The Shelby American (Fall 2021)

Earl Pfeifer has never let a dream lay fallow. And you’ll never catch him looking in his rear-view mirror, in life or in a Shelby Cobra. He’s a man with a smile in his voice, never in need of a jump start. Has he enjoyed life so far? You be the judge. At age 16, Pfeifer located a used ’67 GT500 (# 0344) in 1976 and persuaded his father to float him a $4,500 loan to acquire the car. Naturally, this teenager assumed he was at the pin- nacle of his life, having no idea the fun had just begun. Selling #0344 coincided with mar- rying Carol in 1980, followed shortly thereafter by the purchase of a Boss 429. I couldn’t picture his 5 ´ 9 ˝ , 119- pound bride behind the wheel of this ‘race car’ and neither could Earl, so he quickly replaced the Ford with a new ’81 Corvette. He titled this car swap her “anniversary present” and it worked. At this point in his life he was con- tent. Or so he thought. A friend, Grant Hill, mentioned one day he’d been ap- proached with an offer to purchase a 289 Shelby Cobra. With a blown en- gine. Since Hill owned a 427 Cobra, he passed on it, but forwarded the info to Pfeifer, as all good friends should. Earl contacted the owner, Peter Kelley, and arranged to view the black roadster, CSX2100. What he and Carol later viewed in a rotting shed in downtown Calgary, Alberta, was an extremely neglected vehicle that was priced as if it were pampered. Their inspection revealed only 27,800 miles on the odometer, with a high-rise manifold and non- original carburetor bolted to the blown 289. With a 4:56 rear end, it didn’t take a Rhoades scholar to deduce the previous owner had spent time at the drag strip. The tattered interior also indicated it had spent quite a bit of time outdoors, with no cover. Both Earl, 22 years old at this time, and Carol, 20, had to have the car. Kel- ley was asking $32,500 and after three months of negotiating he finally agreed on a price of $26,000. This was in 1982, and after selling their new The SHELBY AMERICAN Fall 2021 101 – Jim Kreuz CSX2100