Gary;
You are correct on all counts,Don Buck Sr. is the owner of both cars and a very dear friend to me and my family.............I did not want to devulge too much of this info on the internet,but now that it is out,I'll tell all what I know and have known for some time.............
Al French is/was some sort of chemical engineer/scientist in the area (Jefferson/Slidell all within spitting distance of New Orleans),he bought the car as stated and I've seen all the magazine articles and write-ups about it and Don has them along with tons of photos of the car........Don was the Louisiana state Solo II champ in 1987 or 1988 in a 65 Mustang fastback in his class,shortly after winning the state champoinship,he was offered a "nice" sum of money for the Solo II car and could not pass it up and wanted to go Vintage racing anyway,he knew Al wanted to sell the Shelby and shortly after selling his fastback bought the Shelby 5S274,he drove it as it was for a couple of years and then did a full blown restoration on it bringing it to it's original state (still has the front flaired fenders hanging on the wall of his shop in that "beautiful green" color),he then had Gemini Racing in Arizona do all the suspension on the car as well as some roll cage upgrades for safety,then he began his road racing days.......he is now in his early 60's and has not had a "real" vacation with his wife in 25 years and has decided it's time to do other things besides racing,hence the sale of 274...........
5S241 is a "show car" and has won numerous awards at SAAC and MCA events,(it has not been shown or on the show car circuit since Don bought 274)it has been in a number of magazines as well as many articles written about the car........It was judged and still is one of the 65 Shelby GT-350s that still has the most original parts on it,as a matter of fact,it has only 3 parts on it that were not original to the car as it was delivered when built,but are the correct parts for the car, even has the Sebring trans and the case is stamped 5S241 as well as the block and the Cragar wheels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This car he is keeping for a while like most other Shelby owners are doing right now...........
He has a lot of documentation on both cars and many photos and awards and such,both are defintely the "REAL DEAL"............
Now for some back ground on Don,he was always a Ford guy and racer,drag racing and owning many fast and valuable Fords,some today would be worth as much as the Shelbys...........He took "early retirment" in his 40s and went into businees with another guy restoring early (mainly 65/66) Mustangs,about 6 to 8 years ago he moved to his present location and opened his own shop at his house and has continued to restore Mustangs,again,mainly 65/66s,over the years he has parted out no telling how many cars from the New Orleans area and has a wharehouse of parts.......he is a one man operation,but still manages to do about 3 to 6 cars a year and he has done some very expensive cars over the years,a number of 65/66 Shelbys and a Hertz or 2 thrown in as well as many desirable GTs and Boss 302s.......his restorations are second to none and I would put his cars against anyone's out there,his attention to detail is a work of art and being he does 65/66s he knows the cars inside and out,I really believe he could just about put one together with his eyes closed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is about the nicest guy you would want to meet and has 2 great Shelbys,(but I would not want him mad at me,he's about 6'8" tall and about 270 pounds and in great shape)I have been trying to talk him out of the sale,but he has decided it's time to move on and spend more time with his family................
I DO NOT have a registry,,but was going to borrow one this weekend to check "the facts" that MR Mustang posted as they did cast a BIG shadow on this whole deal and I knew what Don has told me about the history of the car and the documentation he has shown me on it,but before I posted anything I wanted to see it in "the book" first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gary, I also know what Al French paid for the car at the junkyard and what he sold it to Don for,but I'll keep that secret for now,lets just say when Al bought it,it was a rough 5 year old car with NO motor or trans in a junkyard,so you can guess he got it for a song,also,at that time they were just "used cars" and not worth anything as a Shelby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
274 knows it's way around Hallett as Don has raced there a number of times.................274 also raced in the Vintage race at the 40th Mustang to do in Nashville,as well as a number of SAAC yearly conventions...............both Don and I have a bunch of video of many of the races.........it has also been on national tv about a half dozen times............
Don and Vic Edelbrock at Nashville at the 40th........
David
My car,the red fastback (clone) and 5S274 at Nashville for the 40th.....
