The Shelby American (Summer 2022)

“With every conversation he’d re- mind me, ‘You have to buy a rack-and- pinion car.’ I made plans to look at a 1964 Cobra in Indianapolis during the upcoming weekend, and when Jack caught wind of my trip he realized I was serious. He told me, ‘‘Don’t go look at that car, I’ll sell you mine.’ And he did, for $8,500. “ The damage from Jack’s hillclimb wreck wasn’t too bad. I had to redo a banged-up front end. The engine had been removed but other than that the car was complete. And guess what, everyone told me I was nuts! “ I wanted this car because of its his- tory – the Hershey Pennsylvania Hill Climb record holder. I brought the Cobra home and completely stripped the green/gold paint (it had originally been silver), down to bare aluminum. I repaired thirty small cracks, caused by racing over the years, with a heli- arc welding rig. The nose, from the middle of the front fenders, was re- moved and later reinstalled along with new aircraft sub-tubing. Measure- ments taken from a friend’s original Cobra helped immensely with this task. “ I worked on this car for eight months, painted it Guardsman Blue, and rebuilt the engine. The first time I drove it was in my 150-acre field, and yes, I did a few donuts trying to learn ‘the feel’ of my car. I had to wait for a SAAC meet to get some track time, back in the late ‘70s. ” Rocky told me he drove his Cobra all the time, so I tested that statement by asking when he’d driven it last. “ It was three days ago, but if you come up to see me this week [early De- cember] I’ll let you drive it. ” And he meant it. Too bad this was a long-distance phone interview. I sug- gested we wait untill the weather warms up in the spring. Meisel stores his million-dollar daily driver in a heated cellar during the winter, but the car was readily ac- cessible the day of our phone inter- view, sitting in his garage. I asked if he was ever nervous taking such a valu- able auto out on the road, and he chuckled. “ I’m comfortable in the car, having owned and driven it for over 40 years. It is an investment that is meant to be enjoyed. And I’ve been to almost every Shelby national convention, and driven on all the major tracks the events where they have been held at. Would you believe I’ve gotten my car up to 168 mph? “ There was some hesitation in the car two years ago, so I pulled the We- bers, thinking they were ‘gummed up,’ and had Jim Inglese in Florida over- haul them. We kept the same large jets that enabled me to reach those high speeds on the track, and it runs fantastic now. One Shelby vehicle was not enough so Rocky picked up 6S2046. “ The previous owner of my white ’66 Shelby Mustang, 6S2046, purchased it during the same time period I’d bought my Cobra, in 1975, and he only lived four miles from me. The car sat for years in a building, and went through a flood where the water got up to the dash for a very short time. He was upset with the water intrusion and left it setting for the next twenty years. I kept after him to sell it to me, and he finally relinquished.” “It was a good original car, and has 48k miles on it today. It’s funny, but the previous owner didn’t want any- one to know he had the car, and rarely took it out of the building. I rebuilt the engine and went through the car so that today it’s absolutely perfect. And yes, I drive it all the time. Yesterday, I took my grandson out in it for a 20- mile spin. I have the original 10-spoke The SHELBY AMERICAN Summer 2022 65