More than 50 original employees of Shelby American gathered recently at the
Wally Parks NHRA Motosports Museum in Pomona, Calif. for their 11th annual reunion.
I've said it before: museums don't have to be dust magnets. They can be alive and vital, which is the goal of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. For example, the museum recently hosted the 11th Annual former Shelby American employees reunion.
Organized by Bob Shaw, the reunion is dedicated to provide communications, support and reunions for former Shelby American employees of the 1960s through donations and sale of memorabilia. Whether they worked in the race shop, assembly line, engine shop, office or in some other capacity, they were all part of the team that helped make household names of Carroll Shelby and the Cobra.
More than 50 past employees turned out including, of course, "ol Shel' and his wife Cleo, and many of his drivers like Bob Bondurant, Scooter Patrick, Jerry Grant, Billy Krause, who was the first to race a Cobra, (at Riverside in 1962), John Morton and Danny Jordan. Also on hand were guys like engine shop foreman Don Pike, Deke Houlgate-who was first, fourth and seventh public relations man-crew chief Ted Sutton, race shop foreman Jack Balch and Steele Therkelson, who was a mechanic and toolmaker. There was father-and-son team Roy and Doyle Gammel, who worked at Moon Equipment's Santa Fe Springs shop installing the first Ford V-8 into the British AC Ace.
Besides all the cool folks who showed up, there were a number of real Cobras and GT350s on display, the favorite of many being Lynn Parks' recently restored DragonSnake-one of five cars factory built for drag racing. I'm not sure if Lynn knows this, but I got to drive "El Cid," as it was called around the museum. Man, what a beast. Fresh from its rebuild, the clutch was a bear, and I stalled a couple of times before getting the feel of it. Most of it was probably nerves, since my leg was shaking like crazy.
Originally blue, CSX 2248 was painted black for the 1965 season, and was powered by a 289 fitted with either four Weber 48 IDAs or a pair of Carter AFBs. Driven by Hans Schmidt, the car featured a blister in the roof to accommodate the roll cage, and Hans' large frame, knock-off wires up front and magnesium American five-spokes in the rear. It won the 1964 AHRA Winternationals in Daytona Beach, and held both speed and ET records with AHRA. Lynn purchased the car from Shelby when the latter wasn't paying attention-that'll teach him. Ha!
Needless to say, everybody had a great time catching up with old friends and making new ones, which is what museums are all about.
For more information about Shelby American employees, visit http://legendconnection.org
For more information about the Parks Museum, visit http://museum.nhra.com
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