Not Ranked
This one is old, but it means a lot to me..
I believe it was 1976, I was in college and I had a '68 GT-350 that was my first car and my daily driver. I talked my High School buddy and college room mate into buying a 68 GT500KR that had no engine, was kinda butchered and had a small block chevy in it and was set up as a drag car and needed body work and paint. We bought it without the drivetrain for $600 and towed it to his parents house. They thought we were crazy but spent the spring assembling parts and "restoring" it the best we could. We bought a nice 406 FE for $350, wide ratio top loader for $100, 9" pumpkin for $30, a set of magnesium wheels from a Pantera for $200.
We got the car assembled and ready for paint and had a fairly original Lime Green paint job put on it. The car came out really nice.
We then decided it would be a good idea to drive to the Shelby club time trial at Black Hawk Farms in Wisconsin. No problem, it's only about a 18 hour drive. So we grabbed one other friend and the 3 of us set off in the 2 Shelbys headed west, leaving at around 9PM after work. We got to the PA/OH border and realized we didn't really know where we were going, so we bought an Atlas. We did have a hotel reservation in Beloit, but had no idea where that was. The exhuberance of youth...
We managed to find the place but the KR's fuel pump died as soon as we got there. We were dead tired having driven through the night but bought a replacement at the local auto parts store in fixed it in the parking lot.
We were there at the Solo event on time ready to go. I won my class and my friend finished second in his. (If you have the old Shelby Owners Association newsletters, you can look it up and I have old photo's taken by Su Kemper somewhere). I got a little 6" trophy and we managed to find a bar that night to celebrate. Each of us struck up conversations with some girls and each of us used the trophy as proof of how great a driver we were and I'm sure we totally impressed them.
Next day, 18 hours home. We got stopped once in PA and were issued a warning for speeding, still having the shoe polish numbers on the cars.
My friend and I eventually sold our Shelbys- he bought a beautiful 69 Boss 302 and I bought a 67 GT-350. He later lost a 10 year battle with Cancer and it will be 20 years ago this month since he's passed away. From time to time I think of that awesome trip, and how nothing is as irreplaceable as memories.
Bob
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