope, the car never had a pet name.
Your keeping it stock in appearance, yet improving the performance of the car with the engine modifications was a very wise choice. It maintained its value. I kept thinking
while watching the video you sent of the car how great it sounded. As I mentioned earlier it sure sounded better than when I had it. Good to know there was a reason for that.
I guess my hearing and memory have not totally failed me after all.
This connecting up has been a very positive experience on our end as well. I feel it has been good for all of us.
Your Dad sent a very kind and generous offer in his note and I will reply to him. If we ever do end up in your neck of the woods, we will get in touch. And the reverse is true.
Best regards,
Bob & Florence
A nicely framed presentation. Note the original Downey license plate frame.
“A person who is passionate about cars knows they are more
than transportation, they revive memories.” -Bob
