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Was it a matter of having so much
confidence in myself and 6S336 or just
stupidity? The Shelby drew some at-
tention whenever I stopped. People
would come over and talk to me and
they seemed very excited when they
learned about my trip. On the first day
there had been countless people tak-
ing pictures of the car but through the
center of the country not so much.
Now that I was in California things
were back on; the car suddenly got a
lot more attention.
I was on the phone with Leslie and
then with John, trying to find a place
to stay for the night. I was hiding in
the shade among the vans in Vic-
torville, California when a father came
by with his baby in a stroller. He
stopped short and said, “
Great car!
”
One of his other children then came
over and began asking questions
about the car while dad was loading
up. I mentioned that I had been on the
phone looking for someplace to stay
and his pre-teen daughter immedi-
ately started clicking off the places
close by. She liked the car and was just
one of those outgoing types, curious
and friendly. I wanted to get closer to
Rolling Hills where John lives so I
ended up stopping in Ontario.
I was now on Cloud Nine. Every-
thing was going well; I was already in
California and almost a week ahead of
schedule. I had time to visit the NHRA
Museum in Pomona. They said I could
bring the car up to the entrance in
front for a photo. I asked someone to
take my picture with the car and he
was very hesitant. Another guy came
over and asked what I needed. It
turned out that I had asked a promi-
nent Russian motorcycle builder and
he wasn’t comfortable enough with
English to respond. Sergei Maltsev
was going to try for a record at Bon-
neville. We talked for a good while and
then his friend announced that Sergei
had a present for me from Russia. He
gave me one of the shirts they had
made for their Bonneville effort. I
don’t imagine many people will have
one, since Bonneville got canceled due
to flooding. They were going to go to
the Mojave Mile replacement event.
I pulled into John Saia’s and he
was happy to see 6S336. He has a
Cobra Daytona replica and 6S2060.
We talked cars for hours and then
went out for a ride in 6S2060. He took
me to lunch at one of his favorite stops.
We had a great time and he posted pic-
tures up on his blog along with the
story. He had always had his history
with 6S336 up there and was looking
for me to fill in the rest of the story. I’ll
also write up a guest piece for his blog
when I get home. I’m thinking of ti-
tling it, “6S336 History: Re-lived, Cel-
ebrated and Made.” Leaving John’s I
got stuck in rush hour traffic on the
405 Freeway in Los Angeles. Someone
actually pulled up next to me and
stopped (even though his lane was
moving at the time) and asked about
the Shelby!
Early GT350s are not great stop-
and-go traffic cars but you have to
take a little bad with the good. I saw
some idiotic post on Jalopnik wonder-
ing why would anyone actually drive
an early GT350? It was on August 3rd
The SHELBY AMERICAN
298 Fall 2015
Russian motorcycle racer Sergei Maltsev
was attracted to 6S336. No doubt he was
imagining what it would be like to drive it
through the streets of Moscow.
After running across the country without
incident, 6S336 takes a well-deserved rest
in the company of 6S2060. Previous owner
John Saia was happy to see his old Shelby.
Ownership of the same Shelbys always es-
tablishes a bond that’s hard to break.
Stopping at an In-N-Out Burger is just
about a requirement for visitors to Califor-
nia. How about parking your ‘66 GT350
outside and going in, and seeing a ‘66
GT350 on a poster hanging inside? It be-
comes just another memorable part of the
trip.