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The SHELBY AMERICAN
Fall 2015 267
If there is a cobra reference in a vintage movie we can count on eagle eye Steve
Sloan of Pasadena, Texas to find it. The general plot of “The Smiling Ghost,” a
1941 release, is that three previous fiances of a wealthy heiress all met horrible
fates, one of which was being bitten by a cobra on the 18th floor of a Boston
hotel which was not an accident. An inept private detective is hired to be fiance
number four in order to smoke out the killer, nicknamed “The Smiling Ghost”
because of his appearance.
Sidenote: among the cast is Alan Hale, father of
Alan Hale, Jr. who played the skipper on “Gilligan’s Island.”
Dana Mecum is a busy boy. He and his
minions put on about 18 auctions a
year, all over the country. They use a
fair number of Shelbys and Cobras in
their ads. This 1968 GT500 was used
for their Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
event. We’re wondering why they
didn’t name it the “Bill Collins Invita-
tional” because it’s in his backyard
and we wouldn’t be surprised if he was
on a buying and/or selling spree. Prob-
ably a little of both. Collins will be a
busy boy that weekend, too.
As soon as Howard Pardee saw this ad he said, “
Oh yeah – I’ll buy a dozen bot-
tles. What was the product, again?
” After studying the ad intently for a couple
of minutes he said, “
Hey - there’s a Cobra in this ad!
” Do we really need to com-
ment on this?
Light ‘em if ya got ‘em. Is Cory Hitch-
cock of Granite Falls, Washington see-
ing Cobras everywhere he looks, or
does this car have a definite Cobra re-
semblance?
A story on Fox News reported that an
eight-foot long king cobra was loose in
Orlando, Florida after escaping from
the home where it was kept as a pet.
We’re not Columbo but the first place
we’d look is Orlando Mustang.