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over, it’s time to retire 003 from the

show circuit and just drive it. That

was the grand scheme all along.

On the entry form I listed the en-

trant names for 003 as Mark Hovan-

der and Chuck Cantwell. I wanted to

give Chuck the opportunity of dealing

with judges because he knew more

about 003 than anyone. When the

judges had questions about the car, I

just wanted to look at them, shrug,

and tell them I didn’t know the an-

swers – but, pointing to Cantwell, say

that this guy does. Their reaction

would have been priceless, but it never

happened.

The Pebble Beach Concours is

clearly in a league by itself. There re-

ally is nothing to compare it to. The

quality of the cars, the unique one-off

bodies, and the provenance of the cars

is world class. The Pebble Concours is

just one of four concours events, six

auctions, five other sporadic car shows

and the historic races which make up

“MontereyWeek.” There is no way you

can see and do everything from Tues-

day through Sunday. You have to se-

lect one or two events per day,

knowing that although everything is

relatively close, traffic congestion

makes things difficult.

For 2016, the Pebble Concours

committee has created a class for the

Ford GT40 to commemorate the 50th

anniversary of the famous 1-2-3 1966

LeMans finish. Monterey Week should

be on the bucket list for every automo-

tive enthusiast to attend, at least once.

For those coming to Monterey for the

first time, book your room early and if

the prices scare you, try some of the

smaller towns north or east of Mon-

terey. If you want to see the best col-

lection of high quality, historically

significant GT40s ever assembled, it

will be on the grass of the 18th fairway

on August of 2016.

The SHELBY AMERICAN

There is an iconic photo angle that, when you see it, you immediately know it is the 18th Green at Pebble Beach. I waited around

after the crowds cleared out so I could position 003 in the precise spot, knowing it would never be here again. Unfortunately, a couple

of Ferrari owners had the same idea, only they were waiting for the sun to set so they could get just the right picture. I couldn’t wait

two or three hours because I had dinner reservations with Chuck, my daughter Nicole and the rest of our team as well as some old

friends, so this was as close as I got to the ultimate Pebble Beach photo.

The crowd at Pebble Beach on Sunday was huge. So huge, in fact, that it’s hard to believe there was also a full schedule of racing

events going on out at Mazda Raceway. At $300 to $350 a ticket, it’s a one-day gold mine for the charities they support.

Winter 2016 52