[Bud Man]

Around 1990 - 1991, I flew to Phoenix to look at a Hi-Tech that belonged to an owner of a well known trucking company. Very nice car, same livery as this one, but with a SOHC mill. According to the owner, it was one of Tom D’Antonio’s early builds. What was noticeable was the very aggressive rear flare profile with a prominent, well defined lip which was very different than the cars I saw a few weeks later when I returned to Phoenix on business and combined a visit to Hi-Tech’s Tempe factory. During that visit I learned that they had recently splashed a new mold from an original Shelby AC-bodied car that was brought in for restoration, and that all future cars would use that body. The car we are discussing here features the same rear wheelwell shape and flare profile as that SOHC car I saw nearly 30 years ago, so it could be another example of one of Tom’s early efforts.

All anecdotal of course, but in any event, Hi-Tech built some beautiful cars and kits, and it could be successfully argued they were the blueprint for the CSX 4000 series cars Tom worked on during his later years with Shelby-American. Wish they were still around...