The dream is born

[wineguy]

Greetings,

I discovered this great forum in my search for more info on Shelby and related topics. I guess the dream was born in my early high school days as I discovered the original Shelby ads and was hooked. Ford came through the south side of Chicago and the Ford dealership was nice enough to let this kid sit in one of the backup Lemans cars (silver GT I believe). One of tmy biggest regrets was working at a local Dodge (sorry) dealership and watched a green 1966 Shelby GT-350 come into the used car lot. I pleaded with my Dad who went with a 1966 VW bug instead (more pratical for a college bound freshman). I wonder if it survived, and it would be great to know what happened to my "dream car". Flash forward a few years, and I'm living just outside San Antonio, Texas with a beautiful wife and 8 year old son. One of Kathy's co-workers turned us on to an original 1968 Mustang convertible which we'll be tinkering with.I sell wines for a Texas distributor, and would love to swap war stories and Shebly rides for great wine. Let me know, and thanks again for such a great forum.

[67GT500#2100]

Welcome, great story. Can you tell more about your 68?

[steveshelbymustang]

Your story reminds me of the opportunity I had in 1975 just before getting married and just out of school working to get a place of my own and a fellow who owned 3 Shelby GT350's 2-65's and a 66 hertz offers them to me for $5K. Thats right all 3 $5 thousand dollars. He didn't want to sell them to a dealer to turn them just for the $$$. He knew they were worth much more but he owned a home in the Bahama's and didn't want to take them there for the salt air to eat them!! I asked my parents to cosign a loan for me and they refused because "what do you need with three Shelbys?? Well fast foward a year and I came back with the money I saved to buy them and the dealer was putting them on the trailer. The dealer made him an offer he couldn't refuse. One of the 65's he bought new and put a Paxton on it to race a friends corvette up the mountain( he always won ) and the other was 5S118 with 26K miles. The 66 was a Hertz that his sister bought from Hertz Automatic with 10 spoke wheels. Wish I could remember where I put those Serial numbers but the only one I can remember was 118 because it was my first Shelby to drive. The next time I saw 118 was at SAAC 31 in Danville 2006. It had changed a bit. I'll never forget the first drive looking at the tach on the dash with the lights on that night drive cranking it through the mountain roads of southern West Virginia. What a thrill!! I bought my 65 a year later with the money I saved. The rest is history.

[67GT500#2100]

Great story Steve, what was the reaction of 118's current owner to hear this great story?

[steveshelbymustang]

I spoke with I believe his brother and left him my card but I never heard from him. He was told a lot of wrong info on the car from what I heard from his brother.

[rsimkins]

Originally Posted by steveshelbymustang

I spoke with I believe his brother and left him my card but I never heard from him. He was told a lot of wrong info on the car from what I heard from his brother.

Steve,

I remember driving 5S118 from New Jersey to Virginia Beach in the early '90s with a former owner, the late Joe Bopp. At that time Joe had a tri-power setup, a roll bar, and Toyota Supra seats in the car. It was a fun drive with us switching driving duties every once in a while. I'll have to dig around in my pile of photographs and see if I can dig up some shots of us caravaning out to Dearborn for one of the conventions out there. We also did the caravan thing down to Charlotte, driving all night to avoid heat and traffic. One of Joe's friends ended up with the car after he passed sometime in 1993 (I think). Joe was a really great guy and has been missed by all who knew him. Joe was a mechanic and was one of the few people I'd let work on or drive my car. I believe the current owner Chris (I think he still owns it, I haven't heard that it was sold) has made some changes to bring it back a bit closer to stock. I'd expect to see the car at SAAC-34 since that will be held in 5S118's home state. I'll ask Chris about it when I see him next.

And one more thing. Joe told me that after Rick Kopec wrecked 6S118 he tried to buy 5S118, but it was no deal.

[steveshelbymustang]

Hey Roy
I have this photo of 118 prior to your friend getting it. Car was in the driveway along with a couple Boss 302 351 429 and 66 red car Unknown # spoiler cars and muscle fords too many to mention. This owner purchased 118 from the dealer I mentioned in the original story. He owned at least 50 muscle fords at one time. The original owner of 118 let the motor freeze and a 351 windsor was put in the car when I drove it. One repaint and black stripes. Had those K-mart mirrors hanging off of the doors also. Still fun to drive and it feels as though it was yesterday remembering the light in the tach on that night drive so many years ago. Fond memory!!! I wish I knew what the other serial numbers of the paxton car and hertz car. They were all sold from that dealer in Roanoke Va and I don't want to mention his name (we'll just refer to him as that dealer). He traded a lot of parts on cars in the day and claimed them genuine to make a buck.
Ole well enjoy the photo and if you know the current owner you can tell him to contact me if he wants any details.

[2007GT]

Originally Posted by wineguy

Greetings,

I discovered this great forum in my search for more info on Shelby and related topics. I guess the dream was born in my early high school days as I discovered the original Shelby ads and was hooked. Ford came through the south side of Chicago and the Ford dealership was nice enough to let this kid sit in one of the backup Lemans cars (silver GT I believe). One of tmy biggest regrets was working at a local Dodge (sorry) dealership and watched a green 1966 Shelby GT-350 come into the used car lot. I pleaded with my Dad who went with a 1966 VW bug instead (more pratical for a college bound freshman). I wonder if it survived, and it would be great to know what happened to my "dream car". Flash forward a few years, and I'm living just outside San Antonio, Texas with a beautiful wife and 8 year old son. One of Kathy's co-workers turned us on to an original 1968 Mustang convertible which we'll be tinkering with.I sell wines for a Texas distributor, and would love to swap war stories and Shebly rides for great wine. Let me know, and thanks again for such a great forum.

Around 1980 (when I was 19) I came across a white '68 GT500 at a "buy here pay here" car lot on Hillsoborough Ave. In Tampa Florida. The car was a bit rough but ran ok. They wanted $11,000.00 for it. Because it was more expensive than the usual crap they sold, they would not finance it. I was only 19 and didn't have that kind of cash on hand so I called about 100 banks and was told each time that they would not finance a car that old. In desperation I turned to my dad (the claims adjuster who drove a Toyota sedan) for help. He said it was an old worn out muscle car that would cost a ton in insurance and guzzle gas. He said I didn't NEED the car. Thanks dad.

[wineguy]

Originally Posted by 67GT500#2100

Welcome, great story. Can you tell more about your 68?

Not quite the little old lady, who only drove it on Sunday.This was a close friend of my wife who asked if we would be interested in buying this car from her mother-in-law.We were told it had been in storage and driven occasionaly.It turned out to have last been driven 4 or 5 years ago (from the Tx. inspection sticker).Of course it wouldn't start and we towed it home.It took a while to clean it up and we wound up putting on a rebuilt carb and she's "alive" now. Since then a new radiator and gas tank. My brother in law came down and helped with new shocks and brakes. She's a great little daily driver and all original. The only downside is that Kathy looks so much better behind the wheel than I do, so it's really become her ride. It's a powder blue (Acapolco blue?) with white top. I believe it has the 289 with auto,but no a/c. Found some original 1968 Hemisphere plates and went with antique registration.A few interesting traffic stops for no tag or inspection sticker, so I now have a laminated sheet with the Texas legal requirements. No problems since...I think they just wanted to look at the car. Would love to find a 65 or 66 fastback to play with.

Thanks.

[rsimkins]

Originally Posted by steveshelbymustang

Hey Roy
I have this photo of 118 prior to your friend getting it. ... This owner purchased 118 from the dealer I mentioned in the original story. ... The original owner of 118 let the motor freeze and a 351 windsor was put in the car when I drove it. One repaint and black stripes. Had those K-mart mirrors hanging off of the doors also. Still fun to drive and it feels as though it was yesterday remembering the light in the tach on that night drive so many years ago. Fond memory!!! ...

Ole well enjoy the photo and if you know the current owner you can tell him to contact me if he wants any details.

Steve,

I ran into Chris Walling (current owner of 118) yesterday at Carlisle and he remembers a conversation with you regarding 118. PM me and I'll send you his email address. I'm also sending him the link to this thread so he can see the pictures. I'm sure you'll hear from him shortly.