veryone left SAAC’s thirty-seventhannual national convention with

smiles on their faces. There seemed not tobe any single thing that made SAAC-37 asuccess, but rather a large number of smallthings that, when added together, resultedin a home run.

When the club’s operating boardbegan jawboning about the next conven-tion (while the dust was still hanging inthe air from SAAC-36) it was agreed thatthe location should be in the Northeast.This is where a large portion of the club’smembership base resides, and it waswhere our “Northeast/West Coast/ Some-where Else” rotation was scheduled to fallthis year. The question was, “Where?”

Every track has its advantages anddisadvantages. We had two excellent con-ventions at Lime Rock (1996 and 2000)but that track is booked for as far as youcan see into the future. To give us a date,they would have to take one away fromsomeone else. Not only is that not fair, butit’s also not likely to happen. Lime Rockis also expensive, and the closest largehotel is an hour away. Other smaller ho-tels are closer, but are scattered aroundthe area. We briefly considered the newclub track in Monticello, New York but itwas obvious from looking at an aerialphoto of the facility on their website thatthere was not enough room to park all ofthe trailers our event would attract.Watkins Glen was the site of another suc-cessful convention (1993) but it alsocomes with a big-ticket price.

It was Curt Vogt who wondered, aloud,about the possibility of teaming up withanother organization to split the expense.As an active vintage racer who partici-pates in about a dozen events a year, Vogthad developed excellent relationships withthe principals of the larger sanctioningbodies and race organizers. He saw a trendthat the present economy was exerting onthe size of all but the largest events.

Things were being scaled back and hethought the time might be right to startasking about coat-tailing on someone else’sdate. Watkins Glen was the perfect placeto investigate this.

The Sportscar Vintage Racing Associ-ation (SVRA) had two events at the Glenon their schedule: a smaller one in Juneand a huge one in September. The Junedate looked perfect for us—it was early inthe month and would not to conflict withvacations and other events, and it was at

a time when cooler weather was muchmore likely than high temperatures inJuly or August. Anyone who attendedSAAC-18 recalled the 95-degree tempera-tures with high humidity that had every-one sweating like they were in a sauna andthe asphalt was on the edge of melting.

Vogt was attending the SVRA’s Sep-tember extravaganza (about 500 entries)and asked the SVRA’s director if he was in-

terested in discussing the possibility ofsharing the track with SAAC at their Juneevent the next year. He was, and thingsprogressed quickly from there.

When two organizations, with differ-ing goals, have to share a race track duringthe same weekend, problems will arise.But as SAAC and SVRA conducted severalback-and-forths, it became evident thatthings could be worked out. As it turnedout, most of the sand thrown into the gearscame from the track itself. The SVRA hadtheir way of doing things and SAAC hadways we liked to do things, but thetrack’s demands trumped all of them.Some were simply “my way or the high-way,” and others were beyond even thetrack’s control.

Take the New York State Sales Taxsituation, for example. The state requiresvendors at track events to have a NYState Tax Authority certificate. Anyoneselling anything—new or used—mustsubmit a sales tax summary and paytaxes. The track has one employee whosejob is to check all vendors to see that theyhave this certificate. Any that don’t aretold to pack up their stuff. Period. Why isthe track so vigilant? Because if state in-spectors show up and find anyone sellinganything without a certificate, the trackis fined $10,000. And that has happened.So the track is diligent about this.

We advised everyone about this situ-ation in the e-blast that was sent out pre-ceeding the convention. The resultwas—POOF!—swap meet vendors who

didn’t already have one of these certifi-cates disappeared. They felt that whateverincome they might have received by beinga swap meet vendor was not worth thetrouble of dealing with New YorkState’s bureaucrats. It was a goodcivics lesson on how governmentpower and overreach pro-duces less of what theywant instead of more.

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June 7-8-9, 2012 Watkins Glen, New York

– Rick Kopec

E

We have discovered at the past fewconventions that the number of open trackparticipants has been declining. Exactlywhy is a matter of debate, but the numbersdo not lie. As this was happening, the costof track rentals was increasing. You don’tneed a Ph.D. in economics to see the prob-lem. Sharing Watkins Glen’s 3.4-mile cir-cuit with the SVRA was a perfect solution.We would have use of the track on Thurs-day and Friday morning and pay an appro-priate share of the cost. As a bonus, ourvintage race would be at the end of the dayon Friday. Vintage racers could also partic-ipate in the SVRA’s Group 6 class on Sat-urday and Sunday for a nominaladditional entry fee even though they werenot SVRA members. Their cars had to com-ply with SVRA safety requirements.

It was a great deal for us, because allwe had to do was show up, run Tech In-spection for our cars and point them to thetrack’s pre-grid. We didn’t have to copewith the usual track details like cornerworkers, tower duties, securing ambu-lances, EMTs, safety vehicles and wreck-ers. We were able to get use of a percentageof the garages and had use of the registra-tion building and the media center.

Downsides? Sure, there were some,but none were deal-killers. Sharing thetrack for the weekend meant we wouldhave to share local hotels. There wereplenty in the area, within a half-hour ofthe track, but rooms filled up quickly andthere was no such thing as a “headquar-ters hotel.” Everyone was on their own. Wealso discovered that there were no banquet

facilities in the area that could accommo-date 500 people for a sit-down dinner. Thelargest one we could find was on the otherside of Elmira, about 45 minutes from thetrack. The Holiday Inn maxed-out at 360seats. A fair number of people were disap-pointed when the tickets went quickly.

The day before the convention wastypically load-in day. It allowed people toarrive at their leisure, get a good lookaround and plant their flag, so to speak.Open track cars were able to get a jump ontech inspection. Rolling into the trackwhen it opens on the first morning and try-ing to get through registration, find a spotin the paddock to set up, go through thetech gauntlet, attend the driver’s meetingand then get out on track is a lot to com-press into an hour or two. Arriving the day

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Watkins Glen State Park is practically in thecenter of town. The falls, while not exactly in theNiagara category, provide some great scenery asthey cascade down the stratified limestone. Bestof all, admission was free. We saw lots of Shelbysin the park’s parking lot.

Some Cobra guys get together every year for afive-day group tour along scenic back roads thatusually includes the Virginia/Tennessee/WestVirginia/North Carolina area. This year someended the tour at SAAC-37. The windshield ofJim Sfetko’s CSX2321 shows his battle stars.

Some things that turn up at a convention areoverlooked by about 95% of those attending theevent. We didn’t get the name of the Maineiacwho was clever enough to apply for this vanityplate in advance of the convention. But it showsthat he was thinking ahead.

This photo was taken on Friday, as the 1967 Shelbys were being assembled for the group photograph. The huge grandstands overlooking the SAACarea of the paddock was a natural for taking aerial view-type photos—if you were willing to hike up to the top. The area beneath the grandstandswas used for tech inspection on Thursday and Friday morning, and for concours judging on Friday afternoon and Saturday.

before helps to spread things out. You’dthink that was obvious, and to most peopleit was. But there were still a few runningaround early on Thursday morning withtheir hair on fire.

The open track portion of the conven-tion went very smoothly this year. Asusual, participants were divided into threegroups, based on a combination of their ex-perience (mostly) and their car’s perform-ance potential (not so much): novice,intermediate and experienced. Each groupgot four on-track sessions, each lasting 20minutes. On Thursday, 60 cars partici-pated and on Friday we had 90 cars. Thetrack was never crowded.

The Thursday evening “WelcomingMixer” has come to be one of the more pop-ular activities at the convention. This yearwe were able to use the track’s new mediacenter and it was perfect. We did a quickdrive-around of the SAAC area in the af-ternoon and invited a dozen or so of themore historical cars to park in Victory Cir-cle in the evening. Among them were the

three continuation GT40 MK IVs, two R-Models, the 1967 GT500 convertible proto-type, a handful of stunning Cobras andsome other notable Shelbys. It was quitean impressive spread.

Dinner was set up outside the mediacenter: hot dogs, pulled pork sandwichesand macaroni salad were available andthere was a cash bar on the upper deck. In-side, a large open meeting room was filledwith enough tables for everyone to sit andsocialize. Around the outside of this roomwere tables for SAAC’s registrars who areall happy to accept new information andanswer questions. The ex-Shelby VIPs whojoined us, Phil Henny, Gordon Chance,Bernie Kretzschmar, Mark Popov-Dadiani,Jerry Schwarz and Tom Yeager were allhappy to talk with convention attendeesabout their role in Shelby history and signan autograph for anyone who asked. Alsoseated at other tables were a handful ofSAAC members who expertise in specifictechnical areas.

The media center had a smaller meet-

ing room which was packed with 1967Shelby owners. Part of the convention’s1967 Shelby 45th Anniversary commemo-ration included a seminar on these carsand about 75 people participated. The con-ference was organized by SAAC memberBob Barranger and he invited 1967 regis-trar Dave Mathews, 1967 Shelby headjudge Bob Gaines and Shelby American’sproject engineer Chuck Cantwell to joinhim. Each spoke for about fifteen minutesbefore the seminar was thrown open toquestions. The Q&A would probably havecontinued for another couple of hours, ex-cept that about 8:30 p.m. dark stormclouds began rolling in and lightning an-nounced that things were about to getmuch worse. The place cleared out prettyquickly.

By Friday both the Ford and Shelbybig rigs had arrived and took their toys outof the toybox. Shelby American was proudof their 1,000-horsepower Frankenstein’smonster and Ford had some pretty trickpieces. Seeing their experimental engines

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The track’s media center was perfect for the Thursday evening Meet ‘NGreet. Along the far wall people line up to meet the Shelby Americanalumni who joined us.

An improvised display of the more historical cars was parked near Vic-tory Lane: GT40 MK IVs and Cobras on one side and Shelbys on theother.

Chuck Cantwell hasn’t missed a SAAC conven-tion since 1976. Well, ok—not really, but itseems that way. He is extremely generous withhis time and happy to spend time with SAACmembers. And maybe it’s just our imagination,but in the last year or two it seems like all hewants to talk about is 1966 GT350s.

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Mark Popov-Dadiani, Phil Henny and Gordon Chance [left to right] were all race mechanics whoaccompanied the Shelby American team to Europe.Popov-Dadiani hovered over the FIA Cobraroadsters in 1964. Chance was the engine specialist in 1964-66, and Henny was assigned to theGurney/Foyt GT40 MK IV that won the LeMans 24 hours.

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One of the most historical Shelbys at the convention was #67413C9A00139. It began life as a 1967 Shelby GT500 convertible prototype that wasused to evaluate the possibility of including a ragtop in the Shelby model line. By the time the decision was made to move forward, it was too late todo anything during the 1967 production run, so the car was built into a 1968 Shelby prototype. It was employed for much of the new model photog-raphy that was used in publicity photos and brochures. When the car was first “discovered” in the late 1970s, its owner had a difficult time convincinganyone in the club that the car was legitimate. After all, it was common knowledge that convertibles didn’t show up until 1968. The car had some1968 features but it had a 1967 serial number. By the time factory paperwork surfaced showing that the car was a legitimate 1967 prototype, theowner had sold it in disgust because he was never able to prove its provenance. Once it was determined that the car was a bona fide one-off prototype(note console) it began acquiring value as it moved through a couple of owners. It finally came to rest in the hands of Brian and Samantha Styles ofDelray Beach, Florida. Brian researched the car and all of the hand-made pieces that were used on it and a meticulous restoration was begun. Byconvention time it was completed and it was entered in the concours where it received a Gold award.

Another historical 1967 Shelby at the convention was the very firstGT350 made. Bob Gaines, well-known as one of the head concoursjudges in the club, did a ground-up restoration, and if anyone shouldknow what is correct and what isn’t, that would be Gaines.

SAAC member John Cropper began a project to produce ten original-specification Cobra Daytona Coupes about five years ago. The cars arebased on Shelby American CSX7000 chassis and built by Lee Benson ofAll Pro Cars in Muncy, Pennsylvania. It took more time than expectedto massage all of the wrinkles out, and by that time Mike McCluskeyhad produced a number of cars and Superperformance had a credibleDaytona Coupe (although not to original specifications). The result wasthat the market contracted. There are still some of these cars available.

If you know your Shelby history you’ll know that this car is one of the1969 Shelby deMexico models created by Eduardo Velazquez and CarrollShelby. About 300 were sold that year and only one or two have survived.

After having his name inexorably linked to Weber carburetors and in-duction systems, SAAC member Jim Inglese built Inglese Induction Sys-tems into a company so successful that it was purchased by TotalPerformance, one of the larger businesses dealing in street rod compo-nents. Inglese dropped under the radar for a while but returned to theWeber biz a couple of years ago, keeping a low profile. Word spread atthe convention that he was there, offering to tune Webers for his cus-tomers at no charge. There was, however, some question of who, exactly, it was under the straw hat. Inglese look-alikes have been spotted at a number of street rod shows in the past few years. And the “no-charge tuneups” didn’t sound like the Inglese that anyone knew. We could not get this guy to take off his hat and sun glasses or admit who he was. It remindedus of when the Lone Ranger departed the scene. “Who was that masked man?” “I don’t know, but he left this silver bullet.”

Summer 2012 27

on stands certainly gave people ideas.Everyone can dream about what cars theymight be squeezed into, if only...

On the track it was more of the same:cars circulated all morning and at lunchtime the track organized parade lap ses-sions where anyone could go out for fivelaps (after parting with $25) to see whatWatkins Glen’s track was like. There werepace cars and maximum speeds of 55 mphwere maintained. It provided a good ideaof what race drivers have to contend with.

At 5:30 p.m. all activity seemed tocome to a stop as convention participantswere drawn, as if by some kind of invisiblegravitational pull, to the fences borderingthe track. It was Race Time! A full field of

32 cars rumbled out onto the asphalt, sum-moning up images caught by grainy black-and-white photographs back in the 1960s.The vintage drivers are us. They are allSAAC members—not professionals who flyin, drive someone else’s car and then flyout. The dropping of the green flag was theequivalent of twisting a rheostat. The rip-ping sound of open pipes and inhaling car-buretors reverberated off the guardrailsand cars shot forward. Eight laps seemedto be over in a few heartbeats.

On Friday night everyone who regis-tered early enough to get dinner ticketsfound their way to the Holiday Inn inElmira for dinner and an evening pro-gram. There was no shortage of unhappy

campers who ignored our warnings thattickets were likely to sell out. The programhonored Carroll Shelby, who had passedaway a month earlier. Instead of askingour Shelby alumni guests to stand at apodium and speak for five or ten minutes,we changed the format. Everyone sat on abar stool in front of the audience and aftereach one was introduced with a short bioby emcee Ron Richards, a microphone waspassed from one guest to the next and eachone recalled something personal aboutCarroll. Chuck Cantwell, Allen Grant, PhilHenny, Jerry Schwarz, Gordon Chance,Tom Yeager and Rick Kopec all hadenough special remembrances to allow themicrophone to make three laps.

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Thirteen-year old Ross Zappala of Hinkley, Ohio demonstrated that hewas a pretty good juggler. An upside-down cap placed nearby was filledwith coins and bills from passer-bys. We suggested that he might attracta little more attention standing in this Cobra. We were able to slip awaybefore its owner returned.

It wouldn’t be a SAAC convention without Kei and Miki Iinuma fromHonolulu, Hawaii. They store their Cobra, CSX8007, at their daughter’shouse in California and drive it to every convention, experiencing ad-ventures along the way that could fill a book. And Kei drives it in everyopen track! Think about that the next time you start telling yourself thatthe next convention may be too far away for you to drive to.

What are the odds dept. You have a blue ‘66 GT350. You’ve taken a spe-cial liking to the R-Model that Mark Donohue raced in 1966. So you addan R-model front apron, a roll bar and a set of 5-spoke American Torq-Thrust wheels. Now, what are the odds of parking next to another GT350just like yours?

This picture reminds us of the 1960s, when Cobras were driven everyday, and owners weren’t afraid to take them to the races. You just parkin a field, overlooking your favorite corner and watch the action. Les Tay-lor of Baltimore, Maryland, is the original owner of CSX3324. After buy-ing the car in June 1967 at Hi-Performance Motors, he drove it acrossthe country to his home in Pennsylvania. Those were the days.

There’s something about a lou-ver press that street roddersunderstand. Once you set it upand start stamping louversinto the hood of a custom car, itis sometimes hard to knowwhere to stop. Take this earlyMustang fastback with R-Model features, for example.

Summer 2012 28

A three-foot high enlargement of Car-roll Shelby stood on an easel up front, andat the end of the program Richards an-nounced that it would be given away. ASAAC decal had been placed under thetablecloth at one seat and everyone wasasked to see if they had it. Someone did,and he went home with a great memento.

In the audience was a special guest,Don Long, who had owned the Coneleccompany which made the fuel injectionsystems that were tested on the 1968 and1969 Shelby engineering cars. Conelec waslocated in Elmira. Also in the audiencewere SAAC’s two old conventionwarhorses, Jeff Burgy and Ken Young.Both have been to every SAAC conventionas well as all three of the original SOA con-ventions. At SAAC-10 they were eachgiven half of a large, hand-carved woodencoiled cobra. The understanding was thatas soon of one of them missed a conven-tion, he would have to give his half to the

other. Back then we never dreamed thatconventions would continue for 30 moreyears. And neither did they!

Following the past few conventions weheard complaints that there were fewerand fewer cars at the popular vote carshow. We wondered if there was anythingwe could do, short of forcing owners tobring their cars. We hate to be heavy-handed, so we decided to try somethingelse first. At previous conventions wescheduled the concours on Friday, figuringthat both the judges and participantswould appreciate getting the judging doneon the second day and having the third dayfree to enjoy the convention. We scheduledthe pop vote show on the last day, expect-ing that this would allow greater partici-pation because those who could onlyattend for one day would be able to entertheir cars. But it turned out that thereweren’t that many one-dayers. And weloaded the Saturday schedule with stuff

like the open track, parade laps and thevintage race which had the affect of draw-ing cars and spectators away from the popvote show. What were we thinking?

This year we front-loaded the sched-ule with the open track and vintage raceon Thursday and Friday. We also scheduledthe tours of the original Watkins Glen cir-cuit for Thursday and Friday afternoon.Both car shows, the concours and the pop-ular vote, were on Saturday (although thelarge number of concours entries requiredsome judging be done on Friday after-noon). Nothing else was scheduled on Sat-urday to conflict with the shows. The resultwas exactly what we had hoped for: morethan 200 cars in the pop vote show in 32classes. The ambiance was very laid back;it was more like a social event than yourusual car show. Almost everyone stayeduntil the ballots were counted and theawards were handed out at 3 p.m. Theneveryone broke camp and scattered.

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Don Long, owner of Conelec, the company thatproduced fuel injection units which were evalu-ated by Shelby engineers in 1968-1969 was oneof our guests at the convention. He was able toshare some entertaining stories about his expe-riences; he had the use of several Shelbys. Thecompany was based in Elimra, New York. Lookfor a lot of details about the Conelec system inthe new registry. And we also understand thatbefore too long a 1968 Shelby will be runningaround with the last Conelec fuel injection sys-tem in captivity.

One of the things we like about replica Cobrasis that owners are free from the straightjacketthat constrains those who have original Cobrasand who are afraid any modifications they makewill hurt their car’s value. You don’t see any cus-tomized Cobras unless they have parts or com-ponents right off the competition options list.But with replicas, anything goes. Bob Sime ofGlen Falls, New York likes the feel of twin sin-gle-loop roll bars and he also likes a hardtop. Noproblem: just put a couple of bumps in the topto accommodate the bars.

A Canadian Cobra? You bet. The Aurora GRXwas a Cobra variant produced in Ontario,Canada from 1981 through 1984. That was dur-ing the initial enthusiasm and excitement overCobra replicas. While most replicas were basedon 427 Cobras, the Aurora was modeled afterthe small-block. They were powered by 302 FordV8s with enough vitamins to produce 265 h.p.Bodies were fiberglass and they had 4-wheeldiscs. Aurora built about 73 GRX models thefirst two years and then built about 80 MK IImodels which had a few improvements.

Back in the Winter 2012 issue, Cana Comer wrote an article titled, “Notes From the PassengerSeat” [pgs. 61-63]. She provided tips to help females from becoming “Cobra widows.” One problemarea was long hair, which did not wear well at highway speeds in an open car. As a demonstrationof how much she enjoys the roadster lifestyle, she showed up at SAAC-37 without her signaturelong blonde tresses. THAT’S dedication. She deserves some extra laps in CSX2230!

Two twin-Paxton 427 are obviously not enoughfor Gary Sardo of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. HisUnique roadster employs a 403-cubic inch Fordand the Paxtons are so streetable that he drivesit everywhere.

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The SHELBY AMERICAN

What gives you the idea that 1967 Shelbys wereone of central features in the convention? Couldit have been this golf cart with the picture ofcenter-mounted high beams taped to the nose?

There is one particular 1966 GT350 that has been brought to the last few conventions that attractsmore than the usual interest. 6S796 belongs to Chuck Cantwell and it won’t be long before some-body is going to take him aside and warn him not to put too much mileage on that car.

CSX3288 was originally given a custom paint job by George Barris which bumped its price by$2,000. The metallic pearl looks pink from certain angles and light blue from others. The car wona Survivor Award and only shows 26K on the odometer. Owner Jim Maxwell of Greensboro, NorthCarolina drives it in all of the Southeastern Cobra tours. He also enjoyed tweaking the trailerqueens at SAAC-37 by not washing off the road mud he picked up on the 1000-mile tour.

When we said that all Ford performance vehi-cles were welcome in the open track we weren’tthinking about Ranger pick-ups. This one cer-tainly pushes the envelope.

We drive ‘em department. Jim and Penny Sfetko and Penny Sharp from Parkville, Missouri rolledin with CSX2321. It was still sweating from the five-day “Jubilee Tour” through western Virginiaand West Virginia. Jim has owned the car for 25 years and it fits him like a favorite pair of oldshoes. He and Penny are a couple of the behind-the-scenes proofreaders for the Shelby Americanmagazine, so they get to see the magazine before anyone else.

SVRA has produced a terrific video high-lighting their enduro as well as the SAACvintage race held on Friday afternoon.Copies are $20. If you want to look before youbuy, it is on YouTube: “2012 SVRA HistoricEnduro 200 & SAAC Races” To order con-tact Frank Cavanaugh: fhcav@aol.com

2012 SVRA ENDURO VIDEO

Convention Photographers. We wouldlike to thank the following members whoshared their SAAC-37 photos with us fol-lowing the convention: Jeff Burgy, WayneCampbell, Bob Cassling, Margaret Dal-rymple. Diana Duffee, Bill Fulk, JohnGuyer, Phil Henny, Al Isselhard, J.D.Kaltenbach, Greg Kolasa, Rick Kopec, JimMacLachlan, Dave Redman, LarryVanscoy, Bill Whitley.

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We’re seeing a lot more of the father-and-son teams in both the opentrack and the vintage race. It’s one thing for dad to bring his car to theconvention and have a great time while the kids sit on the sidelines andwatch; but when they reach the driving age, it’s hard not to share thewealth. Harvey Gordon [left] is almost ready to turn the driving choresover to his son, Andrew. Almost. Ah, maybe next time, kid.

5R095 was one of two R-Models at SAAC-37. 5R098 was the other one.Howard Pardee brought his car to exercise it at the kind of speeds thetrack would allow. Aside from using the convention as an excuse to getit on the track, he also has his eye on cementing the world record formost conventions attended by an R-Model. 5R095 has been to 21 ofthem. Runner up is 5R098, which has been present at 18 SAAC events.

Ed Shaw is another regular at conventions that are held in the easternhalf of the country. His 1970 GT500 is powered by a healthy 427 toppedwith a set of Weber carburetors.

SAAC member Andre Ahrle owns the original Essex Wire 427 Cobra,CSX3009. It is being restored to original specs and because it will betoo valuable to put at risk, he had this Kirkham 427 built to race in itsplace. It normally runs up front.

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The ballroom at the Elmira Holiday Inn was only large enough to ac-commodate 360 people, no matter how the tables were arranged. Be-cause of this, we didn’t want to sacrifice a few tables for a large stageand podium. The solution was to put a seven stools across a row of nar-row risers. For the evening program, we felt a tribute to Carroll Shelbywas appropriate. But rather than ask a few people to provide formal tes-timonials, we wanted to make it a little more personal. We asked theShelby American alumni to each provide some private remembrancesof their interactions with Carroll. It worked well, and was well received.Pictured [left to right] are: Allen Grant, Chuck Cantwell, Tom Yeager,Jerry Schwarz, Phil Henny, Gordon Chance and Rick Kopec.

A good part of life is all about firsttime experiences. Those are the ones youremember: the first time you drive a car;the first time you shift a manual transmis-sion; the first time you lay your eyes on anoriginal Cobra; the first time you go to aSAAC convention. I can remember all ofthese milestones like they just happenedlast week. Actually, one did happen lastweek: I attended SAAC-37 at WatkinsGlen. It was my very first convention andit’s not something I will be forgetting anytime soon.

My expectations are always prettyhigh when attending any national eventfor the first time. When I was younger (afew years ago) I attended my first Barrett-Jackson auction. I was absorbed by themuscle car world. I arrived at the event notreally knowing what to expect. I’d seen thetelevision coverage and read auction re-ports in car magazines. But real life was alot different: mostly good but not all. How-ever, I have to say that my first SAAC con-vention did not disappoint.

The first thing I discovered—after Igot past the cars—was that the people arewhat make this hobby as great as it is, andwhat make the convention as enjoyable asit is. As great as the cars are and as muchfun as it is to get out on a historic tracklike The Glen is, what really makes a con-vention special are the people you meetwhile you’re there. At my first SAAC Con-vention I meet so many people I can’t listall of them. A lot were only names I hadread about in the club’s magazines. Put-ting faces to them and then actually meet-ing them and spending a little time withthem was a special treat.

Everything started when we pulled upto our room at the Seneca Lodge. Thisplace was no Taj Mahal but it’s beenaround for fifty years and everyone whohas raced at the track has stayed here atone time or another. As a college studentliving on the edge of poverty, I was luckyfor then offer to share a room with long-time buddy Bob Gaines and brand new(and future long-time buddy) Jim Wicks.As we were uncoiling from the car we dis-cover our neighbors for the weekend werePhil Murphy, Deb Sanders and NathanSanders. I had read their posts on theSAAC Forum, so it was nice to finallymeet them. The three of them were apleasure to talk to and were true represen-tatives of what makes this hobby so great.Seeing Deb’s collection of paperwork for5S545 was amazing. Just when I thoughtI had seen everything there was to seeabout a car, her collection left me stunned.

After stowing our bags in the room, wefound the Lodge’s bar and settled in torelax. Just listening to Jim Wicks tell sto-ries about the good old days of findingShelbys in fields or chicken coops wasmagical. The constant bickering betweenBob Gaines and “Special Ed” Meyer overjust about anything, including what shadeof purple was the best, was as entertainingas any television sit-com. It was a greatnight and the fun was only just gettingstarted.

The next day was an all-out assault onmy senses. We pulled into the track andthe smell of oil and race gas filled my nos-trils. The throaty sound of a GT40 revvingin the distance signalled the start of a verygood day. Everywhere I turned there was

someone new to meet; some-one it seemed that I hadknown forever as a screenname on the forums, an emailaddress, or an eBay usernamefor the past 9 years—butwhom I had never been ableto meet in person. First, it wasDan Reiter in his battleshipgray Factory 5 Cobra. Thenthere were registrars, fol-lowed by Dave Matthews andNed Scudder who appeareddead set on getting a photo ofevery single Cobra on thegrounds.

Wednesday night at theMeet ‘N Greet at the mediacenter added to the list of peo-

ple I got to meet: the infamous HowardPardee, Vincent Liska, Rick Kopec and allthe other characters who make up SAACand have been around forever. I quicklyfound myself surrounded with more andmore people whom I had known for so long,yet never actually met.

The next day, I moved towards theconcours car show in Bob Gaines’ draft. Ivolunteered to be a judge but was reallythere to learn. I was absorbing details likea sponge. Despite my poor penmanship, Iwas drafted as a team “scribe” for theweekend. It was perfect: I was involved (in-stead of just sitting around) and I waswatching masters at work. And the on-slaught of new faces with familiar namescontinued. The judging staff was full offantastic people; some old friends andsome new.

From there, the weekend quickly un-wound. Before I knew it I was at the air-port, boarding a flight back home andfeeling as though the last four days wereall one big blur. It had been a whirlwind ofactivity.

One thing was certain: SAAC conven-tions were certainly not what I had ini-tially expected them up to be. I hadexpected a car show: a large gathering ofreally cool machinery, a concours venue,and some vintage racing. What I experi-enced was far more than that. SAAC-37was an opportunity to meet new friendsand catch up with old ones. It was like afamily reunion. And all the while I was ut-terly immersed in the sights and sounds ofGT40s, Cobras, GT350s and GT500s. Theywere prowling through the paddock andbeing flung around the track the way theywere meant to be. This event was reallyspecial to me. And I realize that it didn’tjust happen. A lot of people were involvedin making this year’s SAAC conventionsomething really special. I was a “firsttimer” this year, but it will certainly not bethe last time!

The SHELBY AMERICAN

THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING – Vern Estes

The 1967 Shelby judging team: five salty dudes and the ten-derfoot [left to right]: Dominic Ciliberto, Jim Hull, Randy Size-more, (unidentified), Bob Gaines and Vern Estes.

Summer 2012 32

Vern Estes became aware of SAAC in2007 through the forum. His interest incars began when he was learning to readand his mother said she would buy himany book he wanted. He chose a carbook. The progression led to muscle carsand finally Shelbys. As a 21-year old incollege, ownership is on hold. In themeantime, he is concentrating on collect-ing literature and memorabilia. And weare encouraging a writing career.