The Shelby American (Summer 2022)

the same car and barely survived; thankfully (for the rest of us) switch- ing his interest to filmmaking in the process. Allen Grant was often able to win his autocross class with the Austin Healey but couldn’t seem to turn fastest time of the day. That was often posted by a guy out of Stockton, driv- ing an AC Bristol. Allen soon began watching the Chronicle classifieds for an AC for sale. In one case, the seller was mustering out of the Navy from Hawaii and the car had been dropped at Mare Island, while the seller contin- ued on to New Jersey. BEX392 was soon on its way to its new home in Modesto. Modifications were quickly made and it was entered in an event almost every weekend. In short order Allen Grant and BEX392 were dialed- in and posting class wins and fast times at autocrosses around Northern California (by Grant’s memory, over 100 events). He remembers being able to consistently put the car on a mark or an apex every time as his driving skills improved. Grant entered Modesto Junior Col- lege in 1959. Given his passion for au- tocrossing BEX392, his studies took a back seat and three years into a two year program he got his Associate of Arts degree. Meanwhile he had been working at Borges Welding Shop in Modesto. Shortly after his 21st birth- day, in 1962, and with the addition of a roll bar that Allen fabricated and in- stalled himself, he applied for an SCCA Competition license with the test scheduled for Cotati Speedway, just north of Petaluma, California. His instructor was Ed Leslie who looked over BEX392 and said, “ OK, take me for a ride and show me what you can do .” Three or four laps later Leslie pointed into the pits, got out and said, “ You don’t need me. You’re approved .” Leslie later predicted “ That kid will be in Europe in a couple of years. ” As it developed, Allen Grant and Ed Leslie would be co-drivers in CSX2300 at Daytona and Sebring in early 1965 and later that year “that kid” was, in fact, racing in Europe. Once road racing and the occasional hill climb became Grant’s primary focus in 1962, George Lucas, who grad- uated from high school that year, signed on as Grant’s “Crew Chief” – for lack of a better term. That year Lucas travelled with Grant and BEX392 to seven venues from Del Mar, California to Kent, Washington where they won 12 of 14 C-Production events, as well as the occasional B/C- Production races. Grant was SCCA Regional Rookie of the Year in 1962. He also read in the Competition Press that Carroll Shelby was putting a small block Ford engine into the AC chassis. In the fall of 1962 Grant had en- rolled in Fresno State to focus on busi- ness and accounting and on semester break in January, 1963 he and a buddy drove to Los Angeles to check out Shelby American. They arrived at night and saw the lights were on so drove around back and found an open window to peer into the shop. There was Ole Olsen building an engine and he soon noticed a couple of fresh faced kids looking through the window. “ Hey, you guys want to come in and look around? ” That was the first time Allen Grant saw a Cobra. He recalls both factory race cars were in the shop that night (likely CSX2002 and CSX2014). Allen recalls that Olsen could not have been more gracious and became a great friend. The next morning Grant re- turned to Shelby American and marched upstairs to see Shelby. Joan Sherman short-stopped the young man; the conversation went something like this: “ I’d like to see Mr. Shelby .” “ Do you have an appointment? ” “ No .” “ I’d suggest you call and make an appointment .” “ OK, can I make an appointment right now .” “ Sure, come back tomorrow .” As an aside, anyone who was around Shelby American in those early days knows Joan Sherman was the glue that held the operation to- gether. She was pretty, sharp as a tack, focused and organized. She was among the earliest examples of Shelby’s greatest gift; the ability to at- tract really good people and let them do what they did best. The phone rang and during the brief conversation, Joan Sherman told the person on the other end of the line that Shelby was due in about 9:30 a.m. After breakfast the boys returned to Shelby American about 9:00 a.m. and sure enough, about 9:30 a T-Bird pulled up in front of the shop and Shelby climbed out. Young Grant got out of his car and blocked the front door to force an introduction. “ Mr. Shelby, I’m Allen Grant, a race The SHELBY AMERICAN Summer 2022 58 George Lucas at the wheel of his Auto- bianchi. After rolling the car he cut the roof off to make it into a roadster.