The Shelby American (Fall 2021)

The SHELBY AMERICAN Fall 2021 116 Cobras, one of them a factory Le- Mans competition car. Over the years he also owned four ‘65 GT350s, nine ‘66 GT350s and a number of ‘67s, ‘68s and ‘69 Shelbys. Jim became deeply involved with the Shelby American Collection mu- seum in Boulder, Colorado. He helped collect literature and memo- rabilia for its displays and actively promoted the museum and its activ- ities. In 2016 he was invited to become SAAC’s Concours Chairman, over- seeing every facet concours organi- zation and operation. By this time it had become a very intense competi- tion and was taken seriously by en- trants and judges alike. Jim’s passing leaves a hole in our hobby that can never be filled. He was 68. HARVEY PHILIP SPECTOR January 16, 2021 One of the most famous Cobra Daytona Coupe owners, Phil Spec- tor, has died. In the 1960s he was a revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his “Wall of Sound” that merged spir- ited vocal harmonies with an over- dubbed onslaught of instruments, vocals and sound effects to produce pop hits like “Be My Baby,” “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “He’s A Rebel.” In 1966 Spector purchased CSX2287 from American Russkit model car company owner Jim Rus- sell after the car had been refur- bished and detuned following it’s use at the Bonneville Salt Flats to establish numerous national and international records. Spector be- came infamous for street-racing the car on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. Scads of speeding tickets re- sulted in his attorney advising him to get rid of the car and he subsequently sold it to his bodyguard, George Brand, for $1000. Brand found driving an ex-race car on the street not worth the effort and gave it to his daughter, Donna O’Hara. Her ownership was a veritable soap opera that included hid- ing the car for twenty years in a stor- age facility and turning away potential buyers by refusing to ac- knowledge that she owned it. She solved her problems by setting herself on fire. The car was then claimed by her boyfriend who was unable to prove ownership. It went to her mother who, with an inkling of what it was worth, sold it to a broker and after some legal wrangling it finally landed in the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia. With a reputation for recklessly brandishing firearms, Spector’s ca- reer imploded in 2009 when he was convicted of shooting actress Lana Clarkson in the head and killing her in his castle-like mansion in the hills overlooking Alhambra, California. He claimed it was an “accidental suicide” but the facts proved otherwise. After two circus- like trials he was found guilty and sentenced to 19 years-to-life. He spent his final years in a prison hospital east of Stockton, Califor- nia where he died of complications from Covid-19. He was 81.