The Shelby American (Fall 2021)

“ I had a blue 289 independent comp car, CSX2173, that I purchased around 1968 and kept for three years. It was a thrill to drive . “ In the above photo I’ve got my old- est daughter with me in CSX2173, be- side our 1966 Shelby Mustang, 6S2363, at the Clifton Hill Climb. That was a fun event, just a festive time for everyone. Don Roberts was driving the GT350 at this time. The ‘P&D Motor- cycles’ painted on the fender of the GT350 was my motorcycle business. There was a guy driving a Boss 302 that weekend that went off the side of the hill and plummeted 200-ft. The fall obviously messed up the driver and his car. “ We also owned quite a few GT350s, and picked them up for around $2,500 back then. I took one to the Bob Bon- durant Racing School in Santa Ana, California where I was one of his first students. “ Don Roberts was starting a race in his 289 Cobra, CSX2473, but needed one more car entered to make it an of- ficial event which would enable him to potentially increase his SCCA na- tional points tally. We approached El- liott Forbes-Robinson with a proposal: if my 427 S/C passed tech inspection, would he be willing to start the race in that car. We needed it entered to have enough cars to qualify for points. He said ‘Sure!’ Everything worked out. 3034 passed inspection, Forbes-Robin- son got behind the wheel and started the race, and Don Roberts got his points. We were ecstatic! “ We kept 3034 for three and half years, and along the way had it painted silver. The above photo is of the car in this shade, at the Clifton Hill Climb. I won my class both times but it was like taking an elephant gun to a dove hunt! “ I’d mentioned we ran a motorcycle business, primarily selling Triumphs. When you went into the showroom in the morning, we had a saying for the English bikes that you had to wipe up all the oil that had leaked out from un- derneath them. If there wasn’t any oil underneath the bike, it was out of oil. “ As time went on I got more inter- ested in racing motorcycles. I was com- peting at an event in Las Vegas the weekend Evil Knievel slipped his Tri- umph motorcycle at Caesars Palace. The SHELBY AMERICAN Fall 2021 79 CSX2173 6S2363 CSX2173 CSX3034 CSX3034 CSX3034 CSX3034