Spring 2016 17
The SHELBY AMERICAN
We sent out a survey to SAAC
members back in February in an at-
tempt to put together a profile of
SAAC members. Our goal was to see if
we were moving the club in the right
direction; if we were emphasizing the
right things. We compressed the re-
sponse window to three weeks so we
could compile the results in a timely
fashion. We shared the survey results
in the March issue of SAAC’s email
newsletter.We weren’t fishing for feed-
back but when we received this
thoughtful email
from
long-time
SAAC member Ed Murphy from Lans-
dale, Pennsylvania (who is also a
Pennsylvania State Trooper) we
thought it was worth sharing.
I
read the latest survey with
great interest. I just wanted to take a
moment and thank you and the mem-
bers of the board for the work you put
into SAAC.
I have been a member since 1978.
I have never owned an early Shelby.
At this point I am not sure I ever will.
I can remember when 427 Cobras
were $35k. I passed on a ‘68 GT350 for
$5500 as that was all the money in the
world to a 17 year-old. (Of course I
later paid $3k for an ‘80 Pinto!) Life al-
ways seems to get in the way.
watched my ‘87 GT raced at Milan
Dragway (and later had a stretched
timing chain covered under warranty).
I got Larry Shinoda’s autograph, met
Chuck Cantwell, and ridden in a Ford
GT. I’ve seen a Daytona Coupe up
close, heard one at speed, and I can re-
member seeing Bob Bondurant doing
180-degree bootleg turns on the track
in a rental Cougar. I’ve seen a T/A
Boss 302 dicing with a ‘66 GT40 MkII.
I’ve listened to Allen Grant, Bob John-
son and a lot of other notable people in
the Ford performance world whose
names I can’t remember. If I stop a
Smith Trucking driver, I know Barry
Smith likes the same cars I do. And
I’ve been passed on I-80 by Ross Myers
in an original 289 Cobra being driven
from Pennsylvania to Michigan. And I
can’t believe I didn’t make it to Down-
ingtown all those years ago.
All of these opportunities and
memories are due to SAAC and the
people who run it. I am sure that
without the club they would have oth-
erwise not have occurred. So it’s not
just the cars, the conventions, the
magazine, or any of that. It’s the hard
work of the people in the club that
make it all happen.
Thank you. Ed
I have owned a ‘69 Mustang coupe
and a ‘70 fastback with a 351C and a
factory shaker. I am getting to the
point that when I retire I can purchase
the car I have always wanted (or, at
least, something close). My toughest
decision will be choosing between the
performance of a new GT350 (not an
R, of course) or a ‘69/‘70 Boss, or an
early Shelby. Or maybe I need to save
it for retirement and a used ‘12 Boss
will have to do.
The greatest value I’ve seen in the
club is the access it has given me to
places and people I wouldn’t otherwise
have had. I met Carrol Shelby several
times and had a brief conversation,
one-on-one, at a restaurant in the
Dearborn Hyatt Regency. I met Jay
Leno in the parking lot while he was
doing burnouts in a Cobra. I’ve driven
an ‘87 Mustang GT at Charlotte and
Mid-Ohio, I’ve ridden in a Pantera, a
‘66 GT 350H, a ‘69 Boss 302, and an
AC MkV at Pocono, and driven a ‘66
Mustang at the Ford test track in
Utica (and later helped install a new
U-joint at a gas station in Ohio at 10
pm so we could get home!)
I drove an ‘87 T Bird Turbo at
Pocono. I’ve driven my ‘03 Mach I at
VIR, NJMSP, and Watkins Glen. I
SURVEY RESPONSE RESPONSE
WE TOLD YOU SO
Back in the Summer ‘15 issue we predicted that it
wouldn’t be long before the folks at Revology would be
taking their retro-Mustang up a notch. At Amelia Is-
land they unveiled a ‘66 GT350 decked out in Hertz
togs. It was a very nice presentation, with its 5.0-liter
Ti-VCT Coyote DOHC V8 that really filled up the en-
gine bay.We liked the 16˝ x 8˝ aluminum-rimmed Mag-
num 500s. The sticker price was a tad north of $158K.
A bit spendy, but you’re getting a brand new, zero-mile
car with all the bells and whistles.