My history with and story about Shelby Mustangs.
For many years (at least 15) I have longed for a Shelby Mustang. I have always liked Mustangs, but have loved Shelby Mustangs. Up until this past year (2007), my favorites had been the 67/68 style Shelby’s. More recently, I have begun liking the 65/66 style too. Naturally, I love the Cobras and Daytona Coupe’s as well, but my passion has been with the Shelby Mustangs.
Over the past 8 years, I’ve come close to purchasing a Shelby, but there was always one reason or another that got in the way. One opportunity in 2002 I had was for a 68 KR for $28k on eBay. The car was in awesome condition but was missing the Shelby badge on the fender. The car was in an accident in 73 where they replaced the fender but not the badge. I called the SAAC, who was very helpful, and they suggested that I’d be fighting for years if I bought the car but the badge showed up on another Mustang – so I backed off the deal. I had other similar instances but financial challenges of having children, buying a house or getting married seemed to put a hold on my desires.
About 3 years ago, I learned that Shelby was going to be making cars again – particularly Mustangs. I knew they were already making Cobras again, but as mentioned, my passion was always the Mustangs. The first thing I did was to call Tasca Ford in Rhode Island because I wanted to purchase my car through them because of their history with Shelby, Ford Racing and more (will discuss later). Because I traveled often at the time, I had put my name in several Ford dealers throughout the country to be on the list for a new Shelby when they came out.Meanwhile, over the last 2-3 years, I’ve watched vintage Shelby automobiles skyrocket in price and thought I’d never have a chance. Therefore, I had resolved to the fact that I would settle for a 67/68 Mustang Fastback. So I started looking on eBay and all other websites and magazines for the right one.
Then one day, about a year ago, I saw a 68 Fastback on eBay and the owner, Ray Powers, was about 20 minutes from my house. I watched the price jump beyond the value I thought the car was worth but called Ray since I saw there was another Mustang in the background of the picture. He invited me over where I saw about 15 vintage Mustangs sitting in a barn in the middle of a major city in Massachusetts. While lusting after each of them, I saw he had a 68 Shelby GT350. I nearly fainted. I begged and pleaded for that car but he wasn’t ready to sell it. It was in desperate need of a major rotisserie overhaul and I was willing to do it all. Now my hopes of owning a Shelby were reinvigorated. I called him frequently for weeks afterwards until I finally got him to see that I really wanted that car and would have kept it forever. Then, I finally asked him for a ballpark price “for when he was ready to sell it.” When he said “mid 40’s,” I immediately sold all my Google and Goldman Sachs stock, and other and got up almost that amount. I was going to go to his house and put the cash I had on the table and see if he would let me take it now rather than wait the year or so he seemed to have indicated at the time. I knew I’d spend another $20k and 10 years getting it perfect, but I wanted to do it with my children.
While waiting for the cash to transfer and clear into my checking account, I started looking more into why none of the Ford dealers ever called me about the new Shelby cars. First I called Tasca and they said I wasn’t on their list. When I called the others, I got the same – “we don’t have you on out list.” It seemed that all these places didn’t take me serious. I’m sure that it was because I was either not a repeat customer, I 
didn’t call them frequently enough or they just thought I was not serious. Plus, when I learned that the new Shelby’s (GT500) were going for $64k minimum, I knew I couldn’t afford them. But then I learned of the new model – Shelby GT (SGT) and that it was more affordable. Then I learned that they were roughly the same price of what I was about to pay for a vintage Shelby.Fortunate for me, I happened to have already purchased a 1/18th scale model of the new 2007 Shelby GT500 and placed it on my desk next to my 1/18th scale 68 KR.
One day, I pulled both of them together and began comparing them side by side. While looking at the lines and style, I started really liking the new style. So I began researching more about the SGT. I finally concluded that I would rather purchase a brand new Shelby where I could pick the options I wanted and enjoy it now with my family rather than spend the money for the old, do all the work and wait 10 years to start enjoying it. Boy did I ever make the right decision.
In February of 2007, I learned of the various forums, particularly the one on shelbyautos.com, where I could learn more about the cars and people buying them. Then I learned that I could actually talk to some of the Shelby employees and that was like a dream. I began calling John Walker and have since made friends with him. He is the Director of Sales at Shelby Autos (SAI) in Las Vegas, NV. He was very helpful to me and even helped the salesman when I ordered my 2007 Shelby GT. So on February 21, 2007, I finally accomplished my long time dream and could finally say that “I OWN A SHELBY.”
Naturally, I had been discussing this with my wife. She knew of my passion and had/has been very supportive. She could tell I was going to purchase one soon, but didn’t know how soon. I kept telling her it would be months, but instead sent her to Florida for a week with the kids to visit her parents who vacation there every ear. While she was away, I put new hardwood floors throughout the whole first floor of our 2300 sq ft colonial home and replaced the dishwasher with a brand new top of the line model. When she and the kids came home, I filmed them all walking into the home which looked brand new. I had put back everything it it’s place and she was amazed. As I walked her through her “new home,” I said look at the new floors, look at the new dishwasher, I bought a Shelby, look at the new baseboard around the kitchen cabinets, look at how I replaced all the furniture, look at this and look at that. I said it all fast so she wouldn’t catch the Shelby part, but naturally she caught it but was so elated, she was cool with it. LOL.
Immediately after ordering the Shelby, I started working with Tasca’s Director of Performance, Steve Guyette, to plan out the modifications I wanted them to do after Shelby built the car. We had been playing phone tag for about 3 weeks. Then one day, I was sick so I stopped by the
drug store to get a prescription. While waiting, I happened to have grabbed some car Magazines. Three of them were Mustang magazines and another was a general car magazine called Muscle Car Review (MCR). As I waited for my prescription, I started looking through the magazines. Then they called my name so I almost put down the MCR magazine but then saw a small picture on the cover of a rusted and rotted old Mustang from a junkyard so I just paid for all 4 magazines. Boy was that another lucky decision and life changing moment.
A few hours after I got home, Steve just happened to have called me again and we finally spoke. I mentioned how I wanted him to just add a few options to the engine to add about 50 HP, add a Tasca badge to the dash like one I had seen on a 1969 Boss Mustang from Tasca, and add a few other minor items such as a GT500 steering wheel. I made it clear that I didn’t want anything on the exterior such as a Tasca badge or anything else that wasn’t Shelby. I also mentioned how I was on the forum every night and saw that there was a need for expertise in the New England area and how Tasca could fill that void. Steve said that Tasca had their own Cobra Jet Mustang (like the CJ Mustang in the 60’s) and that it competed with the Shelby so they didn’t really see the need (more on this later).Then about 2 hours later, I started reading through those magazines when all of a sudden I found on page 70 of that MCR magazine, a 4-page article with 1.5 inch letters across the top of a 2-page spread called “TASCA SHELBY.”
I was beside myself. I immediately scanned the article and emailed it to John and Steve and told them that this was exactly what I wanted to do and was already talking about. I couldn’t believe it. In my email to Steve, I told him I would now be proud to have a Tasca badge on the exterior after seeing that article as it showed one on the trunk deck lid (I have that same exact badge on my car now and in the same spot). I also sent the article to Amy Boylan, President of Shelby Autos and she was impressed too.
That article, written by Bill Holder, really helped me gain respect within Shelby Autos once they saw what I was trying to accomplish. The article talks about how Tasca used to put Cobra Jet engine (which Tasca invented) in the 1967 Shelby taking it to 600 HP. It also talked about how these were the “baddest of the 67 GT500’s,” were “pretty unique and valuable,” and were a “rarified group.” It continues to say how they were all done before the customer took delivery, again,which I was already planning. I hope to some day meet Mr. Holder and the owner of that 67 Tasca Shelby.
Now that I was speaking with John frequently, and was on the forum every night till 2, 3 or 4 in the morning and was sucking up every piece of knowledge about these cars, I began picking out the modifications that I would have Shelby do after they converted my Mustang GT into a Shelby GT. The guys on the forum are great and I consider most of them my friends. Some had already gotten their cars, most were waiting, and some were about to receive theirs. Mostly I learned about the different options when there wasn’t much information. Needless to say, I changed my mind often.
All along, I knew that I shouldn’t let money be a factor as this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; and I wasn’t afraid to ask (YDAYDG). I was also communicating with John and Amy about other specific requests, such as asking for the CS/6 fascia to be put on my car. At first it was okay, later they said no. At the same time, I had been requesting a certain Carroll Shelby Mustang (CSM) number for my car. Naturally I asked for #1000, but that already passed. I asked for 2,000 or 3,000 and those were taken. I asked for # 6,000 and got another NO. So I asked for # 2007 and finally got a YES. A few weeks later, I got a call that it was taken by accident for another car. I was disappointed but not angry. Around this same time, we learned that the Fender Stratocaster Shelby GT guitars were available for sale (only 200 of them). I thought at the time that I’d prefer to put that money into Shelby options instead, so I passed up the opportunity to buy one.
Then on April 10, after various other emails, I send Steve an email with a list of options I wanted him to do. In that email, I also reiterated how I thought that Tasca was missing out in an opportunity to own New England for doing mods to the new Shelby cars. The next day, when we met in person for the first time, he saw my enthusiasm and finally opened up to the idea of doing more with Shelby. I pushed the idea again and said how they had an opportunity. I mentioned again that people on the forum were looking for a place where they can take their cars for warranty work, repairs or extra options after they got them. Finally Steve said that he’d look into it. During that meeting, Steve also asked me to showcase my car in this year’s Tasca Event on August 25th. Naturally, I was honored, especially when he said that Carroll Shelby was attending to this year’s event. I had been to the Tasca Event a few years prior and knew they were lots of fun. That was when I first met John Force and Bill Gilbert (he’s the guy that invented the Cobra Jet engine). After accepting Steve’s offer of showcasing my car at the Tasca Event, I spoke with John and told him of the good news.
That’s when I learned of my CSM #. John called me personally to tell me as he knew I’d be extremely excited. He asked me to sit. Then he began to rattle off my numbers. Then he slowly read:
John: 07…
Me: yeah
John: SGT…
Me: yeah, yeah
John: ZERO
Me: WHAT?!!
John: ZERO
ME: WHAT?!!
John: 38
ME: ________………. (that’s the sound of me passing out – LOL)
Because of this “special project,” (John’s words) John and Amy hooked me up with 07SGT0038. I couldn’t believe it! What a wonderful surprise and amazing luck.
Meanwhile, I had already been asking John how I could plan to visit SAI and be there when Mr. Shelby was there so I could have him sign my car. After speaking with John, I contacted Amy again and asked the same. I also asked her if she and John could come to Tasca for the event since Mr. Shelby was coming. After a few weeks of these discussions, Amy finally said it was too difficult logistically so she would “arrange for Carroll to sign my car at the Tasca Event.” Boy was I excited as hell.
Now it was time to order vanity plates. There were topics on the forum about it and most were going with something “Shelby” related, including me at first. Then one day I thought of how I had already taped this past January’s Barrett Jackson auction where many Shelby cars were up on the block – including 07SGT0001 ($660,000 including Shelby GT guitar #001). Carroll’s personal 1 of 1 Cobra Super Snake was also on the block and it went for a record $5.5M (the second one was sold to Bill Cosby but he returned it so he wouldn’t have killed himself but legend has it someone else did). Cosby wrote a comedy about that called 200 MPH). While watching the event, I paused the DVR when I saw the plate on Carroll’s car that read MFG-013. I immediately typed that into the Mass registry and ordered it. After posting on the forum, some weren’t all that impressed. Later I learned it was because they thought that wasn’t Carroll’s car any longer. When we discussed it (on the forum) and I told them more about the plate (that Carroll had 78 of them 1A through 3Z and they used them to do road tests back in the 60’s), the guys were very impressed and even said it was brilliant.
Since I was already working on plans to visit SAI, I moved forward and planned my visit for May 18 and 19. I had already been there a year prior but didn’t know about the new SGT program at the time. This time, I had a car there waiting to be turned into a Shelby. I also planned to meet with the employees such as John, Bud Mahoney, Amy and others for dinner. Bud was tied up but John was very accommodating. John brought his lovely wife and children. My wife and I met up with all of them and got to see and do some really cool things that I can’t talk about still. John, et al were awesome the few days we were there. We all went out a few times. This was the kind of service that he delivered to everyone that came to SAI. That man works his butt off more than anyone I’ve ever met yet still makes time to dedicate to make everyone feel like a king for a day. His response to that is that he knows that these are dreams and he wants to make them memorable. Boy did he ever.
During the visit, I got to see my car, sat in it and see a few items that were to be put on it; such as the CSM plaque and front grille. Seeing my car for the first time was unbelievable. They had already striped it the day before just so I could see some progress toward the stage of morphing it into a real Shelby. I also, as mentioned, got to see some really cool things such as some prototype and concept cars, other buildings and other operations. I learned a real lot of what goes on behind the scenes. I also found my way to the stripe shop where I saw the first convertible Hertz car before it was striped (and later in July when it was completed). I also stopped by the modification shop (mod shop) and snapped some pictures from outside since they were closed. Later I learned that I caught the very first Super Snake while it was being built.
During the next few months, I got to know John, Bud and Vicky (among others) better and consider them my friends. I also eagerly awaited delivery of my car. Then, in June, my car was finally turned into a Shelby GT. After that, each week there was hope that it was soon to be completed (in the mod shop). Meanwhile I was constantly changing the mod listed for my car with both Tasca and Shelby. I am sure I was frustrating people but the longer it took for my car, the more options or changes I wanted. The only thing that helped keep me sane was that I knew I Shelby had a deadline to get my car to me which was long enough before the Tasca Event (August 25th) so that Tasca could do their mods.
Then as July approached and my car still had no hope of making it into the mod shop, I finally ran through the logistics of making the date and suddenly realized that the time was quickly approaching where Shelby had to start working on my car. At the same time, I was beginning to get frustrated that I couldn’t make up my mind on the wheels. I had been convinced for a while that I was getting the black Razor wheels. Then I started realizing that the silver Razors matched the car stripes better and brought the car out better. So I decided that I needed to head back to SAI to meet with Amy to get my car in the mod shop so that Tasca had time to make their mods too. Plus, I wanted to see the different wheels on the cars in person so I could make up my mind. I also wanted to see the grilles again too.
Meanwhile I had gone back down to Tasca for some final discussions about mods. While there, I just happened to have caught up with the legend Bob Tasca Sr and Bill Gilbert. Bill is the mechanic who road tested that gold 1967 Mustang GT (390) where he blew the engine. He then rebuilt it using police interceptor parts which ended up being called the Cobra Jet (CJ) engine. Look in my photos for more about that, including the November 1967 Hot Rod magazine that helped make it all happen. 
Bob and Bill were incredible to listen to. I heard the story of how Bob brought Carroll into the world of Ford, how Bob basically ran Ford for about 30 years, how they all did the CJ engine, raced and built racers, how Bob brought John Force over to Ford and how Tasca was going to be the east coast mod shop. I wish I were able to record the whole 2 hours as it was amazing to hear all the stories. I finally got to explain to Bob what I was doing with my car in making it a Tasca Shelby. He was very impressed. I even told him how I was pushing his top employees to become more involved with Shelby since February. One of the guys in the shop at the time even suggested they should hire me for the things I was doing and had done.
So, my next visit to SAI was July 19 and 20 so I could work the schedule with Amy, decide on my final options and hang out with my SAI friends. When I arrived, I was devastated when I learned that Amy had to take off to LA suddenly. At the same time, John had to run over to the newly formed Shelby Performance Parts (Scott Drake) to build the business relations between both companies to ensure better inventories, deliveries and customer satisfaction. So, John’s wife and Amy’s secretary and I all went out to lunch. They were great and always lots of fun. Later that day, I got another tour of the areas where very few people go and I got to see the different color wheels on the cars. That allowed me to conclude to get the silver wheels. I also saw the black SGT grille on the cars (again) and that’s when I concluded to get the black CS/8 grille instead. All along I liked and wanted that grille but since I was offered the only/first black SGT grille, I was going to get that. While there, I learned that I was no longer going to be the only/first, so I went with the CS/8 grille instead. I was glad because I’ve liked the CS/8 grille much better all along.
Later, Amy appeared much to my delight and we finally discussed the logistics. I showed her the schedule backing up from Tasca Day and she instantly realized that they needed to get started on my car that following week. Then we all agreed that my car would have been delivered to Tasca on August 9th. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to start it until August 9 due to some other issues that came up. Amy and I also discussed and confirmed a few other things such as the Shelby signature at Tasca, the things I had done behind the scenes at Tasca (with them doing stuff with Shelby), potentially helping with things at Shelby and other exciting activities.
My car was finally delivered to Tasca on August 22nd. After delivery, Tasca kept it in their body shop those few nights until the show so that they could do their mods right after the show. The next couple days, I went back down to clean it up from the Nevada desert. Then the Shelby truck arrived with the Super Snake, KR and SGT Prototype. They were parked in the body shop with mine and I got some awesome pictures with them all together. Since my car was cutting it close with delivery to Tasca in time for the event and signature, I had asked for it to be delivered in that same truck, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough room for 4 cars.
Well, when the big day came (Tasca Day), I was there bright and early to make sure my car was lined up with the others and ready for the Shelby signature. I was fortunate enough that they lined my car right up against the Shelby truck along side the SGT Prototype, KR, SS and two 1965 competition “R” models that were also Tasca Shelby’s. I was beside myself and thought it was all finally coming t ogether (even though my Tasca mods weren’t done yet).
The plan was that Amy would bring Carroll (and Bob) over and Carroll would sign the roof over the driver’s door while Bob signed the passenger’s side. Unfortunately, the weather was about 95 degrees and over 90% humidity. With Carroll’s and Bob’s age (and health) everyone was amazed as to how long they stuck it out in that head signing items. I approached Amy several times and she assured that they would come over. I was even ready with my son where I wanted to have Carroll hand him the keys to my car after he signed it. Unfortunately, they never came back. Instead, Carroll (and team) was rushed to the airport once the security team heard that they needed to be at the airport for a certain time. Weeks later, I even heard that Bob Tasca Sr had to go to the airport (10 minutes away) to say goodbye to Carroll. Amy apologized to me on the Shelby forum the next day. I thought that was impressive.
While at the show, I spoke with Steve about timing for my mods. He said that because of the announcement and their shop not being ready yet, that I should take the car home and wait. Eager to finally drive the car, I took it home.
The car is truly an amazing piece of machinery. It is nice and tight, strong, powerful, responsive and amazing looking. Shelby out did himself (his team too).
Since that event, I had taken my car to 2 car shows and won 3 trophies. I was fortunate enough to bring my son Adam Junior (AJ) and he went up and got the trophies while I snapped pics. He is so proud of this car too. Here was his first time spent with the Shelby.
During these few months, I had written a song about Mr. Shelby. Since I had purchased the Shelby Guitar, I imagined Eric Clapton using my guitar while singing a song about Carroll. With none out there, I decided to write my own. So I wrote a poem, posted it and hoped the gang liked it. Some joked but Barry Robinson, whom I challenged if brave enough, actually read it, tweaked the words, added a chorus and recorded it within 2 hours. He emailed it to me and I loved it. I posted it and Victoria Cote, Amy’s secretary, was playing it at the office the next day (she saw it on the forum but I didn’t tell her about it). It turns out that Amy walked by her office ad heard the song. Victoria told her what I and Barry had done. Amy loved it too and sent it to Carroll and team.
The next thing I know I get a call from Tracey Smith (Shelby Licensing Director) asking me if she could put it on the soon to be updated carrollshelby.com website. I ran it by Barry to be sure he was okay and we agreed to have them use it there. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t really think it would have gotten that far – especially not is such short a time. Some of my coworkers play in bands for most of their lives and were jokingly upset with me because they can’t strike a deal with a recording company and I write one song and it’s already on a major website. I am so proud to have my name on Mr. Shelby’s front page. Thank you again Barry. The song can also be found on Barry’s MySpace account.
A few weeks ago, I started working with Amy and others to figure out a way to get my car signed since that was the one thing I still wanted. Through various emails and communications, I learned that there was going to be an 85th Birthday Party for Mr. Shelby. Well, that has turned out to be much more of a fun-filled week long adventure than just a party. We will start off at Petersons Museum in LA, have a BullRun-like drive to Las Vegas, then the birthday party will occur. That’s when my car will be signed. After that, there will be racing and a car show at the Las Vegas Speedway, more activities and then breakfast with Mr. Shelby the 3rd day. Some of us are continuing with Shelby and team down to Barrett Jackson for a few days. I can’t wait.Yesterday, I began getting ready for the event. I pulled my trailer (with my car in it) out of the snow. It took over an hour but I got it out and washed it. Next Saturday, I will ship it to LV. More recently, some more very exciting things have happened. For starters, I communicated with Amy to write an article about the then and now history of Shelby. I started a post about this on the forum called First Make History, Then Repeat It and really enjoy the history. Amy agreed so I will soon be writing for their monthly magazine.
Here is a summary of my Tasca Shelby GT/SC (CSM 07SGT0038):
Fender Stratocaster Shelby GT guitar #38 of 200
ArteHouse Print 07SGT0038
MFG-013: that’s the same license plate Shelby used 40 years ago
Shelby Mods (installed at SAI):
1: One of 1: Painted and installed black block-off plates
(Spare set signed by SAI and Tasca employees)
2: First of 2: CS/8 upper grille with lower lights, lower grille and front brake ducts
3: First of 5: Polished Whipple supercharger (first of 12 total Whipple S/C)
4: First of 2: Red BAER Extreme 6-piston brakes (same as on the Super Snake)
5: 20 inch silver Shelby Razor wheels
6: Rear brake upgrade
7: Front and rear brake ducts
8: Gauge pack
9: Billet aluminum engine aesthetic kit, fuse box cover and other internal parts
10: Sequential tail lights
11: Nitto 555 tires (275 rear, 255 front)
Tasca Mods (installed at Tasca):
1: Dyno tune to 545 HP (4.6L); but its back down to 513 HP for now until I get a new clutch since 545 was just a little too much for that stock Mustang GT clutch
2: Bassani exhaust (axle back)
3: Panhard rod
4: LoJack
5: Hood strut mounts
6: Tach light
7: Window tint (subcontracted)
8: Tasca badges
(Powered by Tasca on dash & engine compartment &1960’s version on deck lid)
9: Shorty antenna
Installed after delivery:
1) Shelby billet aluminum hood pins
2) Shelby armrest cover
Tasca Shelby GT/TR 
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