SAAC Forum

Hey, Randy, all, does anyone have some clear close up photos of the ladder bars and how they were mounted to the chassis? My 5S243 was also drag raced and there are remnants of weldments on the chassis that I wonder about. Thanks

We at SAAC Northwest are a registered as non-profit corporation in the State of Oregon. We have been registered as such since 1988. I have attached a file put out by the state explaining our issues as a club. The cost is $50/ year and there may have been an initial filing fee back in '88. Beyond your question, we all would like to know how we are connected to SAAC? It is not clear to us and we do not have any defining affiliation documents or requirements. We have been asking but do not yet have a clear response. 

We here at SAAC Northwest are also very curious about this issue. FYI, we as officers in this club are not liable and cannot be sued under Oregon law. We are a non-profit corporation registered in the State of Oregon. We are not a 501 C3, just a "Non-Profit Public Benefit with Members" as listed under Oregon law. We are curious as to what exactly we would accomplish by getting an umbrella insurance policy. Any umbrella policy we have reviewed specifically would NOT cover us for track days. We have contacted SAAC and we are not covered under any SAAC policy but we can get added to their policy for Track Days for a fee - very reasonable. However, that does not cover us day to day operations, car shows, etc. We have not been successful in getting a clear and concise guideline from Hagerty regarding why we need a policy and what we get. We are still working on it.

Hello, All. I would like to pull copies of these photos for our SAAC Northwest archives. Anyone have an objection? Thanks
Gary Bartman
President, SAAC Northwest.

CSX2201 formerly owned by our friends Bob and Gail Parker here at SAAC Northwest will be competing at Goodwood Revival this weekend. It will carry No. 94 and will be driven by Bobby Verdon-Roe & Martin Brundle. This car was known as the most driven Cobra in the Pacific Northwest when the late Bob Parker owned it. There is quite a lot of detail on its restoration and prep for Goodwood on Facebook. Search: "Shelby-Cobra CSX 2201".

Thanks. It is all them who make them. I just happed to find them along with a lot of other important detail. My write up was pushed to the Misc for Sale and Up for Auction section. There is quite a bit of detail there. I am not in the business of making or selling the wheels. The reference is there.

Very special thanks to you, Brian for organizing a fantastic dinner on Saturday night and of course, the tour of the Brothers' Collection on Sunday. Well done. It was appreciated by all. What a wonderful collection of muscle cars. Other than the obvious Shelbys and other high performance Fords, my favorite was the Rambler Scrambler which I had the pleasure to drive in 1969. They are quite rare these days. I think I have only seen 2 - 3 of them in person in the last many years. The other car that would have been fun to own was the '66 428 PI F100 Pickup. Thanks, again.

No, there are more like 30 - 40 of us. And, no, there is no group or quantity discount. Each wheel is made by hand and all of you who have been in a business requiring hand made items know that there is the same cost to make one or 5 or 10 at a time. The cost they agreed to is their best price. Again, I am not in the middle of this. I do not speak for them. I have what I want from them and I will write up the history of the project for our own preservation but that is as far as I go. They are in business but as you will see from review of their web site, they are in a cottage industry of making very special one off products for restoration of some very expensive and exotic vehicles. We are very fortunate to get them at this price.

Note: They are aware of my designation: Gen I = early Cobra type 16" wheel with split frame at the center. Gen IIA = Shelby wheel early 1965 with 3 holes measuring approximately .480", .630", .890".  Gen IIB = Shelby wheel 1965 with 3 holes measuring approximately .615", .665", .835", of course then Gen III would be the 15" wheel with slots. If you know your car had a Gen IIA wheel, they may be able to make it for you now. We have discussed that and I believe they are ready. Just ask them.

Note - I would think we should call these "continuation" wheels rather than "reproduction" wheels. What do you all think? Here is a photo of the title block and the change block from the original drawings along with photo of the shop. 

Just ask them. It is not up on their web site, yet. They are a small company. Tell them what you want.

Thanks Bob Gaines! If anyone wants me to purchase the wheels and then turn around and ship them to you, it will cost more, like at least 30%. I wanted to make it simple.

Jimmy, from the beginning, I was clear that I did not want to be in the business of selling these wheels. I did this for my own wheel first and to get the purity these cars deserve. I bought a wheel from Moto-Lita that was just not right. So, I started on the trek. I do not want to be the middle man between buyers and the seller. Too much hassle at my age. I do not need it. Contact Springall directly. It is clear on their web site how to contact them. You can tell them I sent you and they might double the price! Hah!! Mark Davies is a prince and has gone above and beyond to make sure we got it right.

Thank you, very much. You made my day!

Hello, all. I finally have the first 15" 3 hole steering wheels finished and have confirmed all the dimensions by comparing with Rich Williams' original wheel. These new wheels are made using the original Springall drawings made for Shelby in late 1964 / early 1965. Note that Moto Lita had nothing to do with these early wheels back in the day. I have been chasing this for about 3 years. Last year in Oct, I discovered a company in England that purchased the original Springall Steering Wheel patterns and tooling used to make wooden steering wheels in the 50's and 60's. When you go to their web site, you can see the level of precision and quality they are involved in. During my many discussions with the new owner of Springall, he discovered he had the original Shelby drawings and the original tooling used to make the 3 hole steering wheels. (I have a copy of the original title block and the revision blocks). Another discovery that may be new to some is that the first several 3 hole wheels in 1965 had drilled holes done by hand. I have confirmed dimensions from Scott Evans who has an early drilled type wheel. The diameters and placement of the first 3 hole wheels is a bit different from the second batch. I have no clue as to how many of the early wheels were produced or what cars they were on except for what people have told me. The second batch had punched holes and used press tooling. I have measurements from an original second batch wheel that Rich Williams loaned me for the last 18 months and I confirmed the same dimensions from several 65 Shelby owners with original wheels. My car wants the second type and therefore that has been my focus. 5A114 had an early wheel. If you look at the photos of the interior of 5S114 and compare it to later cars, you can begin to recognize the differences in the hole sizes.

I now have in my hands the very first two of these wheels produced in June 2021. One goes on my car and one goes to a great friend Rich Williams who unselfishly loaned me his original wheel for study over the past 18 months. The wood is mahogany laid up in strips in hoop fashion just as the originals. I have just now confirmed all dimensions against the original wheel including aluminum frame thickness, etc. They are stunningly perfect. Note that Springall's intention is to reproduce the first type 3 hole wheels as well as the 16" Cobra wheels. They also are working on the center chrome plated boss (hub) for the 65 three hole and later slotted wheels. Also note that the aluminum frame thickness is exactly the same as the original. Many of you know that the original wheels were somewhat thin and that they could be bent with vigorous driving. These are the same. They are as close to perfect original as you can get. Note that these are all made by hand and therefore, may differ from wheel to wheel just as the originals did.

I am not in the business of selling these now that I have mine. However, I will promote this great product found and reproduced after all these years with the help of some passionate old school craftsman in the UK. I will have mine to show at SAAC in SAAC 46 Sonoma. Contact me if you want to see it. I will bring it to the banquet on Saturday night. If you want to bring your original wheel for comparison, please do. Otherwise, please contact Springall directly.

The early drilled wheels we are calling Gen IIA because Gen I was the 16" Cobra wheel. The later wheels like I have we are calling Gen IIB. So, to repeat: Gen I = early Cobra type 16" wheel with split frame at the center. Gen IIA = Shelby wheel early 1965 with 3 holes measuring approximately .480", .630", .890".  Gen IIB = Shelby wheel 1965 with 3 holes measuring approximately .615", .665", .835" (this is the one that I have for 5S243).

I want to thank the following people for lending me their time in pursuit of this missing link to our cars: Rich Williams (loaned me his original wheel for the last 18mo), Howard Pardee, Nolen Beck, Scott Evans (provided dimensions from an original Gen IIA wheel), Steve Whitt, Bill Goodwin, Dave McDonald, Joe Walling, Danny Jenkins, Louis Garcia. There may be others that I missed and for that, I apologize.

To anyone following this topic, I now have the wheels finished and in my hands and will start a new topic.