Carroll Shelby Tribute thread. Be a part of it.

[Dans65]

I was in 3rd grade when we moved to our new townhome and our neighbor had 2 Mustang coupes, a white 1969 and a light green 1971. They were not the top of the line muscle cars, but had spunk. I got a ride in the '69 one day and I was inside the seat of the passenger side when the Mr. Tom floored the pedal...Holy cow! They make these cars fast!? This is when I got into cars in more detail.

Then later on, I was in 7th grade, back in the mid 70's, when I met my friend Zak. His mother was a divorcee and she inherit the ownership of a 1970 MACH 1, the ugliest green that could ever be painted on a car. But it was the coolest car and fastest Mustang I ever got a ride in. And that's when I found out about 'BULLITT' with Steve McQueen, and I had to have a 68 Mustang Fastback. And then the pictures came out with the Shelby Mustangs, The Cobras 260-427s... Oh God, there was no end to what I'm learning here! I kept asking questions, and even more pictures, magazines, books came out of the closet. And then more and more movies were being discovered with Mustangs in 'em.

Back in the early eighties, I finally found my 1968 GT fastback Mustang, an original 390 4spd, highland green monster...Except... It was dark metalic blue, a grenaded 428 motor, a torino 4spd tranny, 4.11 gears, half put together and selling for 2k...Was it worth it, you darn tooten it was. I found a 428 police interceptor motor for 400 bucks, the right trans, and kept the 4.11s. Then I sold it 3 years later for less after afew mishaps.

Then, by the year 2004/5, another friend, co-worker bought a FFR (Sorry Mr. Shelby it's not yours) built his own and I fell in love with d'em cars all over again. One day I was teetering whether to continue my resto/mod on a 1986 Mustang GT or do I build one of my own...I think you folks can figure that one out! He let me drive his car back home from a car show (2 hour drive) and that put me over to get one.

Thank you Mr. Shelby for the legendary historical time you create and the band of drivers and designers and prospector that followed or guided your steps. Thank you for fixing the Mustang into something more special. Thank you for not going with Chevrolet! Thank you for kicking some boote' in LeMans! Thank you for saving AC Cars and putting that 260/289/427/428 into the most popular cars ever built. Thanks for helping me to go FORD and not Chevy! If I went Chevy, my brother and I would never of have any competition to say who was faster! His '68 Camaro or my '68 Mustang! We know who was faster, huh!!?

Thank you for starting this thread!