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The SHELBY AMERICAN
Winter 2016 12
1042 PRINCETON DRIVE RECREATION PROJECT
You may have heard rumors of
this project, and we’re happy to report
that they are true. An exact duplicate
of Shelby American’s Princeton Drive
facility may be built at the Henry Ford
Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
SAAC member William Deary was
looking into expanding The Carroll
Collection, his Shelby museum in
Jackson, Michigan [
see The Shelby
American 2013 Annual, ppg. 53-57
].
The museum presently has sixteen,
exceptionally high quality cars, each
with a special story, and Deary was
considering a 10,000 square-foot ex-
pansion. But he kept thinking,
“
There’s got to be a better way to do
this
.”
He became involved with the
GT350R2 reinvention project in May
of 2014 and that led him to visit 1042
Princeton Drive where he saw where it all began. The building had recently been sold and was gutted and totally re-
vamped. As Peter Brock and the original Venice Team was recreating the GT350 R-Model, Deary was thinking about
recreating the original Princeton Drive facility. If you’re going to dream, dream big.
It was an uphill hike, but Deary eventually made contact with Ford executives, coordinators of other museums and
ten “Shelby Leaders” including former employees and what he described as “ultra enthusiasts.” By then his plans had
been distilled and he could see them clearly. He wanted to construct an exact duplicate of Shelby American’s facility on
the grounds of the Henry Ford Museum in Greenfield Village in Dearborn. Deary’s intention is to donate everything
he has in his Carroll Collection and to self-fund the project, filling it with examples of the cars that were originally
there in 1963-1964. Those would be donated or would be on loan.
The project is still on track and Henry Ford Museum executives appear to be onboard. We will be keeping SAAC
members updated as the project takes shape. Once it is up and running, it would seem to be perfect timing to hold an-
other convention in Dearborn. Stay tuned!
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR DAN GURNEY
The annual International Historic
Motoring Awards presented Dan Gur-
ney, 84, with its Lifetime Achievement
Award on November 19, 2015. The
award was accepted for Gurney by Sir-
Stirling Moss in London. Gurney was
not able to be there in person.
Dan Gurney has accumulated
more accomplishments in just about
all aspects of racing than anyone still
living. Listing them all would take a
dozen pages, but the most noteworthy
is that he is the only American to race
and win a Grand Prix in a car of his
own making. He has also notched wins
in Indy Car, NASCAR and sports car
racing. He has 51 wins and 47 podium
finishes out of 312 starts. He is an
American racing icon.