Birthday Bash Experiences

[ShelbyPilot]

I posted this last night on Team Shelby and thought this forum had been closed. Then when I caught up over there I discovered the trick to get back home:

 

It is 10:45 PM in SoCal and I made it home from the Birthday Bash. Here are some of my experiences from the first two days. Grab a drink this might be long.

 

For me the weekend started at the Petersen Museum Friday morning at 6:30 AM. I was about the 5 car to arrive. The first car I saw is one I recognize from around SoCal, Son of GT. I found a spot and parked. I tried to register but had to wait for Sdear to arrive. No bother, I got to walk around or just stand by my car and put faces to names. Ducatirider, DDT, Mywickedshelby, Clark17357. The cars slowly trickled in. Each new arrival was fun to look at and see the differences but were all the red GT500s? (Too fast to see I guess). At about 8:30 a line of GT-Hs and cars with out of state plates rolled into together. It seemed the group from the LAX hotel all came together. More faces to names; Sdear, Rossvt, SGTinBC. Then there was the unmistakeable Shelby GT #38 that broke off from the line and made his own parking stop. Adam jumps out of his car and chases down some unsuspecting driver walking back to his car. I believe the definition for what Adam does to get the #38 Bull Run decal from the innocent bystander is called Robbery. Finally a couple of the red GT500s appear almost magically in the parking lot. They must have finally cooled off from their supersonic drive on Farifax Bl.

 

While we are all milling around putting on the static number and HUGE door statics (that covered the stripes ) into the parking garage comes a very loud car. Look up to see Amy's now infamous Grabber Orange Supersnake. The crowd quickly moves to surrond Amy's Supersnake. Nope she wasn't driving it......more to come on that. After the fury dies down around the Supersnake in rolls a 2008 Vista Blue GT500KR. The crowd gaters around again. Everybody pointing, talking and snapping pictures. Then a Series 1 rolled in and more gathering.

 

So we are STILL standing around, meeting and greeting. A couple of professional camer guys are walking through the crowd doing interviews. One of them as me if I would like to talk about my car. Sure I'll talk about Precious........I just hope the car looked better on film then I did. They can edit, right? Others are taking their turns at the bagles and coffee but who is standing by the end of the table.....the guy all the women are trying to get a picture with, Patrick Dempsey.

 

Finally the drivers meeting. Safety, speed limit, common sense, b;ah-blah-blah. OK, meetings over. Quick everybody to your cars, fire them up and let's go. 10 minutes later of sitting in our cars the roar of all the engines slowly grows quiter. Whats going on? We are waiting for the photo taking helicopter. OK, it has arrived and we are off. Road Rally, somebody hands us a card as we leave the parking lot with the location of the check point, Calico Ghost Town. Figure out how to get there yourself.

 

There is no hurry to get to Calico because Bullrun is going to hold everybody at the checkpoint for about an hour. So, I gave Sdear the freeway tour through LA and Passadena. We finally break the bonds of LA county eastbound on the 210 freeway. We are talking and having a good time. 85 in the carpool, not much faster then I usually drive. Cars are passing us until suddenly......SIREN. I guess Shelbygals message didnt get to the Claremont office. No worries a polite warning and we back on our way. We transition to the 15 freeway, northound to Vegas. Just as we started heading up the hill into the Cajon Pass. I can see silver stripes coming up from behind me moving from lane to lane. There goes #38 chasing a Mercedes. A little later another Shelby GT being chased by a GTO. I have no doubt it was like that many times over all the way to Vegas.

 

We are at half a tank, never going to make it to Vegas on that, and it is lunch time. I treat Sdear to a SoCal tradition of an In-n-Out Double Double. Sorry Roger. Back on the freeway. Oh bugger, I was supposed to get gas. Oh well will get gas after the check point. We rolled into Calico to a sea of Shelbys and then we wait around. Sdear and I decided to back out of the sea and sneak out. She needs time to get ready for the party and time is getting short. We were successful. A couple of others trying to sneak out with us got stopped by the Bull Run people. Straight to Vegas with just a short stop for gas in Prim. Checked into the hotel and time to get ready.

 

We head to SAI. Met with a separate registration table for Team Shelby. Wander around the Museum a little bit. Mingle with people in real life instead of behind the keyboard. A rumor spreads through the crowd. Supposedly, that very visible Grabber Orange Suppersnake was clocked but not stopped by CHP doing 145.

 

Shortly we are wrangled into a large tent behind SAI. More mingling, some food, some drink and the Birthday Party starts. Several old friends of Mr. Shelby take their turn telling the Carroll Shelby Stories. Amy gives a presentation about the History of Shelby Automobiles from LA in the '60s to Vegas of today. Can somebody post the Video we were supposed to see?

 

Ford's President of the America's, Mark Fields, takes the podium, he tells a couple short stories and then in comes a rumble. Happy Birthday Mr. Shelby. A black with black stripes 2008 Shelby GT500KR. A beautiful car. If only I had he six figure capability. We all sing Happy Birthday. Some more mingling but we slowly head out in to the Mustang are of the SAI. There they have a few noteable cars including Mr. Shelby's new GT500KR. I gotta buy a lottery ticket.

 

At the end of the red carpet through the factory we are handed a gift bag. Later back at my room I discover the goodies. A diecast of the polished Cobra with the #85 on it in a special box, a SPP catalog, a Shelby Racing album, a couple fo hats, a calendar and it that a small bottle of Tequila? Some more talking and joking. I pick up a coupl of small items from the gift shop. Just in time because it fills up and Sdear spends an hour in the shop along with lots and lots of other people trying to collect thier swag. The evening is over back to the rooms.

 

To bed I go probably took about two mintues to fall asleep once my head hit the pillow. However, eager to get back to SAI on the track I wake up four minutes before the alarm 4:56 AM. I make my way out to the track. A group of Shelby GTs gather by the fence. My Precious, Rossvt, ducatirider, clark17357, pottydr, sgtinbc and an additional white Shelby GT. We sit through Jeff Lacinas enjoyable driver's meeting. Although at one point we hear the unmistakble screech of a spinning car. We look up.....how do you spin a Ford GT? After the driver's meeting we head back to our cars, by the fence and we are met by ducatirider's wife who tells us how she was sitting there by the fence minding her own business when that Ford GT spun out. To her it looked liked it was coming right toward the fence. She jumped out of the chair and sprinted between mine and their cars. With no thought of protecting the cars.

 

The track is opened up and we take our turns with our run groups having a blast and learning. Man these cars are fun to drive. We used the 1.1 mile inside roud course. A little tight with nine turns and 15-20 cars for the first rotation but fun nonetheless. There was one lull in the road cousre action.....did he say a car ran out of gas on the track. During my second rotation a lot of people were standing in line for Mr. Shelby's autograph. I think there were 6 cars on the second rotation. I got to push a little hardder and learned a couple of key things. Back to the paddock. I got into the line and was able to get the previous mentioned diecast autographed y Mr. Shelby. Also some autograps of those friends of his.

 

Sdear took Precious out on the track for the parade laps during the lunch hour. Back to open track. The third rotation was a little more crowded. The autograph session was over. However, I was still abel to get a little room to run......a little too much room. Two tires off into the gravel. By the fourth run, people had started to leave the road course and the car show was over. There was plenty of room on the track. I had a great time and look forward to doing more open track stuff in the future. I pack up my stuff and get back to LA.

 

Although I couldn't stay the whole weekend, I had a fabulous time. I hope that SAI and Team Shelby can somehow produce an annual event at SAI. Too all those I got to meet in person for the first time and those I really met for the first time it was my pleasure. I look forward to hearing your stories and preceptions.

 

Just a note to this very very long post. I may have embelished some things. Maybe not. Also, I am very tired and not going to prrof read this now. I'll edit tomorrow. Also, I may remember or make up some other stuff tomorrow. I did post the few pictures I took in another thread.

[DreamRide]

I posted this last night on Team Shelby and thought this forum had been closed. Then when I caught up over there I discovered the trick to get back home:

 

It is 10:45 PM in SoCal and I made it home from the Birthday Bash. Here are some of my experiences from the first two days. Grab a drink this might be long.

 

For me the weekend started at the Petersen Museum Friday morning at 6:30 AM. I was about the 5 car to arrive. The first car I saw is one I recognize from around SoCal, Son of GT. I found a spot and parked. I tried to register but had to wait for Sdear to arrive. No bother, I got to walk around or just stand by my car and put faces to names. Ducatirider, DDT, Mywickedshelby, Clark17357. The cars slowly trickled in. Each new arrival was fun to look at and see the differences but were all the red GT500s? (Too fast to see I guess). At about 8:30 a line of GT-Hs and cars with out of state plates rolled into together. It seemed the group from the LAX hotel all came together. More faces to names; Sdear, Rossvt, SGTinBC. Then there was the unmistakeable Shelby GT #38 that broke off from the line and made his own parking stop. Adam jumps out of his car and chases down some unsuspecting driver walking back to his car. I believe the definition for what Adam does to get the #38 Bull Run decal from the innocent bystander is called Robbery. Finally a couple of the red GT500s appear almost magically in the parking lot. They must have finally cooled off from their supersonic drive on Farifax Bl.

 

While we are all milling around putting on the static number and HUGE door statics (that covered the stripes ) into the parking garage comes a very loud car. Look up to see Amy's now infamous Grabber Orange Supersnake. The crowd quickly moves to surrond Amy's Supersnake. Nope she wasn't driving it......more to come on that. After the fury dies down around the Supersnake in rolls a 2008 Vista Blue GT500KR. The crowd gaters around again. Everybody pointing, talking and snapping pictures. Then a Series 1 rolled in and more gathering.

 

So we are STILL standing around, meeting and greeting. A couple of professional camer guys are walking through the crowd doing interviews. One of them as me if I would like to talk about my car. Sure I'll talk about Precious........I just hope the car looked better on film then I did. They can edit, right? Others are taking their turns at the bagles and coffee but who is standing by the end of the table.....the guy all the women are trying to get a picture with, Patrick Dempsey.

 

Finally the drivers meeting. Safety, speed limit, common sense, b;ah-blah-blah. OK, meetings over. Quick everybody to your cars, fire them up and let's go. 10 minutes later of sitting in our cars the roar of all the engines slowly grows quiter. Whats going on? We are waiting for the photo taking helicopter. OK, it has arrived and we are off. Road Rally, somebody hands us a card as we leave the parking lot with the location of the check point, Calico Ghost Town. Figure out how to get there yourself.

 

There is no hurry to get to Calico because Bullrun is going to hold everybody at the checkpoint for about an hour. So, I gave Sdear the freeway tour through LA and Passadena. We finally break the bonds of LA county eastbound on the 210 freeway. We are talking and having a good time. 85 in the carpool, not much faster then I usually drive. Cars are passing us until suddenly......SIREN. I guess Shelbygals message didnt get to the Claremont office. No worries a polite warning and we back on our way. We transition to the 15 freeway, northound to Vegas. Just as we started heading up the hill into the Cajon Pass. I can see silver stripes coming up from behind me moving from lane to lane. There goes #38 chasing a Mercedes. A little later another Shelby GT being chased by a GTO. I have no doubt it was like that many times over all the way to Vegas.

 

We are at half a tank, never going to make it to Vegas on that, and it is lunch time. I treat Sdear to a SoCal tradition of an In-n-Out Double Double. Sorry Roger. Back on the freeway. Oh bugger, I was supposed to get gas. Oh well will get gas after the check point. We rolled into Calico to a sea of Shelbys and then we wait around. Sdear and I decided to back out of the sea and sneak out. She needs time to get ready for the party and time is getting short. We were successful. A couple of others trying to sneak out with us got stopped by the Bull Run people. Straight to Vegas with just a short stop for gas in Prim. Checked into the hotel and time to get ready.

 

We head to SAI. Met with a separate registration table for Team Shelby. Wander around the Museum a little bit. Mingle with people in real life instead of behind the keyboard. A rumor spreads through the crowd. Supposedly, that very visible Grabber Orange Suppersnake was clocked but not stopped by CHP doing 145.

 

Shortly we are wrangled into a large tent behind SAI. More mingling, some food, some drink and the Birthday Party starts. Several old friends of Mr. Shelby take their turn telling the Carroll Shelby Stories. Amy gives a presentation about the History of Shelby Automobiles from LA in the '60s to Vegas of today. Can somebody post the Video we were supposed to see?

 

Ford's President of the America's, Mark Fields, takes the podium, he tells a couple short stories and then in comes a rumble. Happy Birthday Mr. Shelby. A black with black stripes 2008 Shelby GT500KR. A beautiful car. If only I had he six figure capability. We all sing Happy Birthday. Some more mingling but we slowly head out in to the Mustang are of the SAI. There they have a few noteable cars including Mr. Shelby's new GT500KR. I gotta buy a lottery ticket.

 

At the end of the red carpet through the factory we are handed a gift bag. Later back at my room I discover the goodies. A diecast of the polished Cobra with the #85 on it in a special box, a SPP catalog, a Shelby Racing album, a couple fo hats, a calendar and it that a small bottle of Tequila? Some more talking and joking. I pick up a coupl of small items from the gift shop. Just in time because it fills up and Sdear spends an hour in the shop along with lots and lots of other people trying to collect thier swag. The evening is over back to the rooms.

 

To bed I go probably took about two mintues to fall asleep once my head hit the pillow. However, eager to get back to SAI on the track I wake up four minutes before the alarm 4:56 AM. I make my way out to the track. A group of Shelby GTs gather by the fence. My Precious, Rossvt, ducatirider, clark17357, pottydr, sgtinbc and an additional white Shelby GT. We sit through Jeff Lacinas enjoyable driver's meeting. Although at one point we hear the unmistakble screech of a spinning car. We look up.....how do you spin a Ford GT? After the driver's meeting we head back to our cars, by the fence and we are met by ducatirider's wife who tells us how she was sitting there by the fence minding her own business when that Ford GT spun out. To her it looked liked it was coming right toward the fence. She jumped out of the chair and sprinted between mine and their cars. With no thought of protecting the cars.

 

The track is opened up and we take our turns with our run groups having a blast and learning. Man these cars are fun to drive. We used the 1.1 mile inside roud course. A little tight with nine turns and 15-20 cars for the first rotation but fun nonetheless. There was one lull in the road cousre action.....did he say a car ran out of gas on the track. During my second rotation a lot of people were standing in line for Mr. Shelby's autograph. I think there were 6 cars on the second rotation. I got to push a little hardder and learned a couple of key things. Back to the paddock. I got into the line and was able to get the previous mentioned diecast autographed y Mr. Shelby. Also some autograps of those friends of his.

 

Sdear took Precious out on the track for the parade laps during the lunch hour. Back to open track. The third rotation was a little more crowded. The autograph session was over. However, I was still abel to get a little room to run......a little too much room. Two tires off into the gravel. By the fourth run, people had started to leave the road course and the car show was over. There was plenty of room on the track. I had a great time and look forward to doing more open track stuff in the future. I pack up my stuff and get back to LA.

 

Although I couldn't stay the whole weekend, I had a fabulous time. I hope that SAI and Team Shelby can somehow produce an annual event at SAI. Too all those I got to meet in person for the first time and those I really met for the first time it was my pleasure. I look forward to hearing your stories and preceptions.

 

Just a note to this very very long post. I may have embelished some things. Maybe not. Also, I am very tired and not going to prrof read this now. I'll edit tomorrow. Also, I may remember or make up some other stuff tomorrow. I did post the few pictures I took in another thread.

 

 

 

Cool! Sounds like everybody had a great time..................

[AFBLUE]

Great post. Thanks for taking the time to give those that didn't make it an idea of what it was like.

[STLShelby]

Good read socal!

Didn't seem long to me. I was just getting in to it when you stopped.

[gofastguy]

Thanks for the great story!

[ilmor]

Thanks for the story - good reading!

[ShelbyPilot]

Good read socal!

Didn't seem long to me. I was just getting in to it when you stopped.

 

yeah, I was just getting into the weekend when it stopped also. I had something else to do on Sunday and tried saving a night on lodging. However, 20/20 hindsight my Sunday was disappointing and it would have paid for the extra night in Vegas. Oh well.

[dave c]

Hi All,

We're still riding pretty high. What a weekend!!!!!!! Great time, met so many great people. It was nice to put faces and names together. Getting the autograph was the highlight of my weekend. Saw so many cool things, cars, famous car people and a lot of Shelby history. Loved Don Purdomes'(sp?) interpretation of cool when he first met Carroll Shelby. The snake was just a young kid, working at a tire store/auto repair shop and Carroll pulls up in a Lincoln Continental, 2 hot women in the car, drinking beer and eating peanuts. This became Don's interpretation of cool, he wanted to be like the man!! Very funny story, the rest is history.

Even with the party crashers Friday night and the cheaters in the autograph line, it was a very memorable, well put together event. A massive undertaking, thank you to Amy, Sharon , Robert and the many, many others who helped make this event happen. I would do it all over again. Wish we would have had more time to meet everyone we wanted to.

 

It was great for Dave to finally meet Adam and Roger,with all the telephone, e-mail and forum communication he's had with them for months.

 

Mark, we'll always remember the 13.00 glass of wine.

 

Rick, you are a great Dad for letting your daughter drive your car, she was awesome by the way. You go girl!!!!!

 

Jim, I smoked the tires in the V-6 as much as I could. LOL

 

Sue, I still think you should really consider a SC. :P By the way, how's your neck? You can blame Chris for that.

 

This truly was a weekend that will go down in Shelby history(and we were there). :D It was really great that 16 of us went to dinner together. Although the seating arrangement sucked. We updated our pics in Photobucket from the weekend.

 

Great weekend, great times, great people, great memories!!!!!! I love my Shelby family.

 

Sherri and Dave

[ShelbyPilot]

Sue, I still think you should really consider a SC. :P By the way, how's your neck? You can blame Chris for that.

 

Hey, hold on a minute. Roger caused the initial injury. I only aggravated it. :P

[RogerS]

Hi All,

We're still riding pretty high. What a weekend!!!!!!! Great time, met so many great people. It was nice to put faces and names together. Getting the autograph was the highlight of my weekend. Saw so many cool things, cars, famous car people and a lot of Shelby history. Loved Don Purdomes'(sp?) interpretation of cool when he first met Carroll Shelby. The snake was just a young kid, working at a tire store/auto repair shop and Carroll pulls up in a Lincoln Continental, 2 hot women in the car, drinking beer and eating peanuts. This became Don's interpretation of cool, he wanted to be like the man!! Very funny story, the rest is history.

Even with the party crashers Friday night and the cheaters in the autograph line, it was a very memorable, well put together event. A massive undertaking, thank you to Amy, Sharon , Robert and the many, many others who helped make this event happen. I would do it all over again. Wish we would have had more time to meet everyone we wanted to.

 

It was great for Dave to finally meet Adam and Roger,with all the telephone, e-mail and forum communication he's had with them for months.

 

Mark, we'll always remember the 13.00 glass of wine.

 

Rick, you are a great Dad for letting your daughter drive your car, she was awesome by the way. You go girl!!!!!

 

Jim, I smoked the tires in the V-6 as much as I could. LOL

 

Sue, I still think you should really consider a SC. :P By the way, how's your neck? You can blame Chris for that.

 

This truly was a weekend that will go down in Shelby history(and we were there). :D It was really great that 16 of us went to dinner together. Although the seating arrangement sucked. We updated our pics in Photobucket from the weekend.

 

Great weekend, great times, great people, great memories!!!!!! I love my Shelby family.

 

Sherri and Dave

 

 

Sherri, Dave,

 

Thank you for eveything. It was great to meet and greet. Dave thanks for the help on the air bag removals and the ride. Arrived at 1 AM and awoke at 5 AM to 1' of Snow@@

[dave c]

Sherri, Dave,

 

Thank you for eveything. It was great to meet and greet. Dave thanks for the help on the air bag removals and the ride. Arrived at 1 AM and awoke at 5 AM to 1' of Snow@@

 

Roger, we also got home around 1am, pouring down rain today and now it's snowing, barely a 1/2 inch. Boy I already miss those 60 degree days from Vegas. Hope you and your wife feel better, get some rest.

Sherri

[AstroDan]

I got to push a little hardder and learned a couple of key things. Back to the paddock.

 

 

Nice story, thanks. B)

Details on the SGT on the track, what did you learn?

 

Dan

[RogerS]

I guess I'll throw in my experience. It all began at Shelby Auto's on Thursday afternoon. Arrived at the airport and hitched a ride with Michael Morris and his wife Brandi and Sdear. John Walker was kind enough to pick us up and shuttle us to SAI.

 

My car arrived on Wednesday evening and first thing on Thursday morning, Bud took the car to the mod shop to chase a leak in the intercooler system. We found out it was a leaky intercooler holding tank. The part that Whipple utilizes is from a 2001 Ford Mustang Cobra and they had a defective batch. Whipple was great about the entire issue and overnighted a complete tank and hose setup so I could make the ride from Vegas to LA the night before the Bull Run.

 

Sue and I headed out with our group which included Steve from LI NY, Cobrawertz, Adam, John from PA. RIHarley left a little before us. The drive was very accelerating to say the least. Stopped at a Denny's for a quick bite and then went to the Shelby Venice facility. It was the first Garage to produce the Shelby Brand. We were able to get some of the cars in the rear of the gargae to emulate the photo taken back in the 60's. That was pretty cool. We were met by Son of GT and then headed to the Raddison in LA at LAX.

 

Tons of Shelby's parked all over the garage and front valet area. It was a site to see. The next morning we all met at a local diner. Jerry Easley, a very renoun writer for many Mustang magazines and author was there along with Scott Black who is president of the current Shelby marketing account.

 

Then a caravan to the Peterson. The cool thing was that the Peterson was open for us to view. Great automotive history in that building. It was amazing. My passenger on the first run was a camera operator for a production company who was filming the entire event for a documentery and DVD along with hopes to sell the production for Telivision. Part of the production company was a Helicopter taking aerial footage along the way. More later.

 

We made tracks to the highway. And being one of the last cars to leave we had some time to make up. . All along the way we were filming the event. Even my first gas stop. It was pretty cool. Off to our first check point, the Ghost Town. When we approached the entry road to the ghost town there were 2 GT500's in front of us. I would say that the speed on the road approched double the "double nickel". As we head down the road the helicopter zooms right above our heads taking footage. Wow! Never had that happen before.

 

As Chris stated, mingle and meet and greet and I stopped to grab a bite to eat. NO DOUBLE DOUBLE! Never made it Chris.

 

Back to the final portion of the run. This time I was alone. It was somewhat uneventful until I reached an overpass that had quite a bend in the highway. At the speed I was traveling I tapped the brake to let the suspension settle and powered into the turn and under the bridge. As I exit the bridge up from almost nowhere comes the helicopter rising from between 2 mountain peaks right in front of me. Scared the living daylights out of me.

 

One more gas stop and then to check in at the Wynn. Awesome facility. First class all the way. The line of onlookers checking in and leaving was a site to behold. Lines of Shelby's at the valet waiting there turn. Many pictures were snapped. People really enjoyed the cars and were very curious about the event. The overwhelming response was, as one couple put it, what a great event. Then he looks at his wife and says, I got to get me one of these. She promptly responded, I don't think so!

 

Freshen up and then to the Bash. As Chris stated, great party even with the crashers. Nice goodie bags also.

 

Back to the Wynn to rest for Saturday. Up very early and off to the track. Got to meet many of my fellow forum members and their families. It was worth the trip just for that. A couple of track session and some air bag removals and re-installs. With the help of Mark (ducatirider) and Dave C., Thanks for the help guys. Then in line for Mr. Shelby's signature. I got in line early to not be shut out. I came a long way for his signature on that air bag cover.

 

When the time arrived I had also packed a blank side window block off plate set. One side had been signed by the entire team at SAI when the car was in the mod shop, the other was signed by everyone at the signing table. But Carroll's signature brought a close to another chapeter in the history of #5322. It was just awesome. Clink, thank you for taking video. Sue and Michael thanks for the pics. The President and Vice President of Carroll Shelby Wheel company were there and admiring the wheels on the car. They took a few photos for their site. I am very taken back by that. Very nice people with a great product.

 

Back to the track for another final session and by that time the drags were closing down. I never got a run in. Back to the Wynn. I have been fighing a cold for a couple of weeks and when I was able to sit back down at the room I just could not get up the strength to attend the cocktail party that evening.

 

I was up at 5 AM and packing for the journey home. By 6:30 AM I was back at Shelby taking some photo's and then went back to the track for a few more. A quick ride down the street is the NEW Shelby Cafe. That was where breakfast was. Very cool place. Look at the photo ablum for pics. A final round of thank you's, pics and farewells.

 

The car carrier was picking up my car later in the afternoon so I left the car at Shelby and jumped into Clink's car for a ride to the airport. Thanks Dave, your the best.

 

Finally I arrived at 1 AM eastern and awoke this morning to 1' of snow. I guess reality hit!

[DreamRide]

I guess I'll throw in my experience. It all began at Shelby Auto's on Thursday afternoon. Arrived at the airport and hitched a ride with Michael Morris and his wife Brandi and Sdear. John Walker was kind enough to pick us up and shuttle us to SAI.

 

My car arrived on Wednesday evening and first thing on Thursday morning, Bud took the car to the mod shop to chase a leak in the intercooler system. We found out it was a leaky intercooler holding tank. The part that Whipple utilizes is from a 2001 Ford Mustang Cobra and they had a defective batch. Whipple was great about the entire issue and overnighted a complete tank and hose setup so I could make the ride from Vegas to LA the night before the Bull Run.

 

Sue and I headed out with our group which included Steve from LI NY, Cobrawertz, Adam, John from PA. RIHarley left a little before us. The drive was very accelerating to say the least. Stopped at a Denny's for a quick bite and then went to the Shelby Venice facility. It was the first Garage to produce the Shelby Brand. We were able to get some of the cars in the rear of the gargae to emulate the photo taken back in the 60's. That was pretty cool. We were met by Son of GT and then headed to the Raddison in LA at LAX.

 

Tons of Shelby's parked all over the garage and front valet area. It was a site to see. The next morning we all met at a local diner. Jerry Easley, a very renoun writer for many Mustang magazines and author was there along with Scott Black who is president of the current Shelby marketing account.

 

Then a caravan to the Peterson. The cool thing was that the Peterson was open for us to view. Great automotive history in that building. It was amazing. My passenger on the first run was a camera operator for a production company who was filming the entire event for a documentery and DVD along with hopes to sell the production for Telivision. Part of the production company was a Helicopter taking aerial footage along the way. More later.

 

We made tracks to the highway. And being one of the last cars to leave we had some time to make up. . All along the way we were filming the event. Even my first gas stop. It was pretty cool. Off to our first check point, the Ghost Town. When we approached the entry road to the ghost town there were 2 GT500's in front of us. I would say that the speed on the road approched double the "double nickel". As we head down the road the helicopter zooms right above our heads taking footage. Wow! Never had that happen before.

 

As Chris stated, mingle and meet and greet and I stopped to grab a bite to eat. NO DOUBLE DOUBLE! Never made it Chris.

 

Back to the final portion of the run. This time I was alone. It was somewhat uneventful until I reached an overpass that had quite a bend in the highway. At the speed I was traveling I tapped the brake to let the suspension settle and powered into the turn and under the bridge. As I exit the bridge up from almost nowhere comes the helicopter rising from between 2 mountain peaks right in front of me. Scared the living daylights out of me.

 

One more gas stop and then to check in at the Wynn. Awesome facility. First class all the way. The line of onlookers checking in and leaving was a site to behold. Lines of Shelby's at the valet waiting there turn. Many pictures were snapped. People really enjoyed the cars and were very curious about the event. The overwhelming response was, as one couple put it, what a great event. Then he looks at his wife and says, I got to get me one of these. She promptly responded, I don't think so!

 

Freshen up and then to the Bash. As Chris stated, great party even with the crashers. Nice goodie bags also.

 

Back to the Wynn to rest for Saturday. Up very early and off to the track. Got to meet many of my fellow forum members and their families. It was worth the trip just for that. A couple of track session and some air bag removals and re-installs. With the help of Mark (ducatirider) and Dave C., Thanks for the help guys. Then in line for Mr. Shelby's signature. I got in line early to not be shut out. I came a long way for his signature on that air bag cover.

 

When the time arrived I had also packed a blank side window block off plate set. One side had been signed by the entire team at SAI when the car was in the mod shop, the other was signed by everyone at the signing table. But Carroll's signature brought a close to another chapeter in the history of #5322. It was just awesome. Clink, thank you for taking video. Sue and Michael thanks for the pics. The President and Vice President of Carroll Shelby Wheel company were there and admiring the wheels on the car. They took a few photos for their site. I am very taken back by that. Very nice people with a great product.

 

Back to the track for another final session and by that time the drags were closing down. I never got a run in. Back to the Wynn. I have been fighing a cold for a couple of weeks and when I was able to sit back down at the room I just could not get up the strength to attend the cocktail party that evening.

 

I was up at 5 AM and packing for the journey home. By 6:30 AM I was back at Shelby taking some photo's and then went back to the track for a few more. A quick ride down the street is the NEW Shelby Cafe. That was where breakfast was. Very cool place. Look at the photo ablum for pics. A final round of thank you's, pics and farewells.

 

The car carrier was picking up my car later in the afternoon so I left the car at Shelby and jumped into Clink's car for a ride to the airport. Thanks Dave, your the best.

 

Finally I arrived at 1 AM eastern and awoke this morning to 1' of snow. I guess reality hit!

 

 

 

That was fantastic......................

 

I'm glad you all had a great time.....................

[sdear]

ohhhhh man...just got home and I am beat ! Also got that wonderful cold arghhhhhh !

 

I am currently wearing a neck brace due to the fact that Roger, Chris, Michael, and Rick all seemed to make sure I knew what whiplash feels like !!! :P j/k. .....but I have never had to close my eyes as many times as I did the past few days lol.

 

 

Will post more tomorrow and lots and lots of pics. !!

 

Sherri...I never ever laughed so hard when you did that burn out in that V6 !!!! Awesome !!!! Cracked me up !!

 

All I can say is I had an awesome time.......and it is so hard to explain...but you all just felt "like family"

 

I miss you all already !

 

Sue

[HARALD KELLEY]

Hello all.

 

Thanks for sharing the experiences. You guys and gals must of had a blast. I really wanted to go.

 

I have to ask the question, were there any GH-Hs? No post on that forum. Since the word of the move, there has been no posts.

 

06GHT0050

[pottydr_merged]

Well my experience was very entertaing. First I got lost to Petersen’s, (nav no work around tall buildings), then Jim C came right over and introduced himself, which was cool cause basically Iam a shy person. My daughter had her picture taken with Patrick Dempsey . Then we head to calico and we stopped in Hesperia to get fuel. Finally made it to calico and tried to leave with Chris and Sue but got stopped by the film crew. We head out and I hit 125 mph, then I realized I have my daughter in the car, so I leave it at 80.

Jim and I finally make it to the hotel, relaxed for a bit and then head to the bday party.

Saturday was great, thanks to Mark for taking out my airbag cover. They put me in class 4 and I hold my own then I realize that my daughter is going to drive also and the dad thing kicks in, back to class 1

Also waited in line for my cover to be signed and Mark reinstalled it and back to racing, Michelle did very well and I was proud of her, then we head to the drag strip and I win a couple of races against GTH’s , then Michelle races Adam and he beats the poor girl, then her next race was a GT500 and wins, she left him at the start and he never caught up, the party at the Wynn was great also, I want to say it was great to meet

Jim C ,his sister, Mark his wife, Dave & Sherri, Roger, Chris, Sue, Michael Bruno, Michael Morris, Adam, ED, Big Carl,

Clink, Tony and other people who’s names I cant remember, btw I talked to the Dodge boys for a while and they are a great bunch as well, lets do it again next year…..Rick

[ShelbyPilot]

Hello all.

 

Thanks for sharing the experiences. You guys and gals must of had a blast. I really wanted to go.

 

I have to ask the question, were there any GH-Hs? No post on that forum. Since the word of the move, there has been no posts.

 

06GHT0050

 

Yes there were several GT-Hs there both from the current rental fleet and 2006 owner cars.

[mywickedshelby]

Good Morning Everyone,

Well, some of this will be redundant, but here are my experiences from this most incredible weekend.

I flew to Ontario, Calif on Thursday night, didnt get in until 11:30pm, so JustTony picked me up and we headed on a short 10 minute ride to his house. The guest bedroom was all ready for me and the packages I had shipped there earlier in the week we all waiting, new helmet, racing jacket and bracket to mount the camcorder to the headrest. My ride for the weekend, A 2007 GT500 Vert, dark blue, strip delete, 1 of 9.

Off to sleep for the early start planned for the AM.

 

We headed out to the Peterson at 5:00am Friday morning, were like the second car to pull into the lot AT 6:20Am, parked right next to a White SGT/SC and met Son of GT. Basically hung around the Peterson for the next few hours meeting everyone, taking the tour, eating bagels, taking photos of incredible cars, meeting Patrick Dempsey, David Gilmour, Jenni (who runs the Childrens Charity), all the Bullrun folks, and so many more.

We got going towards LV and since Tony knew LA so well, everyone headed one way, we went the other and avoided tons on LA traffic. Took it easy figuring we were ahead of most others who took the "long" way to the freeway. The group caught us after one of our stops and we got to the Ghost Town checkpoint in the first group of 10 cars. Lots more photos and the discovery of someone missing a lug nut off EACH of his 4 wheels on their 1970 GT500! He just laughed saying he hit 130 coming over the pass earlier on the run.

We were there about an hour and the Bullrun folks announced we were continuing to Vegas. About 150 miles to go. Tony then threw me the keys and said I hope you are ready to drive the second leg! I was excited and nervous all at the same time, you know the feeling, kinda like the first time you strap on a parachute and step over to the open door of a plane.!

We snuck out of the ghost town ahead of the parade in order to gas up before the return to I-15. The parade of cars actually took a different route back to the 15 and got on one exit north of our position, so i figured it was time to make up some time. We were clipping along passing cars when about 20 minutes into the run, we saw Amy's Orange SuperSnake coming down the ON-RAMP AT 100+ MPH driven by none other than Patrick Dempsey. From there all the way to Vegas, he was never more than 20-30 yards ahead of us. There are lots of stories about how fast he was going and all I have to say is that they are all true. There were never less than 3 digits in the speed being achieved the rest of the way to LV and sometimes those numbers included a 4 or a 5!

The blower was on so much you might think it was running the A/C! oh, did I mention that the top was down the whole way?....it was!

I have never had so much fun with my clothes on. And there have been plenty of times I didnt have this much fun with them off!

We got into Vegas and the gas gauge said "40 mile to empty"...from full in less than 150 miles!

 

We checked in @the Wynn and who was standing in front of me in line......Alain DeCadenet! Champion Race Driver, host of Victory By Design and Commentator for RM Auctions in Monterrey, if you have seen any of that on the SpeedChannel. Great guy, lots of laughs and an autograph (on my gas receipt from the Ghost Town gas up).

Quickly showered and got over to Shelby. JustTony wore a Tux, me my best suit, armed with plaque and checks for Mr. Shelby.......

 

Well, let me get right to that.......Adam brought me over to Mr. Shelby before the dinner started. I handed Mr. Shelby the plaque, read him the inscription as he sat and I stood by his side: "To the Greatest American Racing Driver and Builder of the Worlds Most Incredible Cars, thank you for not only living your dream, but allowing us to share in it. You have our undying gratitude. Happy 85th Birthday Mr. Carroll Shelby! All our names were listed below that in 2 columns. He was really touched. Shook my hand vigorously thanking me. When I told him about the checks we contributed for the Childrens Charity and handed him the envelope, his eyes lit up and he took my hand with both of his cupped around it. He had the biggest smile on his face, he was clearly very touched by the gesture. His wife Cleo hugged me and said as Carroll agreed that they were so touched by the plaque that they would hang it in their home. I could hardly breathe as I walked away, there were numerous forum members there taking pictures and we will all have to rely on them posting the photos to share with you all of this wonderful moment so many of you had a hand in creating.

By then, all the seats were gone and all the food was gone, I never got to sit down and I never got a morsel of dinner, but what the heck, I have so much more than a meal and a seat to remember forever.

The speakers were all funny and talked about "the old days" with Carroll. I hope that video footage gets aired somewhere, they certainly were enough people filming the festivities.

Goody bag, a few more photos and we were out of there. Back to the Wynn, a quick change and then down to the bar for a few before turning in around 12:30.

 

more on Saturday later...................

[DreamRide]

Good Morning Everyone,

Well, some of this will be redundant, but here are my experiences from this most incredible weekend.

I flew to Ontario, Calif on Thursday night, didnt get in until 11:30pm, so JustTony picked me up and we headed on a short 10 minute ride to his house. The guest bedroom was all ready for me and the packages I had shipped there earlier in the week we all waiting, new helmet, racing jacket and bracket to mount the camcorder to the headrest. My ride for the weekend, A 2007 GT500 Vert, dark blue, strip delete, 1 of 9.

Off to sleep for the early start planned for the AM.

 

We headed out to the Peterson at 5:00am Friday morning, were like the second car to pull into the lot AT 6:20Am, parked right next to a White SGT/SC and met Son of GT. Basically hung around the Peterson for the next few hours meeting everyone, taking the tour, eating bagels, taking photos of incredible cars, meeting Patrick Dempsey, David Gilmour, Jenni (who runs the Childrens Charity), all the Bullrun folks, and so many more.

We got going towards LV and since Tony knew LA so well, everyone headed one way, we went the other and avoided tons on LA traffic. Took it easy figuring we were ahead of most others who took the "long" way to the freeway. The group caught us after one of our stops and we got to the Ghost Town checkpoint in the first group of 10 cars. Lots more photos and the discovery of someone missing a lug nut off EACH of his 4 wheels on their 1970 GT500! He just laughed saying he hit 130 coming over the pass earlier on the run.

We were there about an hour and the Bullrun folks announced we were continuing to Vegas. About 150 miles to go. Tony then threw me the keys and said I hope you are ready to drive the second leg! I was excited and nervous all at the same time, you know the feeling, kinda like the first time you strap on a parachute and step over to the open door of a plane.!

We snuck out of the ghost town ahead of the parade in order to gas up before the return to I-15. The parade of cars actually took a different route back to the 15 and got on one exit north of our position, so i figured it was time to make up some time. We were clipping along passing cars when about 20 minutes into the run, we saw Amy's Orange SuperSnake coming down the ON-RAMP AT 100+ MPH driven by none other than Patrick Dempsey. From there all the way to Vegas, he was never more than 20-30 yards ahead of us. There are lots of stories about how fast he was going and all I have to say is that they are all true. There were never less than 3 digits in the speed being achieved the rest of the way to LV and sometimes those numbers included a 4 or a 5!

The blower was on so much you might think it was running the A/C! oh, did I mention that the top was down the whole way?....it was!

I have never had so much fun with my clothes on. And there have been plenty of times I didnt have this much fun with them off!

We got into Vegas and the gas gauge said "40 mile to empty"...from full in less than 150 miles!

 

We checked in @the Wynn and who was standing in front of me in line......Alain DeCadenet! Champion Race Driver, host of Victory By Design and Commentator for RM Auctions in Monterrey, if you have seen any of that on the SpeedChannel. Great guy, lots of laughs and an autograph (on my gas receipt from the Ghost Town gas up).

Quickly showered and got over to Shelby. JustTony wore a Tux, me my best suit, armed with plaque and checks for Mr. Shelby.......

 

Well, let me get right to that.......Adam brought me over to Mr. Shelby before the dinner started. I handed Mr. Shelby the plaque, read him the inscription as he sat and I stood by his side: "To the Greatest American Racing Driver and Builder of the Worlds Most Incredible Cars, thank you for not only living your dream, but allowing us to share in it. You have our undying gratitude. Happy 85th Birthday Mr. Carroll Shelby! All our names were listed below that in 2 columns. He was really touched. Shook my hand vigorously thanking me. When I told him about the checks we contributed for the Childrens Charity and handed him the envelope, his eyes lit up and he took my hand with both of his cupped around it. He had the biggest smile on his face, he was clearly very touched by the gesture. His wife Cleo hugged me and said as Carroll agreed that they were so touched by the plaque that they would hang it in their home. I could hardly breathe as I walked away, there were numerous forum members there taking pictures and we will all have to rely on them posting the photos to share with you all of this wonderful moment so many of you had a hand in creating.

By then, all the seats were gone and all the food was gone, I never got to sit down and I never got a morsel of dinner, but what the heck, I have so much more than a meal and a seat to remember forever.

The speakers were all funny and talked about "the old days" with Carroll. I hope that video footage gets aired somewhere, they certainly were enough people filming the festivities.

Goody bag, a few more photos and we were out of there. Back to the Wynn, a quick change and then down to the bar for a few before turning in around 12:30.

 

more on Saturday later...................

 

 

 

That was EXCELLENT!!!

 

Kudo's to you and all who made that happen..........

[HARALD KELLEY]

Yes there were several GT-Hs there both from the current rental fleet and 2006 owner cars.

 

 

Thanks for the reply.