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Yokohama High Stakes Blackjack - 11/11/2008
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SEMA 2008: Yokohama tire dealers compete in blackjack tournament to win Superformance MkIII Cobra
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While many tire manufacturers were cutting back at SEMA this year, Yokohama decided to try positive
reinforcement. At the SEMA South Hall more than 30 dealers gathered at
the Yokohama booth to participate in a blackjack tournament with the
grand prize being a brand new Superformance MkIII Cobra replica worth
$70,000. This stunning Red rolling chassis was built in the MKIII-R
color scheme and supplied by Hillbank Motor Corporation in California.
To finish the MKIII a Roush 327ci V8 425 hp motor was expertly installed
at Voss Performance who are also located in California.
Did anyone notice those 19" and 20" wheels with Yokohama S.drive tires,
245/35R19 front and 285/30R20 rear?
The Lucky new owner Terry Baker is the sales manager of Foree Tire
Distributors in CO., finishing second was Scott Mc Clain of Lexington
KY and third place went to Jeff Weightman of Las Vegas who both won cash
prizes. Congratulations to all the winners. Well done Yokohama.
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Autoblog Article
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Bob Johnson - 10/16/2008
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It is with great sadness that we report the passing of former Cobra
and GT350 racer Bob Johnson, of Columbus (OH) on 10/16/2008.
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He was 81. Bob suffered a stroke a couple of years ago and never fully
recovered. Once he realized the scope and depth of SAAC he made it
his business to attend almost every national convention, and shared his
time freely w/both club members and ex-Shelby American team members and
employees.
Bob served in the Navy during WW II and when he returned to Columbus he became
involved in the catering industry, eventually opening his own industrial
catering service, which he worked at until his stroke forced him to
retire. He bought his 1st sports car in 1958, when he was 30 — it was
a Corvette. He immediately began racing it and by 1960 he had won the SCCA
National B/P Championship. He continued racing Corvettes until the 1st
time he saw a Cobra. Then he realized it would beat the Corvette and he had
to have one. But that proved more difficult to do than you might imagine.
In those early days Shelby American was operating at full speed, trying
to complete production cars the small dealer network was screaming for
while, at the same time, fielding a team of race cars. They hardly had
time for a nobody from Ohio.
Johnson caught up with Shelby at Sebring in March of 1963. CSX2026, a
factory team car, was driven by Dave McDonald/Fireball Roberts/Lew Spencer/Jerry Grant.
The car failed to finish and it was destined to be replaced by a newer car with RandP steering.
Johnson spoke with Shelby right after the checkered flag dropped and, w/a check
in his hand, offered to buy the Cobra on the spot. Once the car was back
in Columbus, Johnson & his mechanic Tom Greatorex, who he credited with
much of his racing success, stripped the car down to the chassis and totally
rebuilt it, painting it blue in the process. Johnson went on to win the
1963 SCCA A/P National Championship. At the beginning of the 1964 season
he replaced CSX2026 w/CSX2189, a RandP racer. He ran the car as part of the
Cobra team in USRRC events. Johnson did so well against the factory team
cars that Shelby asked him to join, saying that it was embarrassing for the
factory to get beaten by an independent. He finished 1st in 3 USRRC events
that year, one 2nd and three 3rds. He also won the SCCA A/P National
Championship again. A full-fledged member of the Cobra Team in 1965,
Johnson drove Daytona Coupes and FIA roadsters. In May of 1965 Johnson
took delivery of 5R102, a new GT350 R-Model which was actually considered
a factory team car that was loaned to him by Shelby. One of Johnson's
competitors was fellow Columbus (OH) driver Tom Yeager, who purchased
the 1st customer R-Model, 5R095. They raced thruout the midwest and at one
point to mimic the rivalry between the University of Michigan and Ohio
State, Johnson painted his car Michigan's colors – blue/maize.
When Shelby found out about it Johnson immediately rec'd a phone call
instructing him to return the car to white/blue livery. He ultimately
finished 2nd in the 1965 ARRC in B/P. The following year Johnson moved
into the Trans-Am series driving Mustang notchbacks. At SAAC-14 at
Pocono in 1989, when Bob was asked to speak at the evening program
he came to the podium right after it was announced that the following
year's convention would probably be at Mid-Ohio. Propelled by a couple
of drinks, Bob announced that if we came to his home track — Mid-Ohio — he
would provide lunch for everyone. His offer was met by a thunderous
round of applause. A few trucks rolled into the track in the morning
with "Johnson Catering" lettered on the doors. He set up a few
large charcoal grilles and true to his word, served a couple of thousand
hamburgers and what was probably 500 lbs of potato salad. It was an
example of Bob's legendary generosity and good will. He was a hard-charger
out on the track, but he was a kind and generous man off the track. We
will miss him greatly.
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King Cobra - 11/03/08
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Las Vegas Firm Teams Up With Canadian Company to produce
the most powerful Shelby Cobra Street Car Ever!
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Nevada Classics, Inc., Las Vegas, and Sean Hyland Motorsport, Woodstock,
Ontario create the King Cobra, a one-of-a-kind, 1,000 horsepower street beast!
Las Vegas, Nevada, October 14, 2008: Mark Logan, President of Nevada Classics, Inc., a Las
Vegas based Shelby Cobra, classic, and performance car dealer, and Sean Hyland, President of Sean
Hyland Motorsport in Woodstock, Ontario Canada, will unveil the King Cobra at SEMA in Las Vegas,
November 3 -7, 2008.
Sean Hyland, and his team, fitted a Guardsman Blue/Wimbledon White, CSX4000 series Shelby
Cobra with an all aluminum, 1,000 horsepower, 5.4 liter modular engine, originally designed for the
2007-2009 Shelby GT500's. It features a Kenne Bell supercharger and burns E85 ethanol.
Manufactured by Sean Hyland Motorsport, the engine is mated with the GT500's six speed manual
transmission. Along with a custom interior, brake, wheel, tire and suspension upgrades have been
made to handle the extra horsepower, and keep the car on the ground.
"I approached Mark with the idea of building the ultimate Shelby Cobra street car several months ago",
said Hyland. "When I told Mark what I wanted to do, he said, '1,000 HP? That's the craziest idea I've
ever heard of . . . Let's do it' " While modification of the chassis was required to accommodate the 700
lb. engine, the results speak for themselves.
You can see the King Cobra at the Sean Hyland booth #25180 this year at SEMA. Call Mark Logan for
more details. Direct line: 503-475-7914. The Cobra is available for evaluation by accredited media.
Pictures to follow!
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SEMA 2008 - 11/04/08
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Shelby Distribution USA, Superformance, DenBeste Motorsports, and Roush Performance will be attending SEMA 2008 this year.
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Location: Central Hall in the North West corner, Space Number 25001 (under Roush Industries)
We invite you to visit us and view our display of classic and current American Muscle
9 Cars will be on display
- "98" Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe
- CS GT40 "limited Commemorative Edition"
- MKI GT40 (Gulf colors)
- CSX 4000 (Navy Blue W/ Stripes and Roundels)
- CSX 4000 (Black W/ Titanium Stripes)
- CSX 7000 (Black)
- MKIII-R Roush Edition (Red)
- MKIII Display (Black)
- GT40 (Ken Miles colors)
9 various Shelby block / Roush prepared complete engines will be on display
Feature Vehicles:
- Hillbank Motorsports HB-R Mustang with "Glass Hood"
- Mustang CS8 Full Custom
Guest Appearances:
- Carroll Shelby – Day and time to be determined
- Guy Fieri - (Food Networks Diners, Drive-ins and Dives)– Wednesday the 6TH at 11:00AM
- Allen Grant – (One of Carroll Shelby's World Sports Car Champion drivers) – Tuesday the 5TH at 11:00 AM
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The CS GT40 Commerative Edition - 09/23/08
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This GT40 was built as an exclusive Shelby Collectable. The production is limited to only 85 units.
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Base the cars on the original two winners of Le Mans car 1046 and 1015. A special series of Safir continuation GT40 chassis Numbers have been allocated to this program and each sale will be documented by a Shelby MSO certificate and dash Plaque. These exclusive rollers will only be built to accommodate a Shelby branded motor.
The 3 models that we are building are the Shelby American entrants for the 1966 Le Mans race. Car P/1046 Black/Silver. Originally this Shelby American Mark II was driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon and crossed the finish line first to claim victory for Ford at Le Mans 1966. Car P/1015 Blue with red patches. The blue Shelby American Ford GT Mark II driven by Ken Miles and Denny Hulme in Le Mans 1966.
Car P/1047.The Red with White stripes GT40 MKII driven for Shelby American by Dan Gurney and Grant.
Exclusive Team Shelby additions:
Each of these CS GT40's have Carroll Shelby's signature etched door handles and head light covers
- Shelby leather seating and commemorative floor mats.
- Original style Hood Pins and Hood Diffusers.
- CS GT40 numbered dash plaque and special edition graphics.
Features
- Original Monocoque style chassis, unibody structure.
- Pressed Steel tub.
- Original suspension layout.
- Air conditioning.
Here are some links to featured articles.
Motor Trend
World Car Fans
Serious Wheels
Concept Cars
Global Motors
Top Speed
Kit Car USA
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Willow Springs Open Track - 10/25/08
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COCOA Open Track Day
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Come out to Willow Springs Intl Raceway and join us for the bi-annual COCOA open track event at Willow. All Ford performances cars are welcome, so make sure to check it out!
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2008 Belmont Shore Car Show - 09/07/08
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Shelby Distribution USA Attends Belmont Shore Car Show
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This year's Belmont Shore Show will be held on September 7th, 2008, and is on 2nd Street of the Belmont Shore section of Long Beach. About ten blocks of 2nd Street is blocked off and filled with street rods and street machines. This show typically pulls about 800 entries and also has a huge spectator attendance. This is one of the more highly regarded shows in Southern California.
This is one of the best shows in southern California because of the huge spectator turnout along with a large number of vendors. Second Street is also home to a great many very good restaurants, antique shops, unique clothing stores, and many other specialty shops that are interesting and fun to visit.
Unofficial counts have placed the visitors to this event at over 50,000 people.
This show typically sells out so it is a good idea to pre-enter. Pre-entries also get a $2.00 discount off the official show t-shirt which is always one of the most prized show t-shirts to be had from any show.
We will be on the Corner of Corona Ave. and 2nd Street
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Entry Forms
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World Champion racer, Phil Hill, dies at 81 - 08/28/08
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Shortly after 10 a.m. PST, America's first World Champion, Phil Hill, passed away in a Monterey County, Calif., hospital as a result of respiratory problems complicated by Parkinson's disease. Hill was 81.
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Born in Miami, Florida, Hill was raised in Santa Monica, California, where he lived until his death. He studied business administration at the University of Southern California in 1945-47 but left early to pursue auto racing, working as a mechanic on other drivers' cars. Hill began racing cars at an early age, going to England as a Jaguar trainee in 1949 and signing with Enzo Ferrari's team in 1956. He made his debut in the French Grand Prix at Reims France in 1958 driving a Maserati. That same year, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Belgian team mate Olivier Gendebien, driving for most of the night in horrific rainy conditions. He and Gendebien would go on to win the famous endurance race two more times.
In 1961, Hill won the 24 Hours of Le Mans again and the Formula One driving championship for the Ferrari team. He secured the championship when he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza that year. His closest rival, teammate Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips, crashed and died in the same race. Earlier that year, during a practice session at the German Grand Prix, Hill became the first man to lap the Nordschleife at the Nürburgring in less than nine minutes. Unlike Mario Andretti, Hill was born in the USA, and is still the only US-born F1 champion.
After leaving Ferrari at the end of 1962 in the the great walkout of engineers, he and fellow driver Giancarlo Baghetti started for their new team ATS. Hill continued in Formula One for a few more years until he switched to sports car racing with Ford Motor Company and the Chaparral Cars of Jim Hall.
Phil Hill has the distinction of having won the first (a 3 lap event at Carrell Speedway in a MG TC on July 24 1949) and last races of his driving career, the final victory driving for Chaparral in the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch in England in 1967.
Following his retirement, Hill built up an award winning classic car restoration business in the 1970s called Hill & Vaughn with business partner Ken Vaughn, until they sold the business off and Vaughn went on run a separate business on his own in 1984. Hill also worked as a television commentator for ABC's Wide World of Sports
Hill had a long and distinguished association with Road & Track magazine. He wrote several articles for them, including road tests and retrospective articles on historic cars and races. He shared his "grand old man" status at R&T with '60s racing rival Paul Frère, who also died in 2008.
Hill, in his last years, devoted his time to his vintage car collection and judged at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance more often than any other individuals; 2006 was the 38th time he had judged the event.
Hill was married to Alma, and had three children: Derek, Vanessa and Jennifer. Derek raced in International Formula 3000 in 2001, 2002 and 2003, but was forced to retire when Phil became ill with Parkinson's Disease.
After traveling to the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, Phil was taken to a hospital, where he died after a short illness from complications of Parkinson's Disease in Salinas, California on August 28th.
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Autoweek Article
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Quail Lodge - 08/15/08
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Best of Show goes to Shelby Cobra 289
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The sixth anniversary of The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering provided a bumper celebration of all things sporting. There was a celebration marking the 12 hours of Sebring, the quarter century of Porsch'e seminal 959, Eagle racing cars, and Lamborghini's test driver, Valentino Balboni's, colourful career.
Amid glorious sunshine, the immaculate golf course played host to a festival of great cars and Californian cuisine – including early morning Champagne and margaritas, fresh oysters, caviar, locally produced wine and delicious regional produce.
The entry was limited to 3000 guests, and tickets were sold out well before the day. The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering was undoubtedly Octane's event of choice, marrying fabulous cars with effortless style. The right crowd and no crowding.
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Octane News
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35TH Anniversary Monterey Historic Event - 08/15/08
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Shelby Distribution Goes To Monterey
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Shelby Distribution USA will be attending this years 35TH Anniversary Monterey Historic Event and cordully invite all Team Shelby Members to visit us starting at the Quail Lodge on Friday August 15TH 9:00AM to 3:00PM and at the Laguna Seca Raceway August 15/16/17 gates open at 7:00AM.
The Historic Automobile Races are the largest event held during the renowned classic car weekend in Monterey California. More than 40,000 visitors worldwide annually attend the Historic Races, which greatly supports the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula's (SCRAMP) contribution to local charities including the Carroll Shelby Children’s Foundation. Last year, SCRAMP donated $507,500 to 70 Central Coast charitable and service organizations.
The Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races are a tribute of motor racing history, historic automobiles and the people like Carroll Shelby who made them. Each year, more than 375 of the finest historic race and sports cars are entered in 14 race groups that span nearly every era of motorsports history.
Shelby Distribution USA in conjunction with the Carroll Shelby Children’s Foundation and Shelby dealers across the country will be representing a complete line of over 12 Shelby continuation CSX Cobras including the CSX 4000, FIA 7000, and the Shelby Challenge Series Racer, the Shelby Daytona Coupe driven by Carroll Shelby, and the Limited Edition CS GT40 will be on display.
For more information log onto the following web sites.
www.shelbydistributionusa.com
www.montereyhistoric.com
www.laguna-seca.com
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Shelby and SAAC - 08/08/08
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Shelby and SAAC Settle Their Differences
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The Shelby American Automobile Club has reached an agreement with Carroll Shelby and his companies to end the legal battles and return to the normal life of having fun and enjoying the people and the cars of our hobby. Today, August 8, 2008, an agreement was signed, putting behind us the turmoil and uncertainty that accompanied this legal conflict. We are now and forever the Shelby American Automobile Club. This is the result of some very hard work by people from both organizations. Rick and Ken, as well as efforts by Dave Mathews, Ron Richards and Dave Winkler at SAAC... and Amy Boylan and Carroll Shelby at CSL and Shelby Autos. ... all worked through the negotiations that settled any and all disagreements and put us all on the same page... where we can all get back to enjoying the cars and the history of Shelby American. Much more detail to follow over the next few weeks, but, now more than ever: ..... don't miss the celebration at SAAC-33... We'll be there...Team Shelby will be there... this is what it's all about. Spread the word......It's over.
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SAAC
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Denbeste Motorsports - 06/06/08
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Denbeste Motorsports the newly appointed Shelby dealer in the bay area has a wonderful collection of classic Shelby's, a trip to his facilities is absolutely worth your time.
Bill and Lori Denbeste are now the proud owners of a Limited Shelby 85th Commemorative Edition
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Carroll Shelby's New Coupe - 05/21/08
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On Monday, April 21, Shelby Automobiles and Shelby Distribution USA presented automotive legend Carroll Shelby with a custom Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, painted in the same “Guardsman Blue” of the original cars.
Carroll’s Daytona Coupe also features the number 98 that represents chassis #2300 that Shelby himself owned up until 1999. Power comes from a Shelby prepared block that was finished off by Roush 427SR V8 with 480 horsepower and 515 lb-ft torque. Unique to Carroll’s Daytona Coupe is a shifting system that utilizes paddles and buttons on the steering wheel. Developed by MasterShift of San Diego, the Art Carr 2004R 4-speed automatic transmission can be up shifted via paddles and downshifted using two buttons on either side of the steering wheel. Installation of the transmission and paddle shift system was handled by Exotic Auto Restoration of Costa Mesa.
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Commemorative GT40 on Hot Rod TV - 04/01/08
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Our new commemorative GT40 will now be featured on HOT ROD TV, be sure to watch the SPEED channel at the following times:
- Saturday, March 01, 2008, 9:30am
- Friday, March 07, 2008, 3:30am
- Saturday, May 31, 2008, 9:30am
- Friday, June 06, 2008, 3:30am
"The legendary GT-40 is coming back to life. Follow a team of builders as they turn that
dream into reality. The team builds an exact replica of the GT-40 to surprise Carroll Shelby on his 85th
birthday. Aesthetically perfect, dimensionally correct and as reliable as the original. It's a ride that's
going to get a little more than attention on this episode of Hot Rod TV."
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Hot Rod TV
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Cars and Coffe - Every Weekend
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Cars and Coffee at the Ford PAG Mazda Campus
This is the former Crystal Cove Cruise
A weekly Saturday morning Cruise 7AM - 9AM
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Alan Mann Receives GT40 Keys at Pistonheads Show - 01/10/08
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Le Mans and sports car racing legend Alan Mann received the keys to his GT40 Continuation at the
Pistonheads Show on Thursday 10th January. The GT40 Continuation car, made by Superformance, livered in
the famous red body and gold and white viper stripes and instantly recognisable as the Alan Mann racing livery, was
handed over to Alan by the managing director of Le Mans Coupes Ltd, Nigel Hulme, the UK importer of GT40 Continuation
and Shelby Daytona Cobra cars and himself a well known classic sports car racer.
Also present was Alan's son, Henry, and a number of the mechanics who have worked for Alan Mann Racing Ltd since the Le Mans
period right through to the present day preparing cars for him. The final touch to adorn Alan's new car was the Alan Mann Racing
Ltd decal placed on the car by his own mechanics. Nigel Hulme, MD of Le Mans Coupes, said "it is an honour to handover the first
customer GT40 Continuation car in the UK to a genuine Le Man and GT40 legend and a testament to the quality of the GT40
Continuation cars produced by Superformance". Alan himself was delighted "the car is superb, my son is already looking to
get a drive before I do!".
Alan Mann Racing Ltd supplied three of the nine GT40's that raced in the 1966 Le Mans, with GT40's famously finishing
1st, 2nd and 3rd. The livery of the GT40 handed over to Alan at the Pistonheads Show is based closely on the livery of
the lightweight GT40 developed by Alan Mann Racing which incorporated a number of elektron lightweight alloy panels.
The original car, in this livery, competed at Reims in 1967 driven by Nelson and Liddell, the 1966 Sebring 12-hour race
and at the 1966 Le Mans Test Days driven by Sir John Whitmore, car number #16.
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Click here for more pictures!
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Barrett Jackson - 01/20/08
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On 11 - 20 January 2008 Superformance and Shelby Distribution along with Rosh attended the Barrett Jackson auction
as a vendor. We had an awesome display and examples of all of our products. Thanks to all of our dealers who were
able to assist potential customers and make this show an amazing success. Doug Reed from Louisiana brought through
his GT40 which represented the original car number 1015 which was raced by Ken Miles.
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Carroll Shelby's 85th Birthday - 01/20/08
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The CS-GT40 was built in celebration of Carroll Shelby’s 85TH birthday. Amy Boylan,
President of Shelby Automobiles Inc. commissioned the build ofonly 85 of these stunning Limited edition
birthday models. These GT40'sare representative of the1966 Le Mans entries by the Shelby American team. The
Proto type models were launched at Barrett Jackon in January 2008. A continuation representing the Ken Miles car
P/1015 was displayed in the Shelby sponcered bidders bar, while the remaining two models were displayed on the Shelby
Distribution USA booth. All three models are representative of the following original racers.
- Car #1 Chassis P/1015 Arcadian Blue - Driven by Ken Miles & Denis Hulme
- Car #2 Chassis P/1046 Black - Driven by Chris Amon & Bruce McLaren
- Car #3 Chassis P/1047 Red - Driven by Dan Gurney & Jerry Grant
The CS GT40 will carry a Shelby issued MSO certificate and will be fitted with a commemorative
plaque and anniversary decals. The sale of the CS GT40 will be recorded into the registry with your investment starting at $139K
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