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The SHELBY AMERICAN
Spring 2019 2
IT’S SHOWTIME.
3 pages.
By now everyone knows about the Muscle Car
and Corvette Nationals – the annual show held every November in Chicago.
The MCACN attracts a huge number of cars, many unique or special models,
and a lot of one-of-ones that you’re not likely to see anywhere else. But what’s
it like from the inside. SAAC member Keith Champine was invited to bring
his pristine white-and-gold ‘66 Hertz car that he’s owned for some thirty
years and he shares his experiences.
MY SHELBY STORY.
6 pages.
Being a long-time Shelby owner requires
having a good memory because a lot of asphalt passes under your car over
the years. One event at a time, doesn’t seem like much but pile them all up
one after the other and it becomes a heck of a story. JimWalsh’s GT350 has
been part of his life since 1967. That’s fifty-two years. Good years. And after
reading this, it’s a safe bet that there are more good years to come with “the
Archway Shelby.”
XGT-3.
6 pages.
One of the Alan Mann team’s GT40 lightweights might not
have ever raced, but it has an interesting history nevertheless. SAAC’s GT40
Registrar Greg Kolasa pulls all of the details together. One interesting was
that following Ford’s 1966 LeMans victory, seven GT40s were sent around
the country on a promotional tour. They were all cars that actually raced ex-
cept XGT-3, which was painted as a duplicate of the Bruce McLaren/Chris
Amon winner. The actual winning car did not go on the tour.
LIVING WITH A LEGEND.
3 pages.
Installment #9. One of the high points
of ownership is having your car on the cover of a magazine. And while the
big boys like
Road & Track
,
Hot Rod
or
Vintage Motorsport
might come to
mind, the rear brass ring is the cover of
The Shelby American
. It probably
has something to do with peer group appreciation. Steve Sloan and 6S089
grabbed that brass ring and he provides a little insight into how that hap-
pened. Because you could be next.
FOUR COBRAS ATTACK ALASKA.
8 pages.
No articles about Alaska in
44 years in this magazine and all of a sudden we get two of them. Go figure!
Tom Cotter’s travelogue details his 2,000-mile road trip and when you’re fin-
ished reading it, if you have an adventurous streak you’ll probably be con-
templating an Alaska tour of your own. It’s definitely one of those bucket list
things and it’s something you’ll remember for the rest of your life. Oh, and
just remember, leave the Fig Newtons home!
GIMME A BRAKE WARNING LIGHT.
3 pages.
More has been discovered
about the mysterious Hertz handbrake warning lights. Not everything, of
course, but enough for some pretty accurate suppositions to be formed. They
didn’t all get them. And mostly in San Francisco. Did it have something to
do with those hills? And were any shipped cars called back to be retrofit?
After fifty years there are still more questons than answers. But that doesn’t
deter our indomitable Hertz Registrar.
A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF 6S1431.
6 pages.
Steve McDonald is a busy boy.
He took the time to keep track of all the things he did with his Hertz car and
just reading it will tire you out. It seems like he was doing something or
going somewhere every weekend. Included in this year’s agenda was showing
it in the MCACN in Chicago where he came home with an award. He says
his goal in the next three years is to watch the odometer roll over 250,000
miles. More power to him (as if 306 isn’t enough).