UTMC

Motoring legend. Gone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/12/sport ... at-89.html

i'll never look at bib & braces the same way agian....


godspeed, mr shelby

Man, first E.J. Potter, and now this. Tough month for go-fast legends.

What Shelby did in the industry was legendary. I know Im going to miss him.

Indeed. I owned a 67 GT 500 and a GT350 at different points in my life. Those cars racing against vettes and porches in Group B is astonishing (especially since they beat them). Wanting and owning, however, are two different worlds. It was still a station wagon (especially the 500) and a spare parts bin.

Fun, yes. Underdog status? you bet! Great cars . . . . not really.

My mistake was meeting my boyhood hero. I met Mr. Shelby on a couple of occassions. Huge personality and outwardly a nice guy. However, he always seemed to have a chip on his shoulder behind the scenes. Kinda like the guys in Metallica, first and foremost in his mind was getting paid. No doubt, he was burned in that department on several occassions so I guess I don't blame him. Towards the end of his life, he'd license his name to just about anything, regardless of whether it fit his image.

Criticism aside, he kicked Ferrari's ass (and would have done it more than once if Ferrari didn't cancel the last race in 63), put American Racers on the map, and swung the bat every chance he could regardless of the chances of striking out. A few great cars, a lot of good cars and a whole slew of half baked ideas that I liked because it meant he was doing what he thought should be done, despite not have the resources to bring it to fuition.

RIP you old chicken rancher, snake oil salesman! The world of automobiles just lost one of it's few remaining interesting characters. Godspeed!

Never got close to owning the real thing, but I had a '66 Mustang fastback that was painted white with "Shelby Stripes" It had fake rear scoops, pseudo Cragar mag wheels and if you squinted real tight, looked like it could beat a Ferrari.

Unfortunately, my Mustang came with a 200ci straight-six. Friends called it a reverse-sleeper.

goose wrote:Indeed. I owned a 67 GT 500 and a GT350 at different points in my life.

A friend owned a 67 GT 500 back in the day. I was thoroughly impressed.

rc26 wrote:

goose wrote:Indeed. I owned a 67 GT 500 and a GT350 at different points in my life.

A friend owned a 67 GT 500 back in the day. I was thoroughly impressed.

Don't get me wrong, it was a rip snorting beast of a motor. I had the 427 medium riser heads on the 428 (a pre-cobra jet mod - that's what the cobra jet motor became) with 4 48 ida webbers mounted on top. I think it could suck a bird off a telephone pole as I drove by (that, and I could literally watch the gas gauge needle move). As a muscle car, it was perfect. As a "great" car, it had a lot of mustang failings - fit and finish was typical ford (had to shim the hell outta the doors to get the lines right), the detroit locker sounded like a bowling ball moving around in the trunk as you took corners and the toploader tranny was likely built by Weider exercise company.

Beautiful (yes from a bit of distance), fun, Absolutely! A supercar worth 180k? Not really. In my opinion, the 65s or the early 66s have more relevant history and are the "purist" machines. Still, I wish I still had it!

because it's too damn cool not to post:

Ahhh vintage cool!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/06Pjw6Iiwxg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I had one of those GT coupes pass me on the highway recently, it was superfuckingcoolawesomesauce.
I wanted to chase it for a while, but it seemed like a bad idea. Now I wish I had.