SHELBY AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE CLUB

The SHELBY AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE CLUB was founded in 1975. It has approximately
5,000 members in the U.S. and another 500 around the world. When it comes to
Cobras and Shelbys, if we don’t know it, it’s probably not worth knowing, While
SAAC has continually evolved over the past 32 years, its basic reason for
existence has not changed. The club is dedicated to the preservation, care,
history and enjoyment of the World Championship Cars built by Carroll Shelby.
The difference is that some of the definitions we originally operated under
have changed. These changes happened very gradually, and that’s where evolution
enters the picture.

"Preservation" is our first goal. When we came up with that some 32 years ago,
the cars were in danger of becoming just so many used cars. We realized that
they needed to be preserved, first by finding sources for replacement parts so
they could continue to be driven. Don’t forget that in 1975, a ’65 GT350 was
only 10 years old and ’70 Shelbys were only five years old. Almost all of these
cars were daily drivers back then; a "classic car" was a Duesenberg, a Packard
or a Cord. Things on our cars were beginning to wear out and most replacement
parts were still available from any Ford dealer’s parts department. But we knew
this wouldn’t last forever. Manufacturers are required by law to offer
replacement parts for ten years; after that things that don’t sell go obsolete.
As the years went by, "preservation" acquired a different meaning. Cars were
now being restored and there was a keen interest in accuracy. You can see the
evolution of the concept of preservation right there.

"Care" originally referred to the proper maintenance that would enable the cars
to be used in the manner they were intended. In 1975 relatively few cars were
show cars or garage queens, and seeing a fully enclosed trailer at a national
convention was a rare sight. Most members found technical articles, part
numbers and tips on the best car care products useful. As time passed, more and
more cars were restored and as a result, they saw less and less actual use.
This change has continued to the point where, today, it is exactly the
opposite - a daily driver is the exception to the rule and most cars are only
taken out on nice days and driven to meets or shows. In the late 1970s a lot of
owners worked on their own cars. Today most cars are taken to professionals.
This has eliminated the need for detailed technical articles in the Shelby
American. If you don’t rebuild your own transmission, you don’t need to read an
article about how to do that. And the guy you’re paying to do it doesn’t need
to read the article either.

"History" as a concept does not change; but the perspective from which it is
viewed does. The more time that passes, the more difficult it can be to
determine the real facts. Those who were there when the cars were being built
or raced eventually pass away. Or forget. Owners with axes to grind or
investments to protect sometimes attempt to reshape their cars’ history to suit
their own needs. Early on we did not always know the right questions to ask.
There was a learning curve, and we started recording everything we knew and
putting it into registries. These books established a body of knowledge that
could be added to and corrected for accuracy. The continual compiling of
information on cars - both general and specific - was given a very high
priority within the club because we realized how important this was. It was
also valuable on a personal level to owners because a registry which is
recognized as being accurate becomes a tool for determining the relative worth
of cars as well as establishing their histories. A second goal is to recognize
the work done by those who built and raced the cars. This is why we try to
include an interview in most issues of the Shelby American, and why we make
such a big deal of inviting former drivers, fabricators, crew members and
employees to national conventions. They are the people who gave life to these
inanimate objects. They make the history of these cars come to life.

"Enjoyment" of these cars is the final reason for SAAC to exist and this needs
little explanation. Think about the level of enjoyment you have when you are
driving your car, all alone. Then think how much that enjoyment increases when
you are part of a group of a half dozen cars driving down the road. Or sitting
in a parking lot together. Or at a car show. Almost everyone joins the club
because of the cars but after a couple of years they discover that the real
enjoyment comes from the company of other members. The cars become only so much
Muzak in the background. They provide the reason why everyone gets together but
it is the personalities and friendships growing out of this that is really the
cement that holds the club together. At some point, having a car really isn’t
necessary.

When SAAC was started, the cars it catered to were the ones that Carroll Shelby
built: Cobras, GT350s and GT500s. We didn’t know much about the Trans-Am
notchbacks built by Shelby American back then. Ford GTs were also included
because of the role Shelby American played in making them into race winners for
Ford, but their small numbers would not be likely to account for a large
increase in membership or a shift in the club’s focus. There was also
originally a strong Tiger contingent in the club who always took the
opportunity to tell anyone who would listen that Shelby and Ken Miles built the
first two Tigers.

When we were laying SAAC out on paper we decided at the outset not to limit
club membership to only those who owned these cars. "Ownership not Essential -
Enthusiasm Is" was our slogan and that has not changed. We knew there were a
lot more people interested in these cars than there were cars to go around, and
each non-owner was likely to become an owner. Well, we hoped he or she would.
It did not make sense to make them wait until after they had purchased a car to
join the club. One of the services the club provided to members was
information. Those looking for cars would be the very ones most in need of this
information.

Many of the people who joined SAAC already owned cars other than Cobras and
Shelbys. Most were Ford performance cars: Panteras, early Mustangs, Bosses and
a handful of Falcons, Galaxies, Comets and the like. Keep in mind, this was
before the proliferation of Cobra replicas and Shelby look-alikes. As the years
passed, new members came into the club with the latest Mustang performance
models. As those cars became faster and more sophisticated, many Shelby and
Cobra owners purchased them to use as daily drivers.

We expanded the convention’s car show classes to accommodate these "enthusiast"
cars and we welcomed them into the open track events. Let’s be honest - their
entry fees help pay for the track. But we stopped short of putting them on an
equal plane with Cobras and Shelbys. Rare were the articles in the Shelby
American about Cobra replicas, Panteras or Mustangs because we have a strong
feeling about what SAAC stands for. An attempt to widen the scope of the club
to include all of these cars would be to dilute and change it. We discussed
this when Carroll Shelby began building Dodge-based cars in the mid-1980s. In
fact, it was Shelby himself who asked us what effect the production of these
cars, carrying his name, was likely to have on SAAC. Would their owners be
welcome?

It was a thorny question. We did not want to alter SAAC’s basic make up, so we
established the Shelby Dodge Automobile Club as a parallel organization to SAAC
which would cater to these cars. We received some help from Dodge (after
prodding from Shelby) but after three years of working hard to keep this club
afloat and at the same time looking for someone to take it over so we could
direct all of our energies towards SAAC, we were unable to find anyone who was
willing to make the commitment necessary. So we turned the club over to its
strongest region and walked away from it. They immediately downscaled it. SDAC
is still active today but it remains small, mostly because those cars just do
not inspire the same level of enthusiasm and interest that Cobras and Shelbys
do.

We now find that as the value of Cobras and Shelbys continues to appreciate,
the cars have been priced beyond the means of some people who still want to be
SAAC members. These people have opted to own Cobra replicas, Shelby look-alikes
and other Ford performance cars of which there is presently no shortage. The
national club is happy to have these people as participating members, and they
add a lot to the club. We like to think of them as potential Cobra or Shelby
owners. However, they should not expect that we will suddenly change the club’s
policy to include cars outside of our purview as equal partners to Cobras and
Shelbys. We also understand the symbiotic relationship between local regions
and non-Cobra and non-Shelby owning members. In order for regions to do what
they would like to do, they need a large membership base. This will, of
necessity, include replica, look-alike and late model owners. Most regions
operate under a much looser charter than SAAC national, and we have no problem
with that. In fact between 33% and 66% of all regional members are not SAAC
national members. We have a very clear picture of who we are and what we need
to do and we have no plans to deviate from this. We will not try to be all
things to all people because when you do that, nobody knows who or what you
are. On a national level, when you stand for everything, you really stand for
nothing.

As far as CSX4000 and CSX7000 cars are concerned, SAAC accepts these cars as
genuine Shelby American Cobras (as opposed to "original" Shelby American
Cobras). The definition we use to identify an original Cobra is one which was,
1) built between 1961 and 1968, 2) at the direction of and under contract from
Carroll Shelby/Shelby American Inc., and 3) sold by Shelby American or one of
its franchised dealers. The only difference between original Cobras and CSX4000
and CSX7000 cars is the time frame in which they were built (1). However, all
three factors separate Shelby’s current cars from all the rest of the Cobra
replicas, AC MK IVs, COB/COX continuation cars, etc. So, to our way of
thinking, the current crop of Cobras are genuine but are not original.

In 2005 a new generation of Shelby Mustangs was unveiled. Carroll Shelby was
back at work with the Ford Motor Company, and his hand prints were all over the
2007 Shelby GT500 model. The excitement these cars created was amazing... even
before the first one was completed. With cars promised for summer 2006
delivery, a veritable feeding frenzy took place and Ford dealers found
themselves besieged with potential buyers. Before long they were accepting
orders, but only with surcharges of $10,000 to $25,000 over MSRP. Many of these
buyers were already SAAC members, but those who weren't were invited to join
the club and participate in its activities with this newest generation of
Shelbys. Before the first car was completed SAAC was already setting up a
registry so the histories of these cars could be recorded from Day One. The
same thing was going on with Ford's new Ford GTs.

Carroll Shelby is not a one act play. No sooner were the details finalized on
the new GT500s then Shelby and Ford announced they would be teaming up with
Hertz to provide that company with a black-and-gold rental version of the
Shelby Mustang, called the Shelby GT-H. The 500 examples produced proved so
popular that Shelby and Ford followed that up with another model, the Shelby
GT - another Shelby Mustang positioned between the standard Mustang GT and the
Shelby GT500. Before anyone could catch their breath, Carroll Shelby had pulled
three rabbits out of his black cowboy hat and a new generation of Shelby owners
was created. Each of these new models will have its own registry and its own
following.

For most of us, SAAC is more than just a loose organization of owners and
enthusiasts who enjoy cars produced and sold by the same manufacturer. The club
is part family, part hobby, part historical archive and part refuge from the
pressures of the day to day world. These cars provide the opportunity to lose
yourself in the past, when high performance, horsepower and speed were
unquestioned virtues. They came from a time before the suffocating blanket of
government over-regulation, when bragging about zero-to-sixty times and top
speeds were the coin of the realm. They start out as simple automotive
diversions but quickly become a part of your life. Join us and find out what
makes these cars so special.

click here to go directly to a membership application


P.O. Box 788
Sharon, CT 06069
fax: 860-364-0769
saac@saac.com

This article was submitted by "Nomad"