SAAC Forum

Quote from: BGlover67 on March 13, 2024, 09:49:57 AM
That kid was Vern Estes in disguise.   

lol

It was twenty years ago I was at a Bike shop in South Jersey called "Nick's." you may have seen him and the business on an episode of American Pickers. I had an F250 with a "Carroll Shelby Motors" front license plate on it. and as one of the mechanics walked by, he took notice of the plate. He looked at me and asked, if I was in to Shelbys? I said absolutely. he replied, "You should give my brother a call, he has one sitting in his garage." I quickly got his brothers number from him. I called him that evening. He was leary of the cold call and asked how I got his number. I told him the story. Silence on the other end. I started talking fast about my 68 GT500. it was then that he started talking and revealed to me that he had a 69 GT500 Convertible and it had been sitting since 1975 in a garage. I asked if he would be interested in selling? he was not. but after a few phone calls he eventually agreed to show me the car. He was located almost 2 hours away. I hooked up my car trailer and filled a bag with Cash and went up to the address he gave me. it was a run down area of Staten Island New York. we said our hello's and he opened up the garage. there I saw a Gulf stream Aqua 69 GT500 Convertible. all original paint. roughly 30,000 miles on the odometer. white top and Interior. he had sold the 428 Cobra Jet Engine to a guy with a 68 GT500 from Pa. as he had a 427 he intended to put in the car. and just had not gotten around to finishing the job. I looked the car over extensively. and then I threw the bag at him. as he caught it, he asked me "what's in here?" I replied, "CASH!" to my surprise, he threw it right back at me! "let me tell you something. I have an ex wife, a girlfriend, 3 kids and this Shelby. If I sell this car, before long I won't have the money or the car!" as bummed out as I was, I learned an interesting fact of life. he hit me with reality. then he asked how much was in the bag. I told him and he said he was glad he did not know the answer while he was holding the bag! but he admired my efforts and said if he ever changed his mind, he would be in touch. my 6 year old son and I climbed back in the truck and headed home. we got to see an amazing car in the wild and we would pursue this car every year. I would call the owner and talk about the car. he was still planning to get around to it. and I would talk about what cars were in my life. it became an annual call. I even located the original engine for the car!  in the last few years, I was going thru a tough divorce. a major life distraction. it was around Christmas that my son (now 25) got on me to Call the guy about the Convertible. I finally got around to calling him about two weeks ago. He said, "man you are going to want to kill me. I sold the car 3 weeks ago. a friend of mines son remembered me driving the car when he was a little kid and he started pestering mem and I needed money for my business..." he sold the car for the exact amount I had offered him 20 years ago! when I called my son with the bad news that the car, we had fantasized about restoring one day had slipped away, he yelled some choice words and would not speak to me for three days. so, by now you are wondering, "Why would I tell such a bummer of a story?" and I told the story to inspire each and every one of you who "Knows where a car or Bike or cool truck is sitting" to "get off your Ass and go after it!" I spent twenty years talking to a guy who swore I was first in line every time we spoke. and somebody showed up in the meantime and made off with a Shelby that should have been mine. now make those calls. show up in person and knock on those doors. let's hear some success stories as I am still licking my wounds over this loss.

Quote from: TLea on November 25, 2023, 10:37:21 PM
Don't we still owe them money from last time?

I am sure Ken Eber straightened that out!

Quote from: Bill on December 27, 2023, 05:36:18 PM

Quote from: BGlover67 on December 26, 2023, 07:31:45 PM

Quote from: NC TRACKRAT on December 26, 2023, 03:35:56 PM
Here's an interview that will be of interest:
https://youtu.be/MuH7G4N-dYU?si=EpKHpRaOVoafmsjA

Awesome Stan.

Just an FYI, no real Ferrari's were used in the movie, most of them were fiberglass bodies on Caterham 7 based chassis's  Ford Duratec powered in most cases from what I understand 

according to the awesome interview linked above, there is at least one original $35,000,000 dollar Ferrari used in the film. I believe there is two. but they are not driving scenes. i have not scene the film yet but I do highly recommend the
"Making of video" it was the same guy they used in "Ford v Ferrari" now that guy has a great gig!!

Quote from: mkeller on December 08, 2023, 02:57:45 PM
What transmission?

looks like a 4 speed in the pics

I owned 1967#165 and thought it was a cool number. #3115 was another fave. My first was 68 #1428 which I thought was cool as the car had a 428 engine.

Back when finds were affordable

Great pics!

Amazing times

definitely a Badass car. with Cobra automotive involvement, its probably the best Replica currently on the market in my honest opinion,

Pennsylvania definitely purges records as early as 7 years of inactivity. 

very cool car. as I get older I realized there are more people with millions of dollars of disposable income. this is just the kind of purchase those types of people make. cause nothing really matters....

it is ashame that people do not reach out to knowledgeable folks when attempting to "Document" their cars. a simple "Marti Report" is just not enough. and given his track record lately, I am beginning to question his validity.

I don't believe in forgiveness when the sin is intentional! Thats God's task. And there has been some real crummy people playing games with these cars for years. Most of them were exposed. And apparently these players are just the latest fools.

I love it! what a great car! enjoy it.