28 / 150
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Summer 2016 28
Back in the last issue [
Spring 2016,
page 20, lower right
] we cautioned
that sloppy facts in non-authoritative
places, such as on the Internet, in cat-
alogs and toy descriptions, were how
misinformation would gradually seep
into the hobby by infecting younger
enthusiasts who would see something
in print and believe it – because it was
in print. We hate to be the persistent
curmudgeon, but we are beginning to
feel like we are warning everyone but
no one can hear us. Or they don’t think
it’s important. It’s frustrating. Here
are just a handful of examples from a
recent Summit Racing Equipment cat-
alog for gifts, clothing and memora-
bilia. 1. This is described as a 1967
Shelby GT500 but judging by the front
end, it’s actually a GT500E Eleanor
car. The wheels are obviously after-
market Halibrand-style with knock-
offs and the gas filler is located on the
rear fender, Eleanor style. Trivial?
Maybe, but accuracy is accuracy. 2.
This car is described as a “tribute”
Trans-Am so maybe the Terlingua rab-
bit on the black hood and the rocker
panel stripes are correct, but it should-
n’t have the GT grille. The description
says the original car as raced in 1967
was driven by Jerry Titus and Ken
Miles. Sadly, by 1967 when this car
was racing, Ken Miles was no longer
alive. 3. John McComb purchased one
of the 1967 Trans-Am race cars and
when team driver Jerry Titus wrecked
his team car in practice at the Kent
Trans-Am, and Shelby asked McComb
1
2
3
4
5
to turn his car over to Titus because he was a better driver and would benefit from the driver’s points. Titus failed to
finish, but it was the only race in which he drove McComb’s car. The catalog description makes it sound like Titus drove
the car all season. The catalog claims the car is the only survivor of the 1967 Trans-Am series. We’re sure that would
come as something of a surprise to a number of owners of 1967 Shelby trans-Am notchbacks. 4. The catalog’s description
of Charlie Kemp’s 5R538 makes a big deal of the car’s being “
Quicker than a Cobra!
” The car was clocked at 184 mph
at Daytona, “
setting the record for the fastest 289-powered Shelby of the time – including Cobras!
” That claim probably
has poor Dick Smith spinning in his grave. His 427 was clocked at Daytona at 198 mph. 5. The GT40 MK II diecast is
the 1966 LeMans-winning GT40 driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon. The catalog describes it as “Gulf Blue.”
The Gulf cars didn’t come on the scene for two more years. We realized these are only toy catalogs. But history matters.
Click on Allstate Insurance’s blog and
you’re staring at a red 427 Cobra.
That’s what Howard Pardee discov-
ered recently. As a man of a very few
words, we’re not sure if Pardee discov-
ered this on his own or if someone
tipped him off. That doesn’t really
matter as long as we’re able to show it
to you.