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SAAC-25 was our largest conven-
tion to date (and actually turned out
to be our largest one ever). Between
pre-registrations and walk-ins we had
almost 10,000 people attending for
some part of the four days. This wasn’t
a guess – we were able to determine
this by the number of wrist bands that
were used in the course of the event.
Our Friday-Saturday-Sunday-
Monday convention kicked it off with
an “arrival day” on Thursday. We
scheduled a one-day Skip Barber Driv-
ing School, which allowed us access to
the track the day before the conven-
tion for load-in and early registration
and tech inspection. It also allowed
those arriving early to plant their flag
in the paddock, unload and set up. It
allows the event to start off – for
them – at a much more leisurely pace.
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Summer 2016 97
About the time of SAAC-25, Lane Col-
lectibles was marketing a series of diecast
‘65 GT350 R-Models. They were very suc-
cessful and each model was sold out (about
2,500 of each were made) almost as soon
as they were released. A lot of the sales
came from Shelby enthusiasts, and that
translated to SAAC members. In an at-
tempt to make the most of this enthusi-
asm, Lane created a special model (only
750 were made) aimed expressly at SAAC-
25 attendees. The R-Model was finished in
silver (SAAC’s silver anniversary) with a
racing number of 25. It also had Lime Rock
and SAAC 25th Anniversary decals. Before
the convention was over, all 750 had been
spoken for.