backafter20

Last night (Dec. 1), the Shelby American Collection Museum http://www.shelbyamericancollection.org/index.html held their annual fund raiser with guest of honor Carroll Shelby. Also in attendance were Cobra drivers Lew Spencer and Allen Grant, builder/engineer Phil Remington, GT350 developer Chuck Cantwell, Tom Yeager, Shelby Automobiles President Amy Boyland, and a whole slew of people, historic or current, associated with Carroll Shelby. Bob Bondurant turned up sick and couldn't make it. There was tons of food, an open bar, and the most incredible collection of priceless cars you can imagine. The night didn't start out well, however. I was told to show up at 6 p.m. in order to get one of only 50 tokens for a signature and picture with Shelby, a $75 added fee. Carroll gets tired of signing stuff, and his immune system is weak, so he wanted to limit his contact with people. I got there at 6, only to find a 200 ft line out the door and signature tokens already sold out. I had expended considerable effort to remove the center vent piece from my dash to have Carroll sign it (took the airbag out myself!), and now I couldn't even get near him for a signature. A sign at the door also said that Carroll would not sign any car parts that night, anyway. I was so ticked and disappointed that I couldn't even eat. I met Amy Boylan and thanked her for her participation here and at ClubCobra and wished her well with Team Shelby. I briefly expressed disappointment at not getting my dash signed, and she grabbed the part from me and took it straight to Carroll, who did sign it. (That made my evening, Amy. You are a goddess!) People were asked to keep a bit of distance from Carroll, to limit contact with him, but just as he was leaving, my 15 year old daughter (Carroll apparently has a soft spot for young girls) slipped right up to him and asked if she could get a picture of him and her father. I didn't get a conversation, but that picture means the world to me, and my daughter got major brownie points as well. Attendees got a limited edition poster by Bill Neale, and I got a nice print of the same, signed by all in attendance, including the artist. The original was auctioned off that night for $7500. It was an incredible evening. I'll post pics , but I have lots, so it may take several posts. Enjoy!

backafter20

They unveilded a bronze of Carroll. It was hard to take pics of the cars, because it was so crowded and the lighting was low. Some pics are from a previous visit during daylight.

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The primered GT-350 was the very first one ever built, and an "R" model. Talk about priceless!

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Here's Phil Remington, Lew Spencer and Chuck Cantwell. They even auctioned the shirt off of Carroll's back!

ShowGT

Thanks for sharing your story.

backafter20

A few more cars...OK, I'm done now. Cool, huh?

05fordgt

Hey Jim, an amazing night!!! Way to go with the autograph and picture. BTW, thanks for posting a picture of GT40 # 73. That car has VERY special meaning to me. The Museum recently got that car at auction. It was originally owned by my dad's friend. He had it for almost 40 years, up until 2004, when Symbolic Motor Cars in La Jolla made him an offer he couldn't refuse. They restored it, and painted it to the colors it was when it won its 1st race (it was the 1st GT40 to ever win a race, and finish a race). That shot will be my new desktop wallpaper. Sounded like a once-in-a-lifetime event.

SonicBlue05

Jim
I applaud you for your accomplishment, as you achieved the IMPOSSIBLE! I was one of the first in line, holding my dash panel, and they wouldn't even LET ME IN THE DOOR! My friend Mike was also turned away because of his dash panel! We wound up leaving, long before Carroll and company arrived, our night ruined. Now I'm out $125.00, and having to contact my credit card company about the charge. I apologize Jim about hijacking your thread, you are a really lucky guy!!!

Pat Chambers

tdbrown75

Great story, thanks for sharing!

Tim

KR3259

I wonder if him not feeling well enough to sign items was just a ploy to distance Shelby from enthusiasts and their questions concerning a very serious scandal at SAI?

It would not take much searching to find out what is going down...very sad.

I know many people that would love to have a chat with Amy or Shelby right about now!

TheRealOne

I have heard of the scandal at Unique Performance about the GT500E but nothing about SAI? Are you talking about the licensing issue with SAAC?

Sharp

Calling it a very serious scandal is kind of harsh. Foose and Shelby both separated from Unique Performance because of Unique's actions. As for SAAC, the agreement was to give back the registry if he ever asked for it. He asked for it so they should give it back, it's that simple.

TheRealOne

That's why I'm trying to figure out what he means by scandal at SAI. As far as Unique Performance is concerned, filing for bancruptcy, taking deposits and not delivering cars is pretty severe. I lost alot of respect for Unique Performance.

backafter20

I felt very fortunate, but didn't realize just how lucky I was. My dash piece was very small, and I had it in a small plastic bag which had contained a T-shirt that I bought at SAI in Las Vegas, so I guess it blended in pretty well there. No one asked what was in my bag. I didn't get a conversation with Carroll, but I did talk for awhile with Amy, mainly just thanking her for her participation in these forums. The SAAC issue did come up, but because I have never had any dealings with SAAC, and really don't know all the issues, I want to be careful what I say here. I got the impression from Amy that the current decisions about SAAC were purely Carroll's. There were things that he didn't like, and attempted to correct. He apparently met with resistance, or at least apathy, and was told that SAAC didn't need him (if you can imagine that!!). Don't quote me on any of this. I don't want to put words into Amy's mouth or attempt to quote her. If any of this is incorrect, it is my misinterpretation. I got the impression that Carroll would have liked to continue to work with SAAC, but was snubbed. The decision not to renew licensing was a last resort. After all, he does have the right to his own brand and can decide for himself who he wants to work with. I got the feeling that this wasn't the first choice for how this should have played out. My apologies to Amy if I got that wrong, and thanks again! Hardly a scandal, though.

It just occured to me Pat, did you bring your airbag to get signed? They told me not to bring that because it wouldn't be allowed into the museum. Something about multi-million dollar cars and explosive devices not mixing...Carroll won't sign those anyway, because he had one go off in his face while signing it. At least that is what I was told when I called a few weeks before the event. That's why I removed the center piece instead. I would have at least taken the dash back to the car and gone in anyway. It was a great time, Carroll was funny, open bar, lots of food, and when it got late, they started up and revved a race Cobra and a GT-40, which was just deafening in that building, and followed by much whooping and applause. My co-workers are sick of listening to me talk about it. I'm sure you guys are more understanding...

TheRealOne

It sounds like a great evening. I would have killed to be there. I have a die-cast that he signed. My wife gave it to me as a wedding gift. He seems like a nice enough person.

KR3259

Jim,

Thanx for telling us about your chat with Amy, yes part of the issue is about SAAC and SA, I think some of it is based on details and misunderstandings pertaining to Team Shelby among other things, as far as I know it is not about Unique at all.
There is also some questions about money for the childrens fund being "parked" and a very small percent ever going to a charity, but as far as I'm concerned, any money going to charity is a good thing!

btw, SAAC has been around for over 30 years, and thru much hard work has managed to keep the ownership information, serial #s and history of Vintage Shelbys and Cobras very honest, turning all that info over would no doupt effect the future of the Marque

Boltzman

Wow! Awesome...And please someone buy him a new shaver

Tispco

Wow! I just got tickets to Carroll's 85th Birthday Bash at SAI. I hope I have as much luck and as good a time as you did!!!