Superstars and Stripes: A stroll through the Shelby American Collection

[Hagerty]

Seasoned car enthusiasts are a tricky bunch to excite. When you've spent your whole life futzing around high-profile automobiles, attending shows, participating in auctions, and going out of your way to experience or even just catch a glimpse of the best cars that the world has to offer, you can become jaded.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/superstars-and-stripes-a-stroll-through-the-shelby-americ...

[Flashman]

Impressive cars, impressive museum, impressive number of errors: "...endurance program was shuddered."; "...are on display curtesy of the..."; "...Depending on who you ask..."; "Delivery Flacon"; "Beautifully complimenting...". And probably others.

And was the "...2.0-liter six-cylinder found in the base Ace..." a WWI-era engine or WWII?

[AlexSommers]

Trusted the Grammarly too much on this one. "Shuddered" is actually kind of funny, but it shouldn't have made the final cut. Apologies to our readers!

WWI is accurate, the original Ace engine was already more than 30-years old (it was designed in 1919) when AC brought the car to market after WWII.

Thanks for reading!

[Camarojoe]

Not a Ford guy at all but HOLY S>>>! what an awesome set of historic vehicles.

[Humblejoy]

That is what I was thinking. Some, like the GLHS, CSX ('87 and '89) and the '88 CSX-T, were all made in the Whittier factory and are just as much, if not more so, a real Shelby as these are. Too bad, that would really make it a complete collection.

[tcchuck2005]

How did this collection come to be? It's amazing.

[JEL395]

Agree, would be another great story to share. Perfect idea

[Todd_Z]

Lots and lots of money! Hard work and vision from the Miller family and others.

[Buzz]

I shutter to think of what the entire collection is worth. 😉

Seriously though, that’s got to be one of the best collections on the planet. They really need to let me take that zero-mile GT out for a few years and break it in for them. On a more serious note, I always wondered what the word “SAC” in “cul-de-sac” stood for.

[Flashman]

cul-de-sac is French and means literally, the bottom of the bag.

[Scary]

Fantastic collection and great story. Would have liked to see any Daytona coupes if there were any. Next time I am in the Boulder Co. area I will be visiting that place if they allow visitors.

[DMcC]

A coupe appeared at 1st Saturday cruise night in nearby Golden couple years back - no idea if a repop, probably, or not.

[fotogmike]

The Daytona coupe that won its class at LeMans is in the collection.

[bblhed]

What about the Shelby Daytona's that Dodge put out, is there no place for them here? Asking for a friend.

[Goes2fast]

I had the pleasure of touring the museum a few years ago as part of the Colorodan's Rod Run and while I was there they fired up the blue GT40 and the sounds from that car were the most incredible I have ever heard and I have spent considerable time at many race tracks.

[Fatcat321]

Great collection of Carroll Shelby's most important creations. Also on display is GT104, once belonging to friend Greg Lonberger. Unfortunately, Greg died before he could finish the work. He was a talented craftsman, as I watched him restore a Cobra 427SC that had been wrecked and literally rolled up into a ball. He straightened every piece, including the aluminum body. To show off his work, he ran the car for several years in bare polished aluminum. Not a single sign of how badly the body had been crumpled was evident. About 1985, Greg brought the car to a vintage race event I was chairing at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. On the Saturday practice, he spun in turn four and backed the car into the tire barrier, and pushed in the right rear fender. After dinner that night, he went back to the motel and straightened the damage using a soft leather mallet and a piece of a 2x4. At the Sunday morning tech-in, the car looked as perfect as it had the morning before.

[Gary_Bechtold]

Very cool collection. If I had known this was around last time I was in Colorado I would have visited this place. So cool.

The Ford Falcon Sedan Delivery is a nice oddball. Though it looks more of a shooting brake or coupe-wagon thing to me. I'll take it!

[Humblejoy]

Great collection, but it is missing some critical Shelby Dodge cars. Some cars like the GLHS, CSX ('87 and '89) and the '88 CSX-T, were all made in the Whittier factory and are just as much, if not more so, a real Shelby as these are. Too bad, that would really make it a complete collection.

[MustangJim]

Thanks for bringing that to us, wish it was closer to the northeast.

[Goes2fast]

There are lots of other reasons to visit Colorado. take a nice vacation road trip, you will love it!

[jakay11]

I live about a 5min walk from this place - it only took me a month or two before my first visit (unpacking and all). They have a great party Sept 26th this year (My first year I went before covid and was talking to this nice guy about parents and cars - He was Shelby's son (go Figure!)
If you're ever in the area, go visit. There is a brewery (7 actually) near by - Avery for those who don't care about cars. The people there are passionate and will happily tell you stories behind the cars.
My own personal story: I donated a GT350 limited slip that my dad had for his '64.5 fastback, which was totaled long before I was born. You can see some of the parts in the racing corner.

[SJ]

AWESOME!!!!!!

[Iso_Grifo]

Eh, not a bad car collection. It's okay. I've seen worse.

[Tinkerah]

Jeepers this has to be among the most, if not the most valuable dollar value per square foot room anywhere. According to a superficial Google query sinkholes are rare in Colorado but considering what's at stake I say a test bore is justified.

Also: I'm gratified that real writers, not just me, can use "futzing".

[buellerdan]

....."and some no-name schlub named Mario Andretti at the helm."

I understand that Mr. Andretti is inquiring as to your whereabouts, Alex.

[A-Snake]

Unfortunately the author of the story on the Shelby American Collection is perpetuating a couple urban legends. CSX2000 was not painted many colors for the press to believe there were more cars built. CSX2000 was first presented in bare aluminum. It was then paint yellow for the NY auto show. And finally painted the present blue. There are no known photos of the car in any other color.
The Prefix of CSX does not stand for Carroll Shelby Experimental. 'C' was for the third generation of the Ace. A for Ace, B for Bristol and C for Cobra. 'S' did stand for Shelby and 'X' stood for export. A Cobra built for the UK (RHD) was a COB and ones built for Europe in LHD were COX. This is explained in the SAAC World Registry of Cobras.

[coop]

Awesome cars - the ACs ,Cobras and GT40s. (And for sentimental reasons - any Falcon). Wonder if January's Marshall fire, just 6 miles due south, gave them pause? At least, they are just across the Diagonal, (2 mi.) from the Reservoir

[JeffH13]

It may be sacrilegious to say but I think the new GT is ugly, especially from behind. The 2005 model was the best, modernizing the original design.
The Daytona is my favorite car in the collection.

[richreolee]

Yes, very impressive, and more info that I was not aware of. As a collector and parts chaser "Rich's Go Fer Parts", I had a few Mustangs in our collection.