40 / 103
In the publishing business, “over
the transom” refers to the idea of a
writer tossing an unsolicited manu-
script through the open window over
the door of a publisher’s or editor’s of-
fice. Doors in office buildings, espe-
cially those built prior to the 1960s,
usually had a window as wide as the
door over it. Typically hinged at the
bottom, they were left open six inches
or so, even at night, for cross ventila-
tion (this, before the days of air condi-
tioning). Freelance writers would
often deliver their work, after hours,
in hopes it would interest a publisher
who would find a place for it in their
publication. The key word is “unso-
licited” and in the case of something
which is interesting or especially well
done, it comes as a pleasant surprise
to the publisher or editor.
Just such a pleasant surprise
came over our transom, figuratively
speaking, back in January. It started
whenWayne Hofer of Medford, Oregon
sent a bunch of scanned photos from
1965 to SAAC’s administration email
address. He attached a note, so we’ll
let him tell it.
grew up in the Seattle. My first
car was a ‘67 Mustang coupe
that my father had purchased new. It
was his daily driver until he gave it to
me at the age of 15. I began restoring
it so I’d have a nice car to drive when
I got my license. I began to show the
car at local events and that’s when I
saw my first real Shelby Mustangs.
They were my dream car and have
been ever since. After I sold the ‘67
when I went to college, and went
through about a half dozen 5.0 Mus-
tangs. I had fun modifying and racing
those. Then I got out of cars for a few
years, until a co-worker drove in his
‘65 Cobra roadster replica to work. I
had to have one. Knowing I could
never afford to own the real thing, I
decided I would build a replica road-
ster myself. All the years of wrenching
on the Mustangs did me well and I
ended up with a beautiful replica.
One morning I was driving the
roadster into work and when I got off
the freeway I was followed to my office
by an older gentleman. He pulled into
my parking lot and introduced him-
self. This happened about ten years
ago, so I can’t recall his name. Let’s
call him “Dave.”
Dave was smiling ear to ear and
was excited to see the car. I showed it
to him and he explained to me his con-
nection with the Cobra roadster dates
back to when he was 18 years-old and
was a course worker at a racetrack in
California. Dave told me the year and
name of the track, however, I can’t re-
member what they were. I know your
club members will be able to place the
date and racetrack where these photos
were taken.
Dave said when the Cobra team
pulled in, it was exciting. He was into
photography, so he grabbed his camera
and with his course worker creden-
tials he was able to get up close to take
these photos. They were originally
slides and Dave still had them. I told
him I would be very interested in see-
ing his pictures. He asked if I would
drive my roadster over to his work at
lunch time so his coworkers could see
the car. I agreed and took it over that
same day. I gave Dave my contact info
so when he got the slides converted
over to digital format he could send
them to me.
About a month passed before Dave
contacted me. He had the photos con-
verted and sent them over. My jaw
dropped when I saw them. I couldn’t
believe the quality of the pictures and
how vivid they were. That was because
they were originally in slide format.
They say a picture is worth a thousand
words and these are proof of that.
There’s so much going on and so much
detail in these photos it’s incredible.
Dave said his intention was to make
sure the Shelby club also got the pic-
tures as he knew they would enjoy
them. Dave and I never contacted each
other after that, so I don’t know if
these photos were ever made public.
I’ve been enjoying them for the past
ten years and decided I better send
them to SAAC to make sure they don’t
get lost forever.
I’m still a big fan of the Shelby
cars and although I no longer own the
roadster
replica,
I have a
‘68
GT500KR fastback tribute with a
stroked FE engine. Again, it’s not the
real thing but it is the closest I will
ever come to owning a vintage Shelby.
Enjoy the images.
Wayne Hofer
Medford, OR
The pictures were taken at La-
guna Seca Raceway during the
USRRC weekend on May 9, 1965. The
three team Cobra small block road-
sters – #96 (CSX2494 driven by Ed
Leslie, finished 2nd Over-All in the
manufacturers race); #97 (CSX2458
driven by Bob Johnson, DNF); #98
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Spring 2016 40
The Hits Keep On A Comin’
I