The Shelby American (Summer 2022)

wheels, but have R model wheels on it now. My girlfriend, Vernice, typically drives it to car shows we attend. ” I asked if it were true that he bought and sold a number of Shelbys over the years. “ Yes, I would buy them back when you could find one for less than $1,000, fix them up and sell them. In this part of the country they were plentiful. We had two ‘69 GT-350 convertibles, two ‘68 KR 500 convertibles, and three ‘67s. And I’ve turned down a number of ‘65 and ‘66 Shelbys over the years. ” Besides the Cobra and ‘66 GT350 in our story, the Meisel garage also contains his ’65 Corvette. “ When Tony Branda first started his business, he was buying and sell- ing Shelbys. He’d bring them all down from Altoona to me and I’d completely go through them for him. And I could have bought any of his cars for $2000- $3000 apiece. I did purchase a really nice red 1969 GT-350 convertible, for $2,000. All it needed was a new top. I didn’t have a lot of money back then, like everyone else, and I’d fix them and Tony would sell them. In later years I kept busy restoring a number of 1965-70 Mustangs as well .” When asked what he did with the restored ‘60s Fords, he had the perfect response. “Four of them went to my kids. When they turned 16, I would hand them the keys to a restored Mustang. The ‘64½ Burgundy coupe in the photo was given to my son. My oldest daugh- ter, on her sweet 16th birthday, re- ceived a ‘66 289, yellow automatic convertible that was destined for the crusher before I rescued it. My middle daughter also has a 289 convertible, but it’s a 1964½. And my youngest daughter was given a ‘66 Mustang coupe. They all still own them. This took place a long time ago - my oldest daughter is 46. “The last time I saw Tony (Branda) was right before he passed away. We were really good friends. He was at the last Shelby meet and was in a wheel- chair, and I spoke to him then. I wish I had kept all the cars I worked on for him, but you can only do so much with limited funds. I’m glad I always hung on to the Cobra. I used to tell myself when prices got up to $50k I’d sell it, but I never did. Now it’s not even worth talking about. “ My Cobra was purchased originally by Rydal Volkswagen and leased to Dr. Herbert Ecker, who used to drive the car to Vermont to go skiing. He even had a ski rack installed. ” Bad luck persisted. When Dr. Ecker’s wife was driving the Cobra one day she smashed into a telephone pole. The leasing company took it back and stored it in New York, where Jack Strouse ‘rescued’ the car for $1,000. He repaired the damaged door and started racing – hill climbing - it in 1966. Meisel made a major find follow- ing the purchase of CSX2386. “ After I got the car, I found a box at Strouse’s place that had every hill climb paper and all the racing info, and I’ve got this documentation in four full notebooks today. I have Jack’s original racing helmet as well. He pur- chased the car with the ski rack, but removed it shortly thereafter .” CSX2386 is essentially original with the exception of the paint. The red seats are worn but new dark red inserts were added to the seatback sides in the 1980s. Rocky has both the hard and soft tops, along with all but one original accessory. When quizzed about any mishaps that occurred while driving his Cobra, Meisel had this story. “ While driving home from one of Tony Branda’s Altoona car shows, I ‘lost the brakes.’ I went through the gears, dropping down at red lights to a low gear and shutting off the engine. When the light turned green, I’d start it back up (laughing). And I once lost the clutch and drove it home. I’m a farmer, and am experienced at driving like this (with a tractor). ” Rocky repeated an earlier state- ment, that when it was ordered new in 1964, his Cobra came with everything – the Class “A” accessories package. Included were both a soft and hard top, radio, tonneau cover and side cur- tains. The previous owner, Jack Strouse, didn’t care for the curtains so he had Shelby make special replace- ments – slide windows. Did Rocky still have the side curtains? The SHELBY AMERICAN Summer 2022 66