SAAC Forum

It was a pretty short drive to Crazytown on that one but once the guy started getting personal the die was cast.  I have no idea what remains of the discussion -- nor do I care at this point -- because it was all factual.  Although my interest in commenting was just to point out what was wrong in my eyes it is undoubtedly subjective.  Things like the paint on the front frame rails being black instead of red oxide, or the lack of body caulk under the front fenders, were my observations.  I don't think the cars ever had a wood wheel, a Panhard bar, Cragars, Blue Dots ....  I made it clear that I am just a guy that has owned these cars.

Also, I may be a lawyer but my experience is unusual.  I spent 18 months after high school as a line mechanic at Russell Smith Ford here in Houston.  I cutoff the end of a finger in the fan blade of a 1976 Granada and knew it was time to go to college.  I put myself through the University of Texas by restoring 64 - 66 Mustangs all with junk yard parts because, other than Ford service parts, that is all you had back then.  Law school became the end goal because both my grandfathers, my dad, myself and my son are all lawyers.  With that much history in my family it may offer some color why "the lawyers are all bad people" irritates me just like any other discriminatory comment would.

Agreed.

Guys, I learned a couple of lessons from my comments on BAT and some of that is reinforced by what I am reading here. 

First, I have always posted in my real name which is because I don't hide behind a thing -- in the future I guess I should change my handle so I can do it in secret but that is not my nature.  Second, if you read the posts in Order you will see that I was clear that I am no expert but just a guy that has owned several of these cars.  Third, my 66 GT350 may not be the best in the world as someone in this post pointed out but I have a lot of confidence that Tony Conover did the best that he could with it.  Tony is a great guy and pointed out all the issues before he sold it to me, and I think it is still a decent canvas to use as a comparison. 

Fourth, and I was clear about this in the posts, I personally judged that car at Keels & Wheels and the issues that I raised were pointed out to me by another judge because I was enamored by the red paint and wanted to give it first place in the Shelby class -- remember I bought the same damn car -- I was just reading the news as I heard it.  Fifth, and this really pisses me off, if you read the posts in context, and in order, I started by just making the basic observations that it had the wrong steering wheel, paxton, exhaust, wheels, and to me at least the Panhard bar looked wrong.  None of that is wrong as far as I know.

Sixth, and this is where it went off the rails.  Rather than say thank you for the info in my first post the Seller hit Google and called my office to tell me to stop posting uniess I was buying the car -- that was no bueno to me which did encourage me to keep on posting.  I thought it was funny that the guy was calling me from a Hyundai Dealership which is where I started stepping on his neck about being a Hyundai Dealer. If he hadn't beat on the lawyers I would have left the Hyundai out but I needed a little response.  Seventh, and if you read the posts in order I pointed out, in many of the posts, that it was a nice car and good for Cars & Coffee but that it has a lot of non-authentic stuff.  I know where my car stands in that hierarchy and it has a lot less problems than that one.

I am probably wrong on some of the issues that looked wrong to me but I will say, that except for the beat on the lawyers refrain which is a common mantra these days, the Seller never responded with a fact.  There was a good side effect of using my real name, the number of people that reached out to me because they wanted to get my observations about the car having seen it in person was extraordinary.  There were eighteen bids and I spoke with three of the bidders who ended up bidding.  One of the bidders even flew into Houston and I had him over to my house to compare that car to mine.  Lastly, and this is pretty typical of the public web mob mentality, not one of the guys that commented on the self-imposed drama was a bidder.

Do I wish I had not gotten involved in restrospect?  In a word, yes.  What did I get out of it?  I met some guys on the phone to talk about Shelbys who clearly knew less about the cars than me.  Most likely one of them will be a SAAC member one day.

Two sets of wheels and tires for mine.  Coker has a Firestone Wide Oval Radial that is RWL and looks period correct on the car. 

I don't know if a regular GT350 fits the bill but there is a pretty nice Candy Apple Red one on Bring a Trailer right now.  The car is at a dealership here in Houston.  The car is not concours correct because it has a Paxton, a Panhard bar, a wood wheel, Cragars, and the wrong exhaust but I think it has pretty good bones and someone that wanted to get it in Concours shape could probably do so without having to "rerestore" the car.  The car used to be owned by Steve Forestall and he was pretty good at picking good Shelby cars.  I saw it last around five years ago at Keels & Wheels and it was a pretty good example.  No idea what it sells for because Bring A Trailer is usually on the crazy high side but you might want to check that one out.

Quote from: 427hunter on October 20, 2020, 11:42:11 PM

Quote from: eric lipper on October 20, 2020, 01:25:24 PM

Quote from: 427hunter on October 20, 2020, 10:49:58 AM

Quote from: eric lipper on October 20, 2020, 09:46:57 AM

Quote from: 427hunter on October 20, 2020, 01:45:15 AM
No way boy's - I agree with Eric that's a S#!% show vs a car show. I would venture to guess the currant demographics in Houston does not help matters 

Looks like you have 853 and I have 889 -- almost family.

Yes - btw is 889 an over-ride car also?

Yep.  Over-ride, Ray Brown, button top fuel pump and aluminum case trans.  My car was even sold new with the ten spokes and it still rides on those wheels.

Very interesting - factory stripes as well? If so they are almost twins..

Factory stripes as well.  Paid the extra $50.  See attached

Quote from: 427hunter on October 20, 2020, 10:49:58 AM

Quote from: eric lipper on October 20, 2020, 09:46:57 AM

Quote from: 427hunter on October 20, 2020, 01:45:15 AM
No way boy's - I agree with Eric that's a S#!% show vs a car show. I would venture to guess the currant demographics in Houston does not help matters 

Looks like you have 853 and I have 889 -- almost family.

Yes - btw is 889 an over-ride car also?

Yep.  Over-ride, Ray Brown, button top fuel pump and aluminum case trans.  My car was even sold new with the ten spokes and it still rides on those wheels. 

Quote from: 427hunter on October 20, 2020, 01:45:15 AM
No way boy's - I agree with Eric that's a S#!% show vs a car show. I would venture to guess the currant demographics in Houston does not help matters 

Looks like you have 853 and I have 889 -- almost family.

Took the 69 Shelby Convertible to a Mustang Club of Houston show this past weekend.  There was a very nice 68 Shelby Convertible, a 68 Shelby Fastback and a 67 Shelby Fastback.  Oddly the Shelby was in a group of Shelby's which included several 2007 - 2019 versions.  There was a first, second and third place for the judges and nothing older than 1978 got a trophy.  I knew I was in trouble when the Judge asked me if a GT500 has 500 horsepower.  The real tragedy was that they gave first place in the Shelby class to my 1978 King Cobra because they did not believe that it was a Mustang

I unzipped mine and just left it in the well.  I am never driving in the rain and the reason I bought the convertible was for the top down. 

Hard to believe but this is what the car looked like when we started.

Here are a few more pics since we can only put four up.  The bottom photo was the car a couple of years ago.

This is a little bit of blowing my own horn but it was fun to go to an actual car show.  The Jaguar Club of North Texas had a Concours event this weekend and I took my 65 Jag convertible.  Won the best of all the Champion Cars and scored a perfect 1000 points.  Here are a few pics.

In this season where everyone is inundated with political solicitations here is mine – vote for my car!

I have four cars that were included by the National Mustang Museum in Concord, North Carolina in its virtual car show.

Three of my cars are in the 64 – 73 class and they are photos #39 (1966 GT350), #57 (1967 GT500) and #76 (1969 GT500).  The 66 was done by Tony Conover and the 69 was done by Jim Cowles.  They are all strong examples of the breed.  In that class I would appreciate it if you could vote for one of the three but it does not matter to me which one.

In the 1974 – 78 class I have one car of the twelve and it is #105 (1978 King Cobra). The car is extra special because it may be one of the very few unrestored survivors that I still show on its original Firestone tires.  I have been its caretaker for a long time.

You have to vote one vote in every class. The link is below. And, if you don't want to vote just enjoy the pictures because who doesnt like a Mustang.

https://www.mustangownersmuseum.com/vir ... field.html

Mine are straight but i like the white on the red car.  This is a little sideways to the original post but how do you know what color stripe was on the car.  Mine is candy apple red with a gold stripe.