different ages go bannanas when you roll by in your Shelby? I live in Asheville, North Carolina and I have a '68 G.T.350 convertible and a Viper. The responses from people on the two cars is amazing. They are interested in the Viper and think it's neat but they go crazy over the Shelby. Have any of you guys had similar experiences?
yeah, I go to a lot of local car shows, folks act like the car is a shrine or something. Most have stopped mentioning the "Eleanor" thng by now, good.
What do you mean by "stopped..... mentioning the Eleanor thing?" Is your car a new Shelby or do they just talk about the car in the movie?
I have an '87, and because of that, my car isn't a "classic" yet, so fewer people recognize it. but people who know what it is are all shocked that i found one, and most wind up telling me some story about a freind/cousin/coworker/neighbor who had one. jim
Whenever I stopped for fuel in my 68 GT500 I would have to plan on spending an additional 1/2 hour or so letting people take a closer look at the car. It's fun finding people just like yourself really interested in these cars. Everybody has some sort of Mustang story they can recall from back in the day. Once, I met an older gentleman while getting tires installed on my 68 whose very first car was a 67 GT350. He owned it for 3 or 4 years and used to race it on the streets for money on a very popular highway near my house back in the late 1960's. I spent an hour listening to his stories of being chased by the police and having to paint his car several times so he wouldn't be recognized. I guess even back then there weren't too many Shelby's so you had to conceal your identity from the cops! He actually drove that car in the winter as it was his only mode of transportation! And to think I used to cringe if I got caught in the rain while cruising my Shelby!!!! David
Great story. I got stopped by a runner yesterday &... he interrupted his run to tell me that he used to sell Shelbys when he worked at a Ford dealership in Atlanta. He's retired, around 70+ and he was so excited to see a Shelby in these mountains that I stopped in traffic to let him talk.
I can always count on lots of attention when driving around in a Shelby. I drove this '66 GT350 around last weekend and all kinds of people were checking out the car. As for people of all ages enjoying the cars, there were about 5 or 6 young girls probably about 12 years old walking down the street yelling "I like your car!" as we drove by. That's about the last demographic I would expect to notice one of these cars.
The thing that has amazed me most of all is the.... large number of guys in their 80's that goo goo and gah gah over my Shelby when I fill up at the service station.
While having a conversation with a friend about my Shelby (probably bragging, who doesn't) another person came and joined the conversation talking about a buddy of his that bought a KR from a local dealership in my area when he got back from Vietnam. A red KR from my area, what are the chances. The best friend my cars original owner was there bragging about the same car. What a score for me, until then I had no idea of the cars early days. The best part is that the original owner still lives in town. I,ve contacted him, received pictures from the 60's and heard alot of great stories. I plan to show up at his house when the car is completey finished and let him take a drive down memory lane. Pay attention to all those people hoopin and hallerin when they see your cars. Some of those stories could be true! Ranger Jerry
Man, what a blessing. I found out that.... my Shelby was owned 20 years ago by a man in my wife's hometown of Zanesville, Ohio. We will be in Zanesville in two weeks and your story has inspired me to look him up. I hope I can find him and he's still alive. Thanks for responding.
From my perspective, I'm rarely noticed.... sometimes I like it that way. I was really pleased when the wife decided to "see" what the car would do one night ( at 2am) on the highway we have to travel on if we go anywhere. She was pulled over by one of our local officers, while doing around 130 mph. Thankfully, he had seen the car before around our neighborhood and was surprised at how fast a 4 door box could go. He checked her address of course and too see if she had anything "outstanding" , and let her go with a warning. She told me had said he now knows what the car can do, so no more field testing...... That was also the first time she told me she liked my 86 Glhs. I still don't know if I should be mad or proud about this...........
My car generates a lot of interest where ever I take it. It's hard to ignore with the exhaust exiting in front of the rear wheels, the R-Model apron and the camshaft being so radical. A lot of people know what it is but some, mainly non-car guys, have no idea what they are looking at, thinking it's a modified Mustang. I was at a car show at a local park a couple of years ago. Lots of Vettes, Camaros and Mustangs. I was near the edge of the park next to a busy highway. A group of guys riding Harleys came by, I noticed one of them doing a double take on my car as they went by at about 60. Pretty soon, they pulled in, got off their bikes and, completely ignoring the other cars, gathered around my Shelby. One guy says to his buddies, "I told you it was a Shelby." I smiled and said "A lot of people don't know anything about these cars" He said "We know, Vettes and Camaros are thick as flies, (This didn't go over well with some of the bow-tie crowd) you don't see many '65 Shelby's" They looked at the car, asked a bunch of questions, took a bunch of photos and left.