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The SHELBY AMERICAN
Summer 2016 90
The Annual Dispatch from our Diplomatic Pouch
– Report and photos by Nez Demaj
It was that time of the year for the
Australian Mustang Nationals and this
time it was organised on the Gold Coast at
Queensland. It was just yesterday that I
was in South Australia at Easter for the
Australian Mustang Nationals. How time
flies. After catching up with the State
Shelby Reps and the Mustang guys at the
hotel, I knew I was in for a fun weekend —
as usual. The Friday night dinner was a
meet and greet with the interstate Mus-
tang Members. It was a relaxing evening
with a great variety of cuisine offered.
On Saturday, I attended the Mustang
Judging together with Darryll Ashby
(Queensland Shelby Rep) at Sunshine
Ford. They provided their facility for the
main judging of all Concourse Mustangs.
The Saturday Night Dinner was another
full-on feast at the Watermark Hotel. As
the night progressed there were several
Mustang items auctioned off which raised
funds for the Queensland Mustang Club.
They donated part of it to a local charity.
Early Sunday morning, I was travel-
ling in Darryll Ashby’s Black ‘66 Shelby
GT350 to the Queensland Mustang Na-
tionals, which wasn’t too far from the
hotel. There were several Mustangs there
to greet us when we arrived at 6:30 a.m. on
the foreshore, which was a great backdrop
for a Mustang show. There were also 6
Shelbys on display and by the end of the
day the total had grown to 13 Shelbys. It
was a great effort by Darryll and the
Shelby owners who brought their cars to
support the Shelby display.
Apart from Darryll and myself, John
Luca (Western Australia Shelby Rep) and
Fred Pascale (South Australia Shelby Rep)
were on hand to assist Darryll's Shelby
Display and the rest of the Mustangs. Un-
fortunately, Brian McAllister (New South
Wales Shelby Rep) couldn’t attend the
event due to work commitments.
2016 Queensland Mustang Nationals Shelby Display
Information on another five Shelbys
were submitted to the Australian Shelby
Registry, which boosted the total of Shel-
bys to 154, which is fantastic. Three years
ago at the Western Australia Mustang Na-
tionals there were 100 Shelbys registered.
Now, three years on, another 54 Shelbys.
The Shelby Movement in Australia is
growing stronger and stronger due to the
great efforts of the State Shelby Reps and
the support from the Australian Shelby
Owners which is a great team effort.
On Sunday night it was the Mustang
Presentation Dinner which saw quite a
few awards presented. Our South Aus-
tralia Rep Fred Pascale received an Origi-
nal Concourse Gold Award for his Acapulco
Blue ‘68 Shelby GT500KR and Vic New-
land won with his Lime Gold ‘68 Shelby
GT500KR. Overall, it was a fantastic and
well organised event by the Queensland
Mustang Club and also by Darryll Ashby
for his Shelby Display. Everyone here is
looking foward to next year’s New South
Wales Mustang Nationals at Wollongong.
You know where that is. We’ll see you
there.