The Shelby American (Winter 2021)

They were used to receiving their pub- lications in their mailbox. Some openly rebelled and we could see that by reading their comments on the SAAC Forum, another example of the club’s moving one more step into the com- puter era. Others just let their mem- bership quietly expire. Over a period of two years SAAC lost about twenty- five percent of its membership. Most saw the lawsuit like a divorce, with them being asked to chose between mom or dad. Being a member of a car club was supposed to provide enter- tainment and enjoyment and the legal wrangling was delivering neither, so some just opted out. There wasn’t much we could do about that. Into this maelstrom sailed Jay and Gwenn Talbott. Jay had moved from being a “normal” club member into the inner circle of club management and operation. It wasn’t long before he was invited to join the club’s Board of Di- rectors. Jay Talbott graduated from high school in Arlington, Virginia in 1975. He came from a non-automotive fam- ily and found himself driving an unin- spiring Opel Kadett – but it beat walking. In high school he was aware of the continual feud between Ford and Chevy fans. After reading a 1969 Hot Rod Yearbook which featured an article on the Boss 302, he found him- self clearly in the Ford camp. During the summer of his second year in college he was working cutting lawns and a friend showed up with a ‘69 Shelby GT350. “What is that?” he asked. When the friend told him it was a Shelby, he thought it was the coolest car he had ever seen. He recalled that his friend had paid $4,400 for it in 1976 – about the same as it cost when it was new. Shelbys had already begun to move away from used muscle cars to appreciating classics. Talbott man- aged to scrape together $1,600 and bought a ‘70 Mustang Mach I, a three- speed powered by a 351 Cleveland en- gine. It was no Shelby but he had anted into the game. He owned the Mach I from 1975 to 1981. He and Gwenn got married in 1979 and they drove away from the wedding in the Mach I. And they drove it on their hon- eymoon. TALBOTT: It was 1979, and you re- member the gas shortage. We were on our honeymoon. I was running out of gas so we ended up stopping at a farm- ers house in Bucks County, Pennsylva- nia (we were married outside Philadelphia and we intended to hon- eymoon a little further up the Delaware River). I asked where we could get some gas. The guy called a local gas station and directed us to it. Ironically, we would end up living less than a mile from that gas station, twenty years later. We had that car until 1981. I had graduated from col- lege but by then the hook had been set. After I had seen that Shelby the summer of my second year in college I began reading the local newspaper from Harrisburg. There was a guy named Bill Collins who lived nearby and he had a ‘68 Shelby for sale. I called him up and said, “ I’ll be honest with you – I can’t afford it, but I’d love to see it. I’ve just become introduced to these cars .” In lieu of studying, I found myself hanging out with Bill Collins and his friend Tom Chisman. So I got a good introduction to Shelbys at that point. One of my highlights of those years was going to SAAC-4 in Down- ingtown, Pennsylvania in 1979. That summer I was living at college and working, and Bill Collins and I went to the convention in his ‘65 Shelby, 5006. Tom Chisman drove his ‘66 Shelby, and I can still remember to this day the two cars going down the Pennsyl- vania Turnpike, side by side. SAAC: So that was your first conven- tion. Were you a member at that time? TALBOTT: No, but I joined shortly thereafter. SAAC: Did you attend any other con- ventions? TALBOTT: Not until I bought my first Shelby. By 1987 we had our first daughter. I said to Gwenn, “ I can’t be- lieve what’s happening to the prices of these cars . I’ve always wanted a Shelby and if I don’t get one soon, I’m going to priced out of the market. I know it .” So she said, “ Then get one. ” SAAC: And at that point you knew she was a “keeper.” The SHELBY AMERICAN Winter 2021 81