The Shelby American (Summer 2022)

The SHELBY AMERICAN Summer 2022 5 Anyone who keeps up with cur- rent events is aware of the situa- tion in our larger, mostly Democrat-run cities, where elected rogue district attorneys, in the name of reimagining a more equi- table criminal justice system be- cause they claim the present system is systemically racist, are refusing to prosecute entire cate- gories of crimes, eliminating bail for those who are arrested or al- lowing them to be released with- out being charged. The affect this has on law enforcement reaches beyond large cities. The result is surging crime rates because crim- inals become more brazen, know- ing they will not be held to account or incarcerated pending trial. As they become more successful, their numbers increase. Note the snow- balling of crimes against property which were, until very recently, treated seriously but now the di- minished numbers of police (thanks to defunding, retirements and resignations) don’t seem to be able to keep up with the number of crimes: smash-and-grab robberies, shop lifting in broad daylight and bold carjackings are all signs of a failing society. Police in these lo- cales back away from aggressive policing if they know their actions will only result in criminals being back on the street before they’ve completed their paperwork. All of this is a serious social problem wrapped up in politics. How does it affect us as owners of rare, expensive collector cars? Does it increase the chances your car could be stolen, as a result of the general increase in crime? Pos- sibly. Does it decrease the chances of law enforcement seriously in- vestigating because they know if they apprehend a perpetrator he or she will just be released on their own recognizance, plea-bargained down to a slap-on-the-wrist or not even charged? Possibly. What it means is that you have to be proactive and exercise situational awareness. You can’t assume it will only happen to someone else. Another List of Greatest Classic Cars Mecum Magazine Autoweek recently published a list of the “30 Greatest Classic Cars Ever.” Lists like these seem to be compiled only to solicit responses from readers who feel slighted that their favorites were left off. Responding makes them feel they are part of the story. The list was compiled by a UK in- surance website that put together an algorithm made up of the number pro- duced, number of Google searches in the past year, current value increase from May 2019 and present value. By their computation the number one car on their list was the Lamborghini Muira; #2 was the Ferrari F40; #3 the Ferrari GTO; #4 was the AC Cobra. The list was compiled in England, so it’s understandable that they used the picture of a RHD Cobra replica sport- ing dual roll bars. They listed the number produced as 1,983 and where they got that is anyone’s guess. It cer- tainly doesn’t add anything to the credibility of the calculations. Not that the average cluckhead reading this would really care. And, as if to tweak anybody who was reading the list for serious con- tent, they stuck in at #29 the Citroen 2CV. That, in itself, should tell you how serious this list is. A Citroen but no Corvette, GT40 or Porsche 911? It hasn’t escaped our attention that Mecum auc- tions publishes a nice quarterly magazine which, if you get on their mailing list, they will email to you for free. Don’t mistake them for altruists – the mag- azine blatantly promotes their auctions and the cars they profile will be coming up for auction in the fu- ture. But that’s ok. They have a right to do this, and they do it very nicely. Take, for example, this issue which has an article about 6S2045. This car has been owned since Day-One by John Zeggert, and currently has only 28,431 miles. The original engine was swapped for a 347 CID with Edelbrock heads and a Paxton supercharger. He retained the stock engine.