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Should we drive em????


Redlinetoys

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I know it has been debated greatly before. I am of the opinion that they should get driven often!

 

I was going back through some old photos and found this shot I took inside of the Indianapolis 500 infield during the 16th Hoosier Auto Show and Swap Meet of 1982 (30 years ago!!) I thought this was a cool shot then, but it is amazing to think about now. I sure would like to know more about what this guy was doing with this pair of cars, and what has happened to them since!

post-24787-0-81256600-1331942671_thumb.jpg

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You don't have to convince me, I drive it every day and just passed 20K miles. I see very few Shelby's on the road but when I enter into a carshow, I'm one of a dozen or more. My Shelby GT-500 is for my personal enjoyment, not an investment.

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I'm from both schools. I drive my 07 GT-H 5 spd regularly. Even drove it 22 straight hours from Vegas to my home in Alberta so I drive her when I can and it's sooooo much fun.

 

On the other hand, my 68 GT500 vert will see action only half a dozen times a year. She only goes out in good weather, when the roads are clear of salt and gravel and when I am feeling good, but still, it's sooooo much fun.

 

So I'm on the fence, I'll drive the 07 when I can AND I'll drive the 68 and baby it ............. like she's my baby, cause she is (except for my kids, they're my real babies :yup: )

 

QSS

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Of course you should drive them thats why you bought it. Let it sit and you will start to have problems with it, my wife has let her 1991 BMW convt. sit for years it looks brand new but it has leaks from not being run.

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Short story.

 

We'd decided to donate the first SGT at BJ for the Foundation. Carroll was scheduled to be at the auction but couldn't make it (and we were alerted, and Jenni did a wonderful job).

 

After the car crossed the block we were at the "outside" for the photo session and Scott Black came up with his phone and said "Carroll would like to talk to you". Oops. Caught me off guard. After the thanks for the donation I told him I'd bought a Cobra. His words were "You're going to drive it aren't you?" My words were "absolutely" and I did. As I will with the FGT.

 

Every time I hear someone say they're going to buy a car an put it up on blocks I remember the words in this:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oRtMIhyTgI

 

 

"But if it doesn't win, you may as well hang it in an art gallery".

 

I bought this on DVD and share it with friends. Everyone thinks it is masterful film making.

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Short story.

 

We'd decided to donate the first SGT at BJ for the Foundation. Carroll was scheduled to be at the auction but couldn't make it (and we were alerted, and Jenni did a wonderful job).

 

After the car crossed the block we were at the "outside" for the photo session and Scott Black came up with his phone and said "Carroll would like to talk to you". Oops. Caught me off guard. After the thanks for the donation I told him I'd bought a Cobra. His words were "You're going to drive it aren't you?" My words were "absolutely" and I did. As I will with the FGT.

 

Every time I hear someone say they're going to buy a car an put it up on blocks I remember the words in this:

 

..................................

 

"But if it doesn't win, you may as well hang it in an art gallery".

 

............

 

Very cool. If you'll allow me to paraphrase the quote into my own, I'd have to say ," If you're not going to drive it, you might as well hang it in an art gallery". (LOL)

 

I can understand people wanting to save and keep their cars original, pristine, and low mileage but to buy a new car as an investment to me is usually not a wise decision financially. Ford builds 5,000 or so GT-500's every year and they're not that exclusive. I'm going to enjoy it while I can and let the next guy worry about the restoration. ;)

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Do what makes you happy, for me “should we drive them” Yes but only weather permitting.

 

I drive mine weekly when weather permits. Ironically I was talking to a Shelby owner yesterday at a local car cruise. He told me he drivers his everyday unless it's snowing, I told him mine is a fair weather car, his demeanor showed me that he disapproved. I thought to myself nice I wish everyone would use theirs as a daily driver, mine will be worth a fortune 20-30 years from now… I told him I don't see many Shelby's around and he proceeded to excitingly tell me about two people in his housing plan that just found to LOW MILEAGE 2009 Super Snakes and he couldn't believe how "perfect" the cars were. Hmmm here is the quandary, The Super Snakes pulled high dollar because they were low mileage cars and of course because they are super snakes that someone clearly enjoyed as fair weather cars. The contradiction this guys says drive daily but was clearly excited for his neighbors pristine Super Snake find, you can’t have both.

I enjoy taking the car out, I am not a “modder” it will be exactly the way it is now 30-40+ years from now. Driving the car is like a reward for busting my butt everyday, making some decent choices along the way. In the back of my mind I hope it is worth something years from now. I bought it knowing it will go to my son when I am dead and gone. My father was mainly a Mopar gear head and owned some cars that would have pulled huge money today that he drove and raced everyday. When he was alive I remember talking with him about his Charger, Cuda , 55 &57 Chevy, and many more. If he would have known then what he knew now he would have kept the Cuda (still had the 69 Charger). So maybe future CASH resale value won’t be there. I hope to my son it will be a priceless memory of long burnouts, and red-light drags, like I had with my dad.

 

Disclaimer: I have not nor have ever in my life street raced; it was simply a nostalgic analogy. I do not promote activates that are unsafe or illegal.

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I bought my Shelby for several reasons...1) it was different than a regular Mustang GT, 2) it was a Shelby and I had always dreamed of owning one since the days of my first 1968 Mustang I bought and restored when I was 17 yrs old, and 3) it MAY be worth something many, many years from now where as a Mustang GT might not be.

 

So, when I bought my 1966 Mustang Convertible 289v2 at age 22, it had 129,000 miles on it. It was in decent shape, but I went through and restored the entire car except the convertible top. When I sold it to buy the Shelby GT in 2008, it had right at 175,000 miles on it and I owned it for 21 years. I used it as a daily driver for several years until I graduated from college and purchased a 1989 Mustang LX 5.0 hatchback to use as the daily driver...the 66 convertible did not have AC and in GA, that is pretty important about 8 months of the year. Ever since then, it was regulated to good weather driving when the top could go down...just like the Shelby is now.

 

Also, the 1966 Mustang was built Jan 13, 1966 before seatbelts were mandated by law as standard equipment...it was a $23 option that most folks did not take (the spent it on the V8 upgrade on my car!). The last 12 years I owned my 66 it did not see many miles primarily because I could not take the kids anywhere with no seatbelts and they would only be 2 point lap belts anyway if I installed the factory originals. When I worked at Ford WHQ in Dearborn right out of college, we had a batch (liability) claim set up for all 2 point belt injury claims as you were almost guaranteed to snap your spine in any accident over 35 mph...as a father of 4 kids with that first hand knowledge, it was hard for me to justify driving it much in any kind of traffic conditions. That is why I even thought about the idea of selling it and buying something else. When the 2008 Shelby GT Conv was announced, it made that a very easy decision!

 

I don't drive it in bad weather if I can help it...not because I don't want the rain to hit it, but for two other reasons. 1) I'm more concerned about the idiot drivers who tailgate and get in too big a hurry or talking on their cell phones where they are slipping and sliding around on the wet pavement could do substantial damage to my Shelby or even total it completely...this is the primary reason for fair weather driving. 2) In GA, we frequently have storms that will kick up small to medium sized hail with little to no warning, and hail damage on a convertible is not something I want to spend time repairing.

 

I hope these vehicles are worth something someday just in case someone in my family needs it...I hope it never comes to that, because I would rather my two boys share in this dream car in my absense as they have already shared the joy of it with me today. I bought this one to drive, and if it is ever sold, then someone else 30 or 40 years from now will have to do the restoration like I did on the 1966 conv and 1968 coupe...they would want to anyway and I'm sure they would totally enjoy it like I did.

 

I dream of acquiring a Boss 202 (prefer the 2013 model) so that each boy will have one when I'm gone...one gets the Shelby GT, one gets the Boss 302. I'll probably have to look for a used 2013 Boss in a few years when someone is ready to move on to something else...just looking for that day and hoping that someone will take good care of one for me to later acquire.

 

These are great cars and were made to be driven....Enjoy!

 

Andy,

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Short story.

 

We'd decided to donate the first SGT at BJ for the Foundation. Carroll was scheduled to be at the auction but couldn't make it (and we were alerted, and Jenni did a wonderful job).

 

After the car crossed the block we were at the "outside" for the photo session and Scott Black came up with his phone and said "Carroll would like to talk to you". Oops. Caught me off guard. After the thanks for the donation I told him I'd bought a Cobra. His words were "You're going to drive it aren't you?" My words were "absolutely" and I did. As I will with the FGT.

 

Every time I hear someone say they're going to buy a car an put it up on blocks I remember the words in this:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oRtMIhyTgI

 

 

"But if it doesn't win, you may as well hang it in an art gallery".

 

I bought this on DVD and share it with friends. Everyone thinks it is masterful film making.

 

 

Thanks for Sharing! I am on this DVD.

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40K miles here. There are arguments for both driving and not driving these cars. I suppose if you're treating the car as an investment and planning on leaving the car to your heirs, then not driving it would be the way to go. For me, I'll continue to take care of the car, but will enjoy driving it as long as I can - I'll let whoever ends up with it after I'm gone worry about how much it's worth!

 

Sam

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Just imagine if nobody ever drove the original cars from the 60's... No Hertz "rent a racer" stories... No "Cobras bashing Corvettes" stories... No Terlingua Racing Team stories... No SCCA championships year after year... No BOSS 302 Trans Am stories... No "Hey Little Cobra" song...

 

And the list goes on, but you get the idea... So for the record, YES I drive mine whenever, where ever and for just about any reason...

 

 

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I love to drive mine :shift: ...but I also love to see it w/ low mileage and in showroom condition :camera: . I guess that makes me a Shelby 'tweener! :)

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I drive mine every day........ 51,000 fun filled miles!

.

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I dont plan on ever selling it so I could care less what it's worth.

.

.

And if it's Something of value I want to leave my kids, they'll be much better of with an investment account so they'll have enough cash to restore the Shelby!

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That's fantastic. On the plus side you are another one that proves that just because they are driven they can still be maintained and look great. To each his own, but I, also, subscribe to - DRIVE IT - ENJOY IT and LET SOMEONE ELSE HAVE FUN WITH IT AFTER I'M GONE.

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Some cars I drive........................some I don't that much. The Shelby is a Sunday driver only.

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Your answers are making me smile! I bought mine as an everyday driver for my wife thinking it would go in the garage as a long term toy after it was paid off and would still be low mile (The 06 GT we traded in was driven every day by my school teacher/choir director (seriously) wife and still only had 14,000 miles after 3 years).

 

After one winter on the road, it about killed me and I had to invest in a vintage Bronco to drive in the white stuff. I don't even really like driving the early Bronco in the winter either, but it keeps all the polished aluminum nice on the Shelby. Now up to 24,000 miles, so I guess I am an in betweener too.

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My grandfather worked as a partsman at a Ford dealer for 25 years and my uncle has owned a Ford dealership for over 40 years. My dad grew up around Mustangs, Shelbys and Cobras but never owned one. In 2006 when he passed away he was looking to buy a cobra. I decided that I wasn't going to let that happen so in 2007 I bought my SGT. During that time she has been a daily driver a garage queen and a track car. My two boys argue about who gets her when I die which means I should, in all fairness get another one :-) so they don't fight over it. She now has close to 35k, 20 plus trips down the drag strip and 5-6 open track days on her and the only regret I have is my dad never knew the pleasure of owning a kick ass hot rod!!

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I drive mine often. It stays in the garage if I know it is going to rain, mainly because I do not have the time to shine it back up after each rain.. And I do not drive it in the winter.

 

My goal is to have a Shelby GT with tons of miles on it to restore in about twenty years.

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Guy in town had nearly 100k on his 2007.. drove 150 miles a day to work and back.

Traded it in on a GT500 and drives the 500 daily on the same route.

I see him in all weather rain, snow, etc. as I blow by him in my Fusion Hybrid...

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Back in 07, Carroll was speaking at the Shelby Museum in Boulder, Colorado. He was commenting on all of the original Cobras and GT40s surrounding him, some in pristine condition, but most barely driven since their racing days and he mentioned how nice it was to see them all shined up and in a museum. Then he ordered that anyone acquiring one of his newer cars should drive the shit out of it, and not make it a garage queen. Gotta do what the master says. Mine is a daily driver, sometimes even in snow. Love it and plan on keeping it for good.

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