Kit Cars, Hot Rods and Respect

[Gerry A.]

Ok, I lied... so shoot me.. got to say one more thing here LOL.. noticed that several of you have refered to our cars as "kits" and also voiced your disgust at the term stating that every car starts out as a "kit" and so it does.. I have solved that problem when I comes to my car. When I'm asked "it's a kit right?" my answer is no, it's not, it's a scratch built, it's not a kit. In truth I'm not lying. the car and all of them I believe are built from scratch.. are they not? They are all built the exact same way that CS built his and is still building them as a matter of fact.. only difference is mine and many others weren't specifically built by Shelby. However when I say that, the answer I get back is "oh I'm sorry, didn't mean to offend you but there are so many "kits" out there it's hard to tell the difference any more. I don't expand on it and just let the passerby think what they will. I haven't lied or misled them, I didn't say it was an original, and I didn't say Shelby made it but in their heart of hearts the majority believe he did. Anyway that's how I handle the "kit" mystique with my B&B and it works wonders not only for the shows but anywhere I go with it. I also find that I get alot more respect when it comes to the car when I do it that way, cause now they think it's a multi hundred thousand dollar vehicle and not just a 30k "kit". I've had people offer to guard it day and night when we went on trips and stayed over night with it, because it's worth "SO SO much". I feel these cars and us as well should be treated as such, I mean- I don't know about the rest of you but this is my ultimate dream as far as cars go and by golly I treat her as if she was priceless. I don't by any means baby her though, after all she's made to run and run hard and besides it's wayyyyy too much fun to drive not to.