This invitation was forwarded to PI from PI Member, Scott Black about the Shelby Convention:
The Shelby American Automobile Club asked me to formally invite DeTomaso owners to their annual event at California Speedway. They will provide clubs with free space to recruit members, etc., that want to to participate.
The event will have something for everyone with track time, a car show, vendors, great cars, a banquet and scheduled appearance by Shelby. I hope you guys can make it and encourage other Pantera groups to be there.
This will be a great event as thousands of enthusiasts are expected to join legend Carroll Shelby at SAAC's 30th annual national meet in the Riverside, Calif. on June 30th - July 3rd, 2005. The public is invited to attend with the faithful to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Shelby American’s World Championship and the birth of the Shelby’s based on the Ford Mustang.
"This will be the largest gathering of original Shelby Cobras, Daytona Coupes and Mustangs, as well as Ford powered super cars such as Cougars, Pantera’s, Tigers, Torino’s, Falcons and Cyclones," said SAAC National Director Rick Kopec. "Our 30th anniversary event will honor America’s first World Championship and the first Mustang based Shelby’s, which all began in Southern California 40 years ago. Mr. Shelby is scheduled to be part of this important collection of high performance cars from across the country this year."
Thousands of SAAC members will participate in exciting events such as track exhibitions, banquets, celebrity appearances and a press conference. In addition, SAAC will host a spectacular car show featuring original Shelbys including the GT40, G.T.350, G.T500 and Cobra. The G.T.500E and G.T.350SR continuation cars built by Unique Performance under the direction of Carroll Shelby will also be highlighted over the weekend.
"SAAC 30 will be the most exciting Shelby event in our history," said National Director Ken Eber. "We’re turning California Speedway into a the ultimate field of high performance cars as we pay tribute to the birth of the Shelby based Mustang and 40 years of Shelby cars. This will be a glorious way for Americans to celebrate the 4th of July and the freedom of the road."
Carroll Shelby was a motorsports legend long before Gordon, Earnhardt, Martin and NASCAR. As a racer, Sports Car Illustrated named him the "Sports Car Driver of the Year" in 1956 and 1957. When health problems prompted his retirement, he turned the same passion that had served him on the track into a quest to put the best car on the road. He blew every other sports car into the weeds with his first car, the Cobra, in 1962 from a small shop in the Los Angeles area.
In 1963, Shelby took a team of 289 Cobras to Europe and shamed Ferrari, Porsche and Jaguar on their own turf. Bob Bondurant, Dan Gurney, Ken Miles and other drivers competing for Team Shelby in 1965, won the Grand Touring World Championship. That year, Ford Motor Company asked Shelby American team to turn the Mustang into the ultimate pony car. That first car, the
G.T.350, won races on the track and pink slips on the street. The Mustang
based Shelby G.T.350 and G.T.500 were built from 1965 to 1970.
Admission for SAAC members, as well as the general public, is available at the gate or via the Internet at this http://www.saac.com.]LINK[/URL] Enthusiasts can also enjoy a traditional cruise night, open track event, vintage racing exhibition, car show, drag racing and a tour of legendary Southern California speed shops and dream car garages. The tour will make pit stops at some of the places where hot rodding was born including the SoCal Speed Shop, Blair's Speed Shop, Moon and Edelbrock. Stops will also be made at a couple of dream car
garages owned by SAAC members. This year’s cruise night will make a
special trip to Temecula.
Founded in 1975, SAAC has approximately 5,000 members in the U.S. and another 500 worldwide. The club is dedicated to the preservation, care, history and enjoyment of the Ford powered cars built by Carroll Shelby. The organization’s national convention is held in a different city each year. Additional information is available at http://www.saac.com.
I hope to see you there!
Scott Black
TimePiece Public Relations
14160 N. Dallas Pkwy
Suite 250
Dallas, TX 75254
(214) 520-3430
(214) 520-3516 fax
(214) 566-6458 cell
http://www.timepiecepr.com
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