Automobile Club Shelby Life Article Volume 43, Article 8 September 16, 2018

SAAC-MCR “AJ Foyt - A Legendary Exhibition Text by Steve White and photos by Steve White & Rich Tweedle

Sunday September 16, 2018 turned out to be a perfect day to drive out to the Gilmore Museum, with nary a cloud in the sky that I remember, & temps in the mid 80's. A group of us - Phil Jacobs (red '07 Mustang GT), Glen "Oscar" Madison & Sharon (black '65 Mustang GT), Rich Tweedle (blue Mustang 4-door Fusion), Chuck Griffiths (blue '85 ASC McLaren), Tim Tomezak (black '13 Boss 302 LS), Dave & Sally (?) of Canton in their blue '08 Shelby GT, & of course Steve & Cathy White ('16 Shelby GT350) met at the rest area along I-94 west of Chelsea & cara- vanned out. Scott Adams, & his lady friend & her "teenaged" grandson pulled in to the rest area, unbe- knownst to us, just as we were leaving, & were deluged by a group of friendly bikers & were asking all sorts of ques- tions about his blue '14 GT 500 that he just couldn't politely ignore, so they became separated for the group, but caught up to us at the museum. Later Tim Young & his faithful sidekick in his '68 red fastback met up with us, & shortly af- ter Bill Kidwell rolled up in his blue '66 Shelby GT350.

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AJ Foyt at Gilmore

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The motivation for a return visit to Gilmore was to catch the AJ Foyt exhibit be- fore it ended at the end of September, after being on display since May. AJ was sponsored by the Gilmore Broadcasting Company for much of his career, & hence the (brotherly) connection to the museum. After everyone had about 2 hours around the museum & to grab lunch, we met back in front of the diner for a group photo. Then the group was treated by the "First Family" to ice cream - but not before a trivia question was posed.

Being a Shelby Club, the trivia question was to link AJ Foyt to Shelby, so the question was "What was the connection between Foyt & Carroll?". I fully expected someone say both & AJ Foyt were LeMans winning drivers (Carroll in '59 & AJ in '67). While technically correct - not the answer I was looking for. Of course any Shelby aficionado would know that AJ drove the win- ning GT40 Mark IV, with co-driver , on the team managed by Carroll Shelby & pre-

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A Legendary Exhibition (Continued)

(Continued from page 2) pared by Shelby American. Chuck Griffiths was the first to come up with the answer, & received a 1:18 diecast of the winning Mark IV!

I had intended to supply a couple of quotes about winning the '67 LeMans race from the book "SHELBY GT40" by Dave Friedman, to have been shared at the trivia award presentation, but as usual I ran out of time to prepare. So I'd like to provide them now:

AJ: "Did I win the Rookie of the Year award?"

Dan Gurney: "I was very proud of our all- American victory because nobody expected Foyt & me to finish, much less win. We were voted "Least Likely to Succeed."

John Collins (Foyt/Gurney crew chief): "No one wanted to be associated with this car in the be- ginning. All of the Ford people thought we'd never finish. As the race wore on and it became evident that we were going to win, they all came flocking to our pit."

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AJ Foyt at Gilmore

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Carroll: "The greatest race that Dan Gurney or A.J. Foyt ever drove was when they won LeMans in 1967. By the time they finished practice for that race, the goddamned car was a disaster. They had both made so many changes on the car that the son of a bitch wouldn't even go down the Mulsanne Straight, Gurney and Foyt were both fiddle fudders and they couldn't keep their damn hands off the car. When practice and qualifying were over, I told the crew to take it back to the garage, put it on the base plate, and set it up like it was we tested it at Riverside, & f*@k it, let 'em drive it that way in the race. Of course, they did, and we all know the result."

As the afternoon continued, some participants went back to look at more of the different museum buildings, others had to leave for personal schedules, & others continued to (park) bench race under the shade trees. Several participants who had never been there were blown away with museum, as all of us were on our first visit, & continue to be with each visit (I'm up to 5 now) to see what's new.

Overall a great experience for everyone!

Every time we visit Gilmore, there's always a "Where's Waldo?" search for Paul Rebman's 427 Cobra! (Continued on page 5) Volume 43, Article 8 Page 5

A Legendary Exhibition (Continued)

(Continued from page 4) A partial glimpse at the A.J. Foyt hall

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AJ Foyt at Gilmore

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A Legondary Exhibition (Continued)

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The third of three prototype mules used in develop- ment of the '67-68 GT500 line-up, & the only one that was a fastback. The Green Hornet & the recently discov- ered Little Red, were both hardtops.

Shelby American Automobile 2018 SAAC-MCR Club Officers Club—Motor City Region President: Steve White (248) 363-0731 [email protected]

Dedicated the preservation, care, history and Vice President: Ed Ludtke (734) 604-3818 ENJOYMENT of the automobiles manufactured by [email protected] Shelby American and , as well as all Ford Powered Vehicles Secretary: Cathy White (248) 363-0731 [email protected]

Monthly SAAC-MCR Meetings, Treasurer: Craig Shefferly (248) 698-8825 First Thursday of every month, [email protected] 7:00 pm at; Pasquale’s, 31555 Woodward Ave., Events: Royal Oak, MI 48073 National News: John Guyer (989) 588-0424 Newsletter Editor: John Guyer Phone : (989) 588-0424 [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Membership: Rich Tweedle (586) 791-0279 Technical Editor: John Logan [email protected] Editor: John Guyer (989) 588-0424 [email protected] Tech Exchange & Competition: Phil Jacobs We’re on the Web! (248) 703-7766 www.saac-mcr.com [email protected]

2018 Calendar of Events

October 4 2019 Events Monthly Meeting at Pasquale’s 13 Snakes in the Grass at Canterbury Village. 9:00 am. Plan to attend Monthly Meetings to help 2369 Joslyn Ct. Lake Orion, MI 48360. I-75 guide our club. Possible change in location. Exit 83. North on Joslyn Rd. 3 miles to Joslyn Ct. Holiday Party in January?

October 14 Winter Swap Meet in February. Fall Color Tour. Hidden Lakes Botanical Gardens in Tipton, MI. Lunch. The Carroll Show & Go 44 in June. Collection in Jackson, MI. SAAC44 Nation Convention November 1 July 11-13, 2019 At Pittsburgh International Monthly Meeting at Pasquale’s. Race Complex.

December 6 Labor Day Classic Open Track Event. Monthly Meeting at Pasquale’s Restaurant 31555 Woodward Ave. (North of 13 Mile Rd.) Harvest Happening in October. Trans Am Royal Oak, MI 48073 Pizza ($10) at 7:00pm Fantacy?

Meeting at 8:00pm.