The planets all fell into alignment forSAAC-18. Watkins Glen was a slam-dunk.Who would not want to have a conventionat this historic track? Cobras raced therestarting in 1963 and they continuedthrough the early 1970s. R-Models werecommon at SCCA nationals and regionalsfrom 1965 well into the 1970s. Then whenvintage racing took hold in the 1980s all ofthese cars were back. None of this wasoverlooked when we considered The Glenfor the site of a national convention.

In fact, vintage racing helped makeSAAC-18 a success. It had created a reasonfor former racing Cobras, Shelbys, GT40sand Trans-Am cars to be “found” and re-stored. The track also became a favoritedestination for vintage racers, so they al-ready know where it was and the basic layof the land. That made owners of thesecars both comfortable with the track’s en-virons and eager to bring their cars to theconvention. It was a perfect fit.

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The Graybeard Chronicles

July 7-8-9, 1995 Watkins Glen, New York— Rick Kopec

After a couple of years of neglect thetrack underwent a change in ownership in1983. One of the largest businesses in thearea, Corning Enterprises, partnered withInternational Speedway Corporation (theowner of Daytona International Speedwayand NASCAR). The result was a massiveinflux of cash that was used to upgradeand update the track. Several safety fea-tures were incorporated, leading up to theGlen’s inclusion into NASCAR’s schedulein 1991. Ford became a corporate sponsor,furnishing the track with safety and main-tenence vehicles. The blue Ford oval wasfeatured prominently around the track.This was yet another aspect that we sawas a welcoming attribute.

Over the years the number of hotels inthe area had grown and while there wasno single facility large enough to accommo-date everyone attending the convention,there were a wide variety of places thatcould meet everyone’s tastes and wallets.All were within easy driving distance ofthe track. Not having a facility with a largeenough ballroom to allow a sit-down din-ner, it was an easy decision to use one ofthe track’s garages and have the mealcatered. That made it convenient becauseeveryone was already at the track.

Carroll Shelby confirmed that hewould be there and said he would be happyto give rides in return for donations to theShelby Heart Fund. He left the details tous and we set up a lottery to chose 25 win-ners from about 1,000 pre-registrants.Shelby flew in, arriving at 9 pm. on Friday.Colleen and I went to meet him at the air-port without fanfare. We were back at theRadisson Corning hotel by 10 p.m.

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We chose Hal Keck’s 427 A/P national cham-pion, CSX3008, and Mark Donohue’s R-Model,5R105 for the SAAC-18’s logo. Since both carswere blue we decided to depict them on a blueshirt. Ed Gullett created the artwork.

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A very popular activity at the conventionwere the rides given by Carroll Shelby. Itseemed appropriate that the car be a Cobraand Shelby was quick to agree. Three yearsafter his heart transplant, he did not lackenergy or enthusiasm. He gave good rideson the Glen’s 3.6-mile course. How do weknow that? Because he went through carslike they were throw-away’s. He started offin Jack Browning’s CSX3197 but afterabout a half dozen laps the brakes startedto get spongy. There was no time to go hunt-ing for a replacement and another black 427was parked right behind it in the hot pits.The owner was Arnold Mantillia, a SAACmember and friend who owned the Forddealership where we got our F-150. Shelbydidn’t have time to look the car over and hedidn’t realize it was a fiberglass-body Con-temporary. He changed cars like the en-durance driver he used to be and hispassenger jumped in (so happy to be in a carCarroll Shelby was driving it wouldn’t havemattered if it was a golf cart). After a fewlaps Shelby was back, pointing to a peggedwater temperature gauge. There was still aline of lottery winners we could not turn ourback on, so we put Shelby in a car we hadno doubt would be reliable: 5R098. And whowould complain about getting a ride in thatcar with Shelby at the wheel? One winnerdescribed it as “a real Win-Win situation.”After the last ride Shelby was asked howthe car ran. “Good,” he said. “But it seemedto take an awful long time to get from 8 to8500 rpm” with a wide smile.

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Having all three of the 1966 LeMans GT40 MKIIs that took part in the famous photo finishparked next to each other was a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity.

The three MK IIs not enough? Then how aboutone of the six Daytona Coupes and the one-of-one 427 Super Coupe?

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The hotel was filled with convention-eers, packed into the restaurant and bar onthe ground floor. Virtually all were oblivi-ous of the fact that Carroll Shelby waswalking among them. We checked him inat the registration desk and then moved tothe elevator. I had his suitcase and a suitbag; Colleen carried his small bag. Nobodywas in the elevator’s landing when the belldinged and the doors opened. A guy in aCobra t-shirt was coming out and when hesaw Shelby he did a double-take andstepped back into the elevator. We rode upto the third floor and the guy was obvi-ously tongue-tied. Before the doors openedhe stretched out his hand to Shelby andsaid something like, “I’m honored to meetyou, sir.”

Shelby smiled, shook his hand, andsaid “Ahm glad to meet you, son.” We leftthe elevator and headed down the hall to-wards his room. The guy stood there, seem-ingly in shock, as the elevator doors closed.The following day I happened to overhearhim, out at the track, telling someoneabout his experience. “Guess what? Lastnight I was in the hotel elevator with Car-roll Shelby, his secretary and his valet.”

There was a race to get back to the RadissonHotel every afternoon after the track activitieswound down. The winners got to park in theplaza behind the hotel. It was photo-op city.

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The weather at Watkins is always abig question mark. If you’re coming to thetrack during a race weekend you’ll get aclue of what to expect because as you getclose to the track, locals have set up road-side stands to sell either ice or firewood. AtSAAC-18 it would be ice.

On, Wednesday, before the conventionactually began, SAAC members Laurenand Paul Fix put on a “Driving Ambitions”school at the track. It was a perfect oppor-tunity for those who had never driven theGlen to learn the track as well as for those“not-enough-track-time” moaners. Theschool included classroom instruction, in-car instructors and plenty of track time.

Thursday and Friday were consumedby typical convention activities: the swapmeet and open track. The track was im-mensely popular, with more than 150 carsparticipating on one of five different rungroups on the two days. The swap meetarea was wall-to-wall parts and associatedtrivia, but those who had attended mostprevious conventions might note that thewalls were slightly closer together. No sur-prise because after eighteen years, howmany “spare” parts could still be left?Garages, attics and basements were prettymuch picked over. However, as the supplyof NOS and used parts dwindled they werereplaced by a seemingly limitless supply ofreproductions. The Internet would changeall that, but not in 1992.

On Thursday evening we scheduledthe annual concours judges’ meeting out atthe track. It’s necessary because SAACjudges don’t remain the same from year toyear. Head judges try, very hard, to be ateach convention but not all individualjudges are able to attend every convention.Also scheduled were Tech Tables because,well, that’s what conventions are all about.Sharing information is important.

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We left Friday evening free becausethere is a need to socialize at conventions.In some cases, people from various areasof the country are only able to get togetheronce a year. Conventions are the equiva-lent of a family reunion.

Saturday was car show day. Therewere some changes in the concours judg-ing. Concerned with the increasing num-ber of cars being restored, we instituted aSurvivor’s class to help persuade owners ofunrestored cars to keep them that way. Weforesaw the day when all cars would be re-stored and there would be no evidence ofhow they were when they left the factory.To put that day off, standards were estab-lished which allowed cars which weremostly original to be displayed. Each onewould win a “Chairman’s Award” and beencouraged to be brought to future conven-tions. Fifteen survivors were displayed andthirty cars were awarded Premiere, Gold,Silver or Bronze concours awards.

The popular vote show was massive,filling the track’s entire front straight aswell as the hot pits. A record was set in thenumber of 1965 R-Models that werebrought to the convention. There were tenof them, and in the intervening years thatrecord has not been broken.

In the afternoon one of the track’s longgarages was cleared so the caterer couldset up tables and chairs and begin creatingserving lines for dinner. The garage wasfilled to capacity—800—and every dinnerticket was sold. Those who waited too longwere forced to stand in the garage’s door-ways. Ten special guests spoke but the oneeveryone wanted to hear was CarrollShelby. Of course.

One of the special activities was asilent bid auction, with proceeds going tothe Shelby Heart Fund. Some really neatstuff was auctioned off, with winners smil-ing and everyone else drooling.

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We never did figure out what was going on inthis picture. The Beverly Hillbillies go to aSAAC convention?