The Shelby American (Summer 2022)

The SHELBY AMERICAN Summer 2022 10 misread their market. Their cus- tomers had not been willing to pay the high price even if it brought with it prestige. In 1968, Japanese cars had not yet acquired a reputation for ex- ceptional engineering, superior assem- bly and trouble-free operation. They were considered cheap and “tinny” and not taken seriously by Detroit. All this considered, it still may not fully explain the reason why this car sold for so much. True, it was serial number 001 and the first car of any produced is always worth a premium. It is one of a very limited number of cars built – by contemporary stan- dards 351 is not a large number. That makes it rare. And it was only on the scene for one year. The Shelby name has to account for something. Shelby smiled on it by making it into a race car, but this particular car’s race his- tory was practically nonexistent. An- other positive factor is that it has been accurately restored and its history has been substantiated. The most important aspect in this Toyota’s value is it’s design. Of all the Japanese cars produced during that period – and even up to today – the Yamaha design is still one that most automotive connoisseurs consider the high point of Japanese design. In the end, only the car’s buyer can explain what motivated him to become its owner at such a lofty price. By 1968 Ford’s money spigot had been shut off. Shelby was too far out of the loop in Can-Am racing to make any kind of impact or generate the kind of headlines that followed him the previ- ous two years. That’s the way racing went. In 1968 the Can-Am was the premiere series in this country: unlimited sports-rac- ing cars with minimum rules and maximum excitement. Bruce McLaren’s cars were the ones to beat. After being out of it for a little more than a year, Shelby – with his limited sponsors – had lost too much ground and simply could not catch up. Compared to LeMans and the Can- Am, SCCA C/Production was nowhere. Shelby’s drivers, Ronnie Bucknum, Scooter Patrick and Davey Jordan were lightweights compared to the drivers Shelby once had in his stable: Miles, Gurney, Hill, McLaren, Holbert. The Toyotas were new cars, still teething, while the competition – Porsche 911s and Triumphs – were tested and experienced. For Toyota there was no second season. No won- der Shelby disappeared to Africa. The 2000 GT project was termi- nated simply because Toyota was los- ing too much money on each car they made. Couple this lack of demand with a racing campaign that had not lived up to expectations. The street cars per- formed as well as their contempo- raries, but no better. Toyota had totally to meet SCCA specifications and Nis- san Japan changed their specs and parts to meet BRE’s requirements. That process took months, so BRE’s driver, John Morton, was forced to run a 2000 Roadster with Mikuni carbure- tors in C/Production to stay in con- tention for the runoffs. By 1970 the BRE 240Z, driven by Morton, was the C/Production National Champion. The importance of C/Production in U.S. racing at that time was that it was the only class with (supposedly se- cret) factory backing from Triumph (Bob Tullius), Porsche (Al Holbert and Richie Ginther), Toyota (Shelby) and Datsun (Peter Brock and Bob Sharp). From the standpoint of press coverage, it was the SCCA “Pro Class” and was almost as important (because of the names involved) as the Chevy, Ford and Dodge battle going on in the Trans-Am. The fact that Datsun (BRE) eventually reigned supreme over Toyota as well as Triumph and Porsche was a tremendous loss of face for Toyota. That’s the “Cliff’s Notes” version. In 1967 Shelby completed the three cars he was sent. The first one (the one that just sold for $2,535,000) was used as the mule, for testing and develop- ment by Jerry Titus and Ronnie Buck- num. It then became the team’s back-up car. The other two cars, built to the same specifications as the first one, were raced. On the track, they failed to perform as well as the compe- tition – Porsches, Triumphs, Alfas, Lotus or Datsuns. They finished the season third and fourth. Toyota, em- barrassed by the results, cancelled Shelby’s contract (but paid him for the second year). They had lost face and returned to Japan and would not race in the U.S. again for a decade. Prior to the auction, Gooding & Co. was in the unenviable position of try- ing to put mascara and lipstick on a pig. The car certainly had acquired something from its Shelby connection (as all cars associated with him seem to). But Carroll Shelby was on auto- pilot when the Toyotas were being raced. His Cobras had won the World Manufacturers Championship for GT cars and he had shepherded Ford’s GT40s through victories at LeMans.