Lone Star, what's happening to the one off car?

[bitzman]

I hard Michael schoen was restoring the Lone Star
one off mid-engined car commissioned by Shelby in England
351 Cleveland, ZF 5 speed.

I expected to see it at Monterey but only found the DeTomaso 70P, another mid-engined Shelby project but that was never raced.The Lone Star was a street car. There is a picture of the cockpit only on the cover of a Shelby parts catalog with a cowboy hatted babe in front blocking off a good view of the car (damn those wimmen....)

Anyhow Schoen wrote the book Cobra Ferrari Wars (now out in reprint) and before this restored a Daytona coupe so he's obviously the right guy to do right by the car but need to know where it is, when it will be finished so I can snap a pic.
Thanks

[Calvin]

A Daytona Coupe....... Well... he owned 3 of the six at one time or another I think. I saw CSX2299 when he owned it.... He was very secretive and seemed to not want people to know that at the time, but it was common knowledge. I saw the CSX2299 at SAAC 7 I think at Great Gorge. It had just come from Geoff Howard's shop and looked incredible. It looks more "raced" now when it was at SAAC 31.

[bitzman]

I can respect his penchant for privacy. He belongs to a family that has had storied battles involving lawsuits, etc. so has had quite enough of the press.
We are lucky to have somebody with his thoroughgoing approach writing car histories.

[bitzman]

In the book by Rick Kopec on Shelby American there are two large pictures of a dark car (probably red but it's black and white photography), a two seater mid-engined car called the Lone Star built in the Sixties. I remember seeing the actual car in a mechanic's shop in Hollywood back in '65. Now it is owned and being restored by Michael Schoen who wrote the book Cobra-Ferrari Wars. Only the center section is visible on the cover of a Shelby parts catalog (the one with the blonde babe in the cowboy hat). My question is---has the car been pictured anywhere else besides the article in Motor Trend? I'm willing to trade some old Shelby factory shots for one or two shots of the Lone Star. I expected it would show up at some venue like Monterey Historic or Pebble Beach by now but maybe the restoration is very exacting and thus taking more time. I wonder if the car was ever shown to Ford execs? One problem with trying to find pictures of it is that there is a replica company called Lone Star so if you type "Shelby Lone Star" into a search engine all you get is the front engined replicas.

[Seaweed]

I think I recall an article in the Shelby registery, & a picture or two about the car.---S.

[roddster]

I recall seeing something about it being "under restoration" somewhere on the west coast around 2003 or 2004. The registry doesn't have a lot of good to say about it, other than Ol' Shel wasn't too pleased with it.

[shlby66]

In the mid 70's: there was an article in either Road&Track or
Car&Driver about the Lone Star. There was a couple pictures of it
looking rather dismal in a used car lot. The article went on to recount its history thru several owners and its now uncertain furure. It was hopeful
that someone knowledgeable would step foward and rescue the Lone Star
from certain loss. It would make great reading to find out how it survived.
shlby66

[1972steve]

Saw this on Shelbys revamped site. Never heard of this one before. Hope you all enjoy. Please post pics if anyone has any.

http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/ShelbyLoneStar1.html

[tesgt350]

All I can say is.........WOW, thats ugly.
David.

[vernonestes]

Does anyone know if the restoration is finished on that car yet?
Vern

[bitzman]

I talked to the owner by e-mail a few months ago. I don't think the restoration is done. but when it is, it will be as good as new.
He is a perfectionist. He is not into cars so much anymore as a different philosophy of life but still, in the back of his mind, knows he owns a piece of history. Also as the former owner of a Daytona coupe who saw them go into the megasphere of prices, he knows not to sell too soon.

I wonder what ZF gearbox it uses--straight out of a GT40?

I never confirmed if Ford officials ever even looked at it. I never saw any pictures of it on the Ford test track. Most of the time if you mention the Lone Star to Shelby employees you get a blank look so this is one that was done back in the darkest dungeon.
'Maybe it was the victim of bad timing. Note sure when it was done but I remember Iacocca was fired by HFII and anything to do with Shelby had to do with Iacocca in those days.

The Lone Star was featured in a British magazine decades ago, I thought Radford did it but
Gomm Metal had something to do with it.

I don't think Shelby ever released a picture of the complete car though part of it is featured on a Shelby parts brochure with a fetching blonde in Cowboy had and complementing skimpy attire.

[vernonestes]

I know it is in a feature artilce in one of my old Sports Car Graphics.
Will try to dig it out.
Vern

[computerworks]

...here's one