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over, it’s time to retire 003 from the
show circuit and just drive it. That
was the grand scheme all along.
On the entry form I listed the en-
trant names for 003 as Mark Hovan-
der and Chuck Cantwell. I wanted to
give Chuck the opportunity of dealing
with judges because he knew more
about 003 than anyone. When the
judges had questions about the car, I
just wanted to look at them, shrug,
and tell them I didn’t know the an-
swers – but, pointing to Cantwell, say
that this guy does. Their reaction
would have been priceless, but it never
happened.
The Pebble Beach Concours is
clearly in a league by itself. There re-
ally is nothing to compare it to. The
quality of the cars, the unique one-off
bodies, and the provenance of the cars
is world class. The Pebble Concours is
just one of four concours events, six
auctions, five other sporadic car shows
and the historic races which make up
“MontereyWeek.” There is no way you
can see and do everything from Tues-
day through Sunday. You have to se-
lect one or two events per day,
knowing that although everything is
relatively close, traffic congestion
makes things difficult.
For 2016, the Pebble Concours
committee has created a class for the
Ford GT40 to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the famous 1-2-3 1966
LeMans finish. Monterey Week should
be on the bucket list for every automo-
tive enthusiast to attend, at least once.
For those coming to Monterey for the
first time, book your room early and if
the prices scare you, try some of the
smaller towns north or east of Mon-
terey. If you want to see the best col-
lection of high quality, historically
significant GT40s ever assembled, it
will be on the grass of the 18th fairway
on August of 2016.
The SHELBY AMERICAN
There is an iconic photo angle that, when you see it, you immediately know it is the 18th Green at Pebble Beach. I waited around
after the crowds cleared out so I could position 003 in the precise spot, knowing it would never be here again. Unfortunately, a couple
of Ferrari owners had the same idea, only they were waiting for the sun to set so they could get just the right picture. I couldn’t wait
two or three hours because I had dinner reservations with Chuck, my daughter Nicole and the rest of our team as well as some old
friends, so this was as close as I got to the ultimate Pebble Beach photo.
The crowd at Pebble Beach on Sunday was huge. So huge, in fact, that it’s hard to believe there was also a full schedule of racing
events going on out at Mazda Raceway. At $300 to $350 a ticket, it’s a one-day gold mine for the charities they support.
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