- Messages
- 14
I was a Ford kid in a sea of Chevy kids as a teen.
My friends came by one day, they were all excited.
They wouldn't say anything, but grabbed me by the arm and walked me down 105 st 1 mile west in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood, where I saw my first Shelby GT350, being washed by it's owner.
We sat on the curb in awe and stared at a car I never thought I'd never see on the street.
I vowed there and then that I would some day own one.
11 years later, I own a gas station and have a customer with a 1966 GT350 (sn#6S427). He vowed to never sell it, but succumbed to the van craze, so I got my Shelby.
I drove my Shelby, hot rod every day, Bought and built a '66 Mustang SCCA road racer and tried my hand at road racing. I had my fun, but found stock cars to be much more rewarding (Raceway Park, Blue Island, IL) so I sold my cars and built another stock car ('69 Holman-Moody 429 Mercury Cyclone)
Years later I missed my Shelby and was regretting selling it. My co-worker said "I sold my boat", my friend bought it. I just have to wait until he sells his car. I asked what he had, " Sunbeam Tiger", he said.
I bought it over the phone and picked it up the next day.
My Tiger was a second owner car(?) he bought from a college professor in MO (or Kansas), it sat outdoors, top leaked, interior shot and some floor pan holes......... but I got it running and drove it around the Drivers Ed lot, tires smoking and sparks flying (studded snow tires).
I pulled the car in my shop and started a complete gutting.
A month or so later I contracted a body shop to do the repairs and paint. I bought a ton of restoration parts and started at the trunk.
I did a lot of research and bought a 1985 302 Mustang engine.
I was ready to move along with my resto, when I got the news. I lost my high school teaching job due to a new Principal with new ideas.
It's 13 years later and I have now begun to finish (with your help) the restoration I started so long ago.
If one of you owned the GT350 in Roseland, around 105th Street and South Park Ave or you were the Tiger owner that frequented my Union 76 station in Markham, IL and sold me tire repair supplies, drop me a note and say hello. You influenced my life.
My friends came by one day, they were all excited.
They wouldn't say anything, but grabbed me by the arm and walked me down 105 st 1 mile west in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood, where I saw my first Shelby GT350, being washed by it's owner.
We sat on the curb in awe and stared at a car I never thought I'd never see on the street.
I vowed there and then that I would some day own one.
11 years later, I own a gas station and have a customer with a 1966 GT350 (sn#6S427). He vowed to never sell it, but succumbed to the van craze, so I got my Shelby.
I drove my Shelby, hot rod every day, Bought and built a '66 Mustang SCCA road racer and tried my hand at road racing. I had my fun, but found stock cars to be much more rewarding (Raceway Park, Blue Island, IL) so I sold my cars and built another stock car ('69 Holman-Moody 429 Mercury Cyclone)
Years later I missed my Shelby and was regretting selling it. My co-worker said "I sold my boat", my friend bought it. I just have to wait until he sells his car. I asked what he had, " Sunbeam Tiger", he said.
I bought it over the phone and picked it up the next day.
My Tiger was a second owner car(?) he bought from a college professor in MO (or Kansas), it sat outdoors, top leaked, interior shot and some floor pan holes......... but I got it running and drove it around the Drivers Ed lot, tires smoking and sparks flying (studded snow tires).
I pulled the car in my shop and started a complete gutting.
A month or so later I contracted a body shop to do the repairs and paint. I bought a ton of restoration parts and started at the trunk.
I did a lot of research and bought a 1985 302 Mustang engine.
I was ready to move along with my resto, when I got the news. I lost my high school teaching job due to a new Principal with new ideas.
It's 13 years later and I have now begun to finish (with your help) the restoration I started so long ago.
If one of you owned the GT350 in Roseland, around 105th Street and South Park Ave or you were the Tiger owner that frequented my Union 76 station in Markham, IL and sold me tire repair supplies, drop me a note and say hello. You influenced my life.