[ale] Carroll Shelby

[Drifter]

Back in the mid-60s I had one of the best possible part-time jobs for a 
teen-aged car nut.  I was a delivery driver for the only dealer in town 
that sold really exotic cars.  He was the only dealer for Jags, Porsches,
and Rolls and also the only car dealer with the mechanics to repair other 
exotic European cars -- think Italian. Got to drive the first e-Jags 
(basically detuned race cars with a street-legal exhaust system), as well 
as Maserati GTs, Porsches, and rally-prepped Opels, Saabs and the like.  
Wonderful Job!  Didn't pay squat, but the memories were worth it.

One afternoon I was tasked with delivering one of the early Shelby Cobras 
-- the original one with the 289 Ford stuffed inside the Ace Bristol 
chassis (aluminum body).  The damn thing had an AM radio as I remember -- 
but you could only hear it at idle while waiting for the light to turn 
green.  The acceleration "curve" of that car was essentially flat from 30 
mph to 130 mph. I snuck around the traffic cones onto a new (but unopened) 
stretch of interstate and punched it.  When I chickened out and backed off, 
the car was still accelerating like crazy at 150 mph (indicated).

Sean

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On Monday, May 21, 2012 01:11:52 pm Jim Kinney wrote:
> On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 1:05 PM, Geoffrey Myers 
> > wrote:
> > 

> I rode on the back of a motorcycle on Peachtree St. My driving friend
> popped a wheelie when the light turned green. I think we went from 10th
> to 14th at warp factor 2. It took nearly 3 seconds for my scream to
> catch back up to us. I walked back to my car at 10th shaking like a
> leaf in a hurricane. I have a distinct recollection of things going
> past us so fast that only directly in front was not a blur. We may
> have been close to causing a traffic light to blue shift.
> 
> This same friend drove a Dodge Charger. Fast. Very, very F*$&ing FAST!
> There was a straight stretch of road he particularly liked because it
> was flat except for a single drop in height of about 3 inches over
> maybe 20 feet then flat again. At 120mph the car would catch air over
> that dip. His girlfriend at the time was totally not paying attention
> and the dip scared her so much she wet her pants and the car seat
> which had just been re-upholstered that day :-}.  He slowed down with
> her in the car from then on.
> 
> > --
> > Until later, Geoffrey
> > 
> > "I predict future happiness for America if they can prevent
> > the government from wasting the labors of the people under
> > the pretense of taking care of them."
> > - Thomas Jefferson
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