You know- Above all debates-- it is a great time to be a ford freak.
I am glad to finally feel vindicated as a Ford / Shelby guy in 2009.
I can get any cobra I want. (CSX 1000,4000,6000,7,8,9000,SPF,Kirkham)
I can get any ford engine I want. FE,Windsor,DOHC,)
I can get any transmission I want.(4,5,6 speeds)
I can get a NEW Shelby mustang with a Factory SUPERCHARGER. (GT500)
They make special editions of mustangs celebrating certain Steve McQueen movies ( not even Porsche is cool enough to do that)
Shelby has finally patched things up and become a fan-centric organization, reaching out and actively working with HiTech, Superformance, Retired AC guys, Kirkham, Roush, Etc. --
And other things that make me happy - FORD took no federal bailouts.
So as I think back to 1987 when I first paid my first Shelby Club Dues;
The only replicas available varied wildly.
The early GT350 Mustangs were trading hands at 16K. I passed up a grabber blue boss302 at 12K....good FE parts were really hard to find and terribly expensive.
I remember looking at an original 289 that was priced at -- about 65K -- I wish I remembered the CSX number (we didnt get as wrapped up in CSX numbers in 1986-87. )
Basically it was whether it was a 289 or a 427. -- in this case it was a Red with Black interior 289 with wire wheels.
I convinced the salesman (exotic consignment lot) that I was of means and could be trusted with such a car for a few mins. I was in #3 condition, ran , everything worked pretty well, brakes pulled to the right quite a bit and looked like someone gave it a recent kragens tune-up (orange plug wires)
We worked out a time-line for a test drive - and I left my friend Eric as collateral .
Took off and I can remember that exact drive to this day- I had driven other small sports cars before , jaguars, MG's triumphs, fiats, porsches, 240z's with mikunis' --but nothing with this power-weight ratio. I an remember the whole car moving and flexing but what a blast!
after that I was hooked on 289s and Cobras , this time in 1:1 scale. Since I dint have 65K, the trek continued.
Then sometime later, -I saw a antique white 1985 AC MkIV at a dealership in los gatos -the old log gatos ferrari- it had the current 1985 Mustang GT 5.0L with a T5. -- that was a neat car.
1965 ferrari coolness with FORD power. couldnt afford that either.
Then fast forward to 2007 in Monterey . The RM auction, buried in lot 277 was a BRG AC MKIV. -- and it was going nowhere 45K...$46K....
I looked at the catalog and was amazed, but then it hit me . ...bottom line of the description. -- car does not meet California emissions- so no California buyers permitted. it sold at $59K plus comms. (66K)
http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails...O07&CarID=r163
I used that car as a template for the idea that became SPF 2734.
What is cool is building or helping others build the dream, that dream becomes a reality, and turns out to be cooler and neater than I ever could have imagined when I was a kid.
--Steve
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