Your best Shelby run in with the law

[deathsled]

Good one!

[JD]

Not a Shelby but my dad's Pantera, this was about 1973 my dad took the car out one Sunday for a drive and got on a two-lane county road that was closed up ahead for construction so I drove down to see what was going on and where ahead the road was closed got to the construction and turned around.  Knowing that the road was clear got it going pretty well as the road was a bit curvy and elevation changes perfect for that car.  Came to a stop at the intersection a couple miles up.  Looked in the review mirror and there is a cop car back a ways with the lights on coming up quickly so I stayed stopped so he could get around (teenage genius)! 

The cop stops behind us and gets out not very happy.  Seems he was hiding somewhere down at the closure and saw heard us leave and followed.  Was surprised to see me about 17 driving and Dad was in the passenger seat, the standard License, registration and who's car is this.  Says I was doing 75 plus in a 35 residential (country road the house were far apart and hundreds of feet back from the road, but it was zoned residential, and he was having trouble catching us and only caught us because I stopped at the stop sign.

Made us follow him to the police station and I don't think they wanted to hassle with towing a Pantera so I got a ticket for assorted violations and a court appearance at juvenile court that week and sent us away.  They took my license for 30 days but gave me a permit to drive to work since I did have a job and needed to pay the ticket and fines.

Attached are some photos of the car after some customizing but before it got the webers that stuck up ad were great to see in the rear view mirror.

[557]

I shared this on the old forum,but,...About 1985 I was going to college in La Jolla ,ca. And using my 67 500 as my daily driver( bay standard surf racks,sheepskin seat covers,loud stereo,you get the picture)Anyhoo I was stopped at a stoplight on La Jolla blvd. when a really attractive,blonde,female s.d.p.d. Officer pulled up alongside me in her marked cruiser and started looking the car over..Just before the light turned green she got on her p.a. And exclaimed "no and you would probably beat me anyway",the light changed and she rocketed off.It took me a second to figure out what she meant..Then I realized she was referring to my bumper sticker(which I bought at the 84 convention)which stated:HAVE YOU RACED A SHELBY GT500 LATELY?....Good times!!(also by far the most pleasant interaction I have EVER had with law enforcement in that car-they used to kinda really enjoy following me for no reason......)Trent

[2112]

I love the way that Pantera was rigged. I hope it is still in that form.

[557]

Those rims are spectacular!!! Who made em?

[JD]

I love the way that Pantera was rigged. I hope it is still in that form.

Thanks, I don't know where it is, dad sold it to help fund the Cobra (#2082) restoration and we never saw it again.  The guy that bought it had a Yellow Corvette and wanted to step-up a bit.  I took his wife for a demo ride and I don't think she liked it, nearly screwed the deal!

Those rims are spectacular!!! Who made em?

I think they were Western wheels. (Thanks)

[Don Johnston]

There are some good Cannon Ball run in a Shelby stories out there that need repeating.

[gt350shelb]

Early 90 s nj opened up the  extension for interstate 78 thru the watchung reservation .  There is about a 10 Mile section with  no breaks in center barrier . and no exits  . At 7 am the high way was  very light on traffic  every day .     For  weeks  I would be traveling to work west bound and  the  state police  would be changing shifts at that time   and  just about every day  I would be  coming down the west bound lane at 90+ mph  straight pipes  and the State trooper would be heading east bound  up the mountain.

One Morning  there was a state trooper with someone pulled over in front of the above pictured  bridge. I slowed down to  a very unreasonable 55 mph back then . passed by  and  got over the next hill  and moved back up to my normal cruising speed about  8 miles ahead  was where i  exited .

Keeping an eye on the  rear view mirror  I was about a mile from the exit  and I could see lights .  But they were quite a bit back.....
  Little more throttle , maintain the distance   .

My exit was around a curve in the road and  I knew if I made the turn before   he could get   closer  I would be at work before  he made it to exit .

I made the exit  crossed over the highway and  a very  fast moving state trooper passed by the exit at well over 100 mph .


Shelby + 1


about  a week later

Almost the same  situation played out    But I had slowed down  earlier because of traffic . and had moved over to slow lane
And  a state trooper went flying past me  ..........  wow he is after someone !

Then he slammed on the brakes 

While having the  discussion at the side of the road it was pretty obvious there was  no talking my way out  of this one .

O: Do you know how fast you were going ?

me: Yes         

me : do you have me on radar?
O : yes i do
Me : Ok show me !

We walk back to  patrol car  I look in "85 mph  "
Ok  write the ticket ? unless you are going to let me go with a warning  Im  on my way to work .

I could see the disgust in his eyes that  I was not fazed by  his  proof.

He wrote the ticket and we went to court ......LOL

These are the stories you don't get on concourse !

[Tom Honegger]

My wife and I had 0073 out for an early spring rumble...beautiful sunny Saturday am. Decided to blow some carbon off the plugs. Long descending on ramp to I-75 looked perfect to me. I was in 4th gear at pretty high RPM when I merged. I was watching my side view mirror, concerned with "blending in" with the normal traffic and didn't look far enough ahead to see the Ohio State Highway trooper, sitting in the median with his radar cooking. Needless to say, I got the ticket. While he's back at his car writing me up, my wife was kinda scolding me, etc. But much to her surprise, the trooper, after giving me the "paperwork", kneeled down at side of the Shelby and started asking..."How long have you owned it?, this is the small block, right>?, a buddy of mine..., etc." Nice visit. He obviously was a gearhead...nice visit, even though it cost me a bit.

[R Code]

Early 90 s nj...interstate 78...

Nice. I was waiting for that one.
-------------------------------------

There's one I still feel kinda bad about:

Same timeframe & highway, but eastbound in PA, driving my buddy's '70 Grabber Green Mach (351C/4sp).  Light traffic in the two right lanes, I'm cruising @ 110, head on a swivel looking for cops.  I pass an exit, spot a state trooper sitting on the on-ramp, brake HARD & let off the brake as I get even w/the cop, coasting by at 90 (in a 55), passing the car in the center lane & merging right.  In the rearview I see the red lights come on and the trooper start moving.

Now cruising in the right lane at 65-70, I was feeling the weight of my stupidity but trying to look innocent/contrite as I contemplated how to play out the next 10 minutes of my life.  With eyes focused on the rearview. my self-loathing turned to elation as I realized the car I just passed (A Benz full of young men, now about 1/8 mile back) was getting pulled over instead of me.

Near as I can figure the cop had me on radar, but I was hidden by the Benz, & the cop assumed it was them.  Either that, or the cop was profiling the Benz & it's young occupants.  As happy as I was for myself, I felt bad that the stop probably didn't go well for them.

[gt350shelb]

I had one of those in the 93 5.0 but it was  at about 120 mph  on nj turnpike ........ i don't feel bad ....... LOL

[Dkutz]

It was late on a Summer night in 1974. I was out  testing my recent tune-up on my 67 GT 500 (427 Medium Riser, Tunnel Wedge, Dual 660's) across a bridge on a county freeway. I proceeded to a turn around spot, crossed over the median, checked for traffic ..and hit the throttle. Accelerated to about 100 mph, then  backed off and coasted around a corner, heading back to town. I happened to glance in my rear view mirror. and saw a set of blue lights behind me about 3/4 of a mile back. Being young & immortal ( or so I thought at the time ) I decided to try to beat him back to town and lose him.Well. I had installed on my car awhile back 2 modifications....A) a cut out switch to the tail light system & B) a flip down license plate with a choke cable running right next to my driver's seat. Pushed the cable, hit the switch, and went for it. I pegged the speedometer,crossed the bridge, headed up a hill and turned right into the city streets. I had a friend whose parents lived nearby, so I  drove down their street, shut the car off, and coasted behind a large hedge next to their driveway. It was an unlit street. and having a Nightmist Blue Shelby, hoped it would conceal me. I rolled the window down and listened. Heard a lot of radio crackle for awhile, then everything was quiet. To be sure , I slept in the car till sunrise, then went home.

I call BS

[2112]

I call BS

There used to be a time that doing something like that wouldn't mean being beaten to within an inch or your life.   

I am not saying it is true or not   

[Richstang]

It was late on a Summer night in 1974. I was out  testing my recent tune-up on my 67 GT 500 (427 Medium Riser, Tunnel Wedge, Dual 660's) across a bridge on a county freeway. I proceeded to a turn around spot, crossed over the median, checked for traffic ..and hit the throttle. Accelerated to about 100 mph, then  backed off and coasted around a corner, heading back to town. I happened to glance in my rear view mirror. and saw a set of blue lights behind me about 3/4 of a mile back. Being young & immortal ( or so I thought at the time ) I decided to try to beat him back to town and lose him.Well. I had installed on my car awhile back 2 modifications....A) a cut out switch to the tail light system & B) a flip down license plate with a choke cable running right next to my driver's seat. Pushed the cable, hit the switch, and went for it. I pegged the speedometer,crossed the bridge, headed up a hill and turned right into the city streets. I had a friend whose parents lived nearby, so I  drove down their street, shut the car off, and coasted behind a large hedge next to their driveway. It was an unlit street. and having a Nightmist Blue Shelby, hoped it would conceal me. I rolled the window down and listened. Heard a lot of radio crackle for awhile, then everything was quiet. To be sure , I slept in the car till sunrise, then went home.

I call BS

The escape plan is not much different than something I did in high school with my '68 Fastback. Police car was driving opposite way on main street  and while looking directly at me put his lights on and attempted a U-turn on a narrow road with traffic coming. I cut down a bunch off side streets into a dead end that was L shaped. Pulled into a driveway, drove around the back of the house, and parked on the lawn. I waited for the siren to disappear...and then some. Back tracked my way out of town on side streets to get home and parked it out of site for a few days. Even walked to school the next few days just in case. Told my parents it wasn't running right and needed a tune-up.

[Wedgeman]

To Dkutz....my first question to you would be to ask how old you are, for if you are under 60 you will have no comprehension as to how it was on the street around 45 years ago, in my part of the country ( Pacific Northwest). A lot of the local street racers had installed some "options" onto their cars, and a cut-out switch to the tail lights was not that uncommon, for they were used at the drag strip to not be accused of ..sandbagging...when dialed in for bracket racing.  I do take credit for having the first ...flip down license plate...in our circle, which was a 9 ft. choke cable secured right next to my driver's seat, running under the carpet along the tunnel, out into the trunk, and through a 3/8" hole in my rear valance to a spring loaded plate bracket . Cable pulled out, plate was upright...cable pushed in, plate went horizontal.
Now if you are calling BS as to if my car was capable of outrunning the law, know that it was at the time equipped with the before mentioned 427 side oiler, was running a 3:91 Traction Lok, consistently turning 12.6 quarter mile times at 119 mph on street tires with open headers. Shifting the car at 7000 rpm,I went thru the traps at 4800 rpm, means it was easily capable of pegging the speedometer.I knew ( and still know) my car, I knew my streets, and I knew that  those blue lights were far enough back to give me a good chance of getting away, for that was a state patrol behind me, and they were not as forgiving as the local police who for the most part knew most of us and tolerated us...and as 2112 so stated, the penalty was not as severe as it is nowadays. So be careful who you call BS  on, ...kid....