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Written by The SAAC Staff
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Sunday, February 24 2008 |
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SAAC was founded in 1975. It has approximately 5,000 members in the
U.S. and another 500 around the world. When it comes to Cobras and
Shelbys, if we don't know it, it's probably not worth knowing, While
SAAC has continually evolved over the past 32 years, its basic reason
for existence has not changed. The club is dedicated to the preservation, care, history and enjoyment
of the World Championship Cars built by Carroll Shelby. The difference
is that some of the definitions we originally operated under have
changed. These changes happened very gradually, and that's where
evolution enters the picture.
"Preservation" is our first goal. When we came up with that some 32
years ago, the cars were in danger of becoming just so many used cars.
We realized that they needed to be preserved, first by finding sources
for replacement parts so they could continue to be driven. Don't forget
that in 1975, a 65 GT350 was only 10 years old and 70 Shelbys were
only five years old. Almost all of these cars were daily drivers back
then; a "classic car" was a Duesenberg, a Packard or a Cord. Things on
our cars were beginning to wear out and most replacement parts were
still available from any Ford dealer's parts department. But we knew
this wouldn't last forever. Manufacturers are required by law to offer
replacement parts for ten years; after that things that don't sell go
obsolete. As the years went by, "preservation" acquired a different
meaning. Cars were now being restored and there was a keen interest in
accuracy. You can see the evolution of the concept of preservation
right there.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, March 20 2008 )
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