Sitting in the hotel this evening and thinking back over the last few days, I have to say that SAAC 44 was amazing. All the naysayers and negativity that was predicted never materialized. Okay on Thursday there was a small monsoon that soaked everything, but the sun came out and everything dried out. One of the more amazing things I did was to volunteer to help with registrations. You get to meet new people and old friends, legends and first timers, you get to handle the paperwork, the merchandise and to see people's eyes light up when they realized they have arrived, gotten their "stuff" and are ready to display their car, prepare to drive and generally have a great time.
I got to drive on the track, watch someone beg people to drive his Cobra and take a kid for ride, I wandered through the swap meet area and saw stuff I wanted, stuff I had no real use for, but wanted anyway. We got to drive on the Poker Run seeing parts of Pennsylvania that I never knew existed and will probably never see again and with a little help from a PA DOT "detour" we saw parts of the route not really intended, but we all made it back to the track safe and sound.
On Saturday I asked if they needed help with the Car Show registration and it was even better than the SAAC registration, putting names with faces, explaining the scoring, having so many cars show up that we actually ran out of the printed envelopes and registration forms. I looked over field of cars, Cobra's both classic and continuation, GT40's, GT350's, GT500's, KR's, new models, every size and shape imaginable. Then to hear at the award ceremony that it was one of the largest gatherings in perhaps 20 years was the icing on the cake.
Evenings were spent in the parking lot at the hotel, we had two areas blocked off and seeing the cars, meeting the people and hearing the stories made you wish the nights could gone one forever so we could see everything
Hanging around in the lobby and seeing people like Lee Holman, Chuck Cantwell and even this evening Tom Yeager stopped by our table and told us some amazing stories. What other convention offers this kind of up close and personal times with these legends of the history of all Shelby.
Seeing SAAC and Team Shelby showed to me that the love for all that Shelby created is as strong and even perhaps stronger as the new cars are introducing more and more people to the Shelby world and SAAC continues to set a standard with its Concours Judging.
Anyone who missed this years convention will be kicking themselves in their butts for years to come
Thanks to all for letting me help, thanks to all for sharing you cars and thanks to all for embracing and sharing your passion for all things Shelby, can't wait for next year
I got to drive on the track, watch someone beg people to drive his Cobra and take a kid for ride, I wandered through the swap meet area and saw stuff I wanted, stuff I had no real use for, but wanted anyway. We got to drive on the Poker Run seeing parts of Pennsylvania that I never knew existed and will probably never see again and with a little help from a PA DOT "detour" we saw parts of the route not really intended, but we all made it back to the track safe and sound.
On Saturday I asked if they needed help with the Car Show registration and it was even better than the SAAC registration, putting names with faces, explaining the scoring, having so many cars show up that we actually ran out of the printed envelopes and registration forms. I looked over field of cars, Cobra's both classic and continuation, GT40's, GT350's, GT500's, KR's, new models, every size and shape imaginable. Then to hear at the award ceremony that it was one of the largest gatherings in perhaps 20 years was the icing on the cake.
Evenings were spent in the parking lot at the hotel, we had two areas blocked off and seeing the cars, meeting the people and hearing the stories made you wish the nights could gone one forever so we could see everything
Hanging around in the lobby and seeing people like Lee Holman, Chuck Cantwell and even this evening Tom Yeager stopped by our table and told us some amazing stories. What other convention offers this kind of up close and personal times with these legends of the history of all Shelby.
Seeing SAAC and Team Shelby showed to me that the love for all that Shelby created is as strong and even perhaps stronger as the new cars are introducing more and more people to the Shelby world and SAAC continues to set a standard with its Concours Judging.
Anyone who missed this years convention will be kicking themselves in their butts for years to come
Thanks to all for letting me help, thanks to all for sharing you cars and thanks to all for embracing and sharing your passion for all things Shelby, can't wait for next year
