The Shelby American (Winter 2021)

was making an appearance on the West Coast. I was very excited and made it a point to find a way to attend. My Dad and I drove his 1995 Ford Lightning pickup down to Sonoma. That was a fun trip! We were able to see so many amazing cars. This was our first convention and our first time at the Sonoma track. The entire week- end was outstanding. Seeing all of the cars at Denbeste Motors on Thursday, touring The Cobra Experience mu- seum and all of the time at the track made the trip worthwhile. At the track we explored the entire facility; it was an adult’s playground. An amazing place! We spent quite a bit of time at the swap meet and managed to find a few items we couldn’t live without. Ex- ploring the pits and garages was a real treat. Seeing 5R095 and the Lone Star was quite an experience that I never thought would happen. I think our most memorable time was the Parade Laps out on the track. That was a blast and much more spir- ited then just a “putt-putt” parade lap. I was also very fortunate to be able to take notes for concours judges John Brown and Jim Wicks for the 1966 Shelby class. I learned an enormous amount about the 1966s. This was a real treat. It was hard work as well; we judged 11 cars where as some other classes only had 1 or 2 in their class. I spent a lot of time judging, so I didn’t get to watch much of the car show or the racing, but hopefully next time I will be able to see that. The evening socializing and programs were also a lot of fun. I met so many great people and new friends such as BenWagoner, Jim Lange, Dave Redman, Jonny Young, Dennis Murdoch, Jim Beals, Nick Acton, Vern Estes and I was able to catch up to other folks that I had met at previous events like Mark Ho- vander and Bob Gaines. The weekend went by all too quickly, but that sounds like a normal experience from reading about other conventions. The next couple of years were very similar to the previous ones. Swap meets, working on the ‘66 fastback, reading the SAAC forum and enjoying excellent conversations with my friend Hans. Life was busy, but it was a nor- mal busy and progress was slowly being made on the ‘66. I was finally able to drive the ‘66 after five years of work. Things were looking good up until August of 2019. One evening I received a very sad The SHELBY AMERICAN Date of purchase: December 7, 2019 – a day that will live in infamy, sort of. Loading it into the trailer, I still couldn’t believe it. Heading out to my first car show with 6S2339, summer 2020. Hopefully the first of many. Winter 2021 61