07SGT4578 Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 Looks great Jeff, just make sure you don't pop the motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HARALD KELLEY Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 Oh yea, Terlingua Racing Team lives on! The truck we bought last month received TRT stickers before it left the dealership! See just ahead of the doors. Nice hauler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted December 23, 2014 Report Share Posted December 23, 2014 The vert pictured is mine, Thumper's. As in the name I am still going going and some point will be gone. At this point I will be buried in this car! I called Shelby and was told "No convertibles will be built." when I pushed I was reffered to VP Gary Patterson to see what could be done. The answer was still no and remained that for some time. One day I called him again and in the conversation he said he wouldn't build one unless someone put up a 10k cash deposit to start, he laughed and mentioned 2 people had "ordered" cars but backed out of the deals and that had hurt them. He was joking of course but I told him he would have the deposit in the morning, at this point he said "wait, no..." I said "you put a price on it." We both laughed and he said "fine I better have the money in the morning" He did and there are verts. On the trip to Terlingua the front facia went to crap and the suspension in front sagged as the engine wiring failed and it constantly bogged. Shelby did a good job of fixing all the issues. It did make the trip unforgettable though. On the trip home to KS from Vegas a gentleman with a vintage '67 vette on a trailer backed his trailer down the length of the drivers side taking out a wheel along the way. ( an accident of course... ) A trip to the casino in Indiana had a valet take it for a joy ride and hit the drivers side front so hard he put the facia into the tire and rippled the fender, broke the brake duct and exhaust tip. ( actually tipped the fool to not move the car from the front area ) ADDED: I was driving on Fort Capmbell KY where my wife was stationed and on a beautiful clear blue day with the temp around 80deg I had the top down and was enjoying the car in all its glory. It was then that a freak shower, while it was still sunny, decided to open up and dump several inches of water in span of minutes on the base. I was at a stop light about a mile from home and it might as well have been across the world. The speedster tops were on and I could not raise the top. As fate would have it this was the exact moment my wife drove by the opposite direction to go pick up our daughter from daycare. Finger waggling was not all she was doing. At least she was nice enough to slow down in her Jeep and not splash the flooding street onto me as the other drivers had, no, she drove by nice and slow to make sure I knew she saw me. At this point I said what the hell. I turned up the radio raised my hands to the sky and cracked a huge grin as I pulled down the brim of my hat to keep the water out of my eyes. I drove the rest of the way home with most everyone thinking I was nuts. By the time I pulled into our driveway the rain was gone and the sun was still out quickly burning off the water on the streets. I opened my door and like a cartoon water gushed out and over my doorsill. I spent the rest of the afternoon and into the night drying her out. Floor plugs had to be pulled, seats ventilated, dash lifted and wet vac sentenced to death via hard labor. I relate the latter at my wife's insistence, I truly will never hear the end of it. If you cant find the joy in the crappiest parts of life you aren't trying hard enough to live. Needless to say, I drive it when I can and it just topped 50k mileage and has seen just about all weather but hail. Even saw a day it was raining manure on the interstate, thank god the top was up. I would happily have it at any of the bashes but don't have anyone to drive with and I am not in the best shape to drive alone. I am in Shelbyville KY if anyone wants to see it. MERRY XMAS to all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HARALD KELLEY Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 The vert pictured is mine, Thumper's. As in the name I am still going going and some point will be gone. At this point I will be buried in this car! I called Shelby and was told "No convertibles will be built." when I pushed I was reffered to VP Gary Patterson to see what could be done. The answer was still no and remained that for some time. One day I called him again and in the conversation he said he wouldn't build one unless someone put up a 10k cash deposit to start, he laughed and mentioned 2 people had "ordered" cars but backed out of the deals and that had hurt them. He was joking of course but I told him he would have the deposit in the morning, at this point he said "wait, no..." I said "you put a price on it." We both laughed and he said "fine I better have the money in the morning" He did and there are verts. My car was ordered first and set up another being built. But as it turned out there were problems with the verts being built as the rear suspension of the hardtop didn't fit and several other things caused problems, VP Gary Patterson said "no chance on any others" (05-09 series) being built after all the problems. As it was told to me Shelby lost a little money in the end on every Terlingua made as they didn't sell enough to cover the special parts cost and lost even more on the verts due to extra work on the rear suspension and having to have them in the factory and mod shop in Vegas for an extended amount of time. Mine even more so as it had to have the front facia replaced as the original Terlingua one warped before the car was even finished. The rear in mine has the rear jug torque cover and rear brakes and that caused more problems. I originally ordered watts link but was quickly told it was a no go and then over 3 months I was told repeatedly that they had to change one thing or another to get it finished. It was not finished on the planned date and I "took" it from them and went to Terlingua and then brought it back to them to finish. That is why pictures of the car in Terlingua are of it not finished and without some of its options, i.e. steering wheel, rear jug, speedster covers, slightly different front facia, and some other items. After 6 different invoices of changes I got the car around December. Alas I still had to wait on some things I ordered for one reason or another and they would be shipped to me. At the time I had been told anything Shelby or the Shelby mod shop offered I could have but it was only last year I got the battery cover and Shelby rear duck tail spoiler installed. The spoiler was a point of contention as the mold used for the non-emblem cars was faulty and only so many were made, and when I was supposed to get it I was told it was out of stock. I contacted Amy and was given the name of the manufacturer and called them and found one. Shelby had no problem selling it to me but were dismayed I didn't want to keep the 6 banger spoiler. While my car was being built a man simply called "John" that was being shown the factory by Mr Patterson said he wanted a car that "looked like mine.. with all the orange". As I had commissioned Gary Disney to do the interior in a matching hue and set the car up for SEMA for one of his companies' to use that year. John had purchased his vert to own and drive for a short time and flip for profit at auction, alas due to low numbers and lack of public awareness the car didn't sell at the first auction and ended up at 5 different auctions and owners over a few years until finally sold to a nice gentleman in Tx. I had offered mine up for sale as I had started to battle cancer again but my wife stepped in and said no. I have all paperwork as well as multiple sets of 9 page invoices with minor changes and as it took twice as long to make mine than most others we are leaning on just keeping it forever, it seems fitting it has had problems in life as I have. On the trip to Terlingua the front facia went to crap and the suspension in front sagged as the engine wiring failed and it constantly bogged. Shelby did a good job of fixing all the issues. On the trip home to KS from Vegas a gentleman with a vintage '67 vette on a trailer backed his trailer down the length of the drivers side taking out a wheel along the way. ( an accident of course... ) A trip to casino in Indiana had a valet take it for a joy ride and hit the drivers side front so hard he put the facia into the tire and rippled the fender, broke the brake duct and exhaust tip. ( actually tipped the fool to not move the car from the front area ) Needless to say, I drive it when I can and it just topped 50k mileage and has seen just about all weather but hail. Even saw a day it was raining manure on the interstate, thank god the top was up. I would happily have it at any of the bashes but don't have anyone to drive with and I am not in the best shape to drive alone. MERRY XMAS to all! Enjoyed the read. Thanks and Merry Christmas to you and yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank S Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 The vert pictured is mine, Thumper's. As in the name I am still going going and some point will be gone. At this point I will be buried in this car! [...] Needless to say, I drive it when I can and it just topped 50k mileage and has seen just about all weather but hail. Even saw a day it was raining manure on the interstate, thank god the top was up. I would happily have it at any of the bashes but don't have anyone to drive with and I am not in the best shape to drive alone. MERRY XMAS to all! Merry Christmas to you, as well, Thumper. Kind of a happy/sad story, certainly. The car seems to have a good deal of You built into it. I made similar inquiries at the beginning, but didn't have the persistence you had. Kind of a happy/sad deal there, too, if building a convertible Terlingua took that much tenacity and time. I envy you the car and most of the experience. Good on ye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Fest Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Thanks for sharing Thumper! I truly enjoy learning more about the Terlingua! Yours is quite a story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.