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Don stands before the Wailing Wall with a pensive look on his usually placid facade. He is ruefully reexamining the vicissitudes of divorce visa-vie his wonder car – a 1965 Shelby 350 GT. This was not any ordinary GT – if any Shelby 350 GT could be called ordinary. This was GT serial number 003. Shelby’s 001 and 002 were balls-out race cars used by Shelby to create interest in his new project. 003 was the car that was supposed to be the “production car”. It was the beastie that every magazine took photos of, tested and wrote about. At first it was thought that 03 (as Don had it numbered when he raced) was an “R” version (R for RACING). But we will go into that part of the story later. Suffice it to say, it was glorious in its white, with two, blue racing stripes, paint job.

It was 1980 and Don was 44, living in Los Altos, married, with 3 kids, working as a crew chief of the Hydrogen Bubble Chamber at the Stanford Linear Accelerator and putting in duty, part time, selling and designing houses for his dad. He was also the President of the NorCal Region of the Shelby American Club. A year earlier he had helped a friend buy the Shelby for $4000. But an impending marriage convinced his buddy that he had to sell the GT, so Don bought it for $13,000. Lest you think Don a fool, be advised that Don’s friend put a bunch into the car and Shelby prices were taking off. It wasn’t a bad deal, as we shall soon find out.

Vintage racing was just beginning and the GT had a racing history, so Don decided to go racing. Don was getting documentation on the Shelby, converting it back to its original form, and in addition to racing, showing it at numerous Concourse d’ Elegances. One of Don’s favorite memories is taking 5th in his class at the Portland International Races on Saturday and then getting 1st in his class on Sunday at the Forest Grove Concourse after spending the night pulling weeds out of his radiator (the result of a short, off course, excursion). He also managed to pull off a 10th place finish, after starting in 15th, at the Laguna Seca Vintage Race in ‘83. What made that so satisfying was that was the year that Fords’ were the honored marquee and all of the big guns were there. It wasn’t winning that turned on Don – it was just doing it – racing was a blast. And then there were the 3 Virginia City Hill climbs – scary stuff.

But troubles came in 1988. A divorce forced the sale of the Shelby. By this time the documentation showed the true history of the car, and the GT was in original condition. It wasn’t an “R” version. It was the very first production prototype. So at the Monterey Barrett-Jackson auction that year the beastie went on the block. It sold for a record $105,000. The bummer is that half of that money went to the ex. A bigger bummer is that if the car sold now, it would go for well over $1,000,000 – and that’s a conservative estimate. But, as Don explained, it wasn’t the money; it was all of the fun racing, showing the car, learning about it’s history and all of the people he got to meet – including Carroll Shelby. Yeah, was a blast having your foot in it, drifting sideways through a turn, hearing that engine doing its thing – loudly - and the race still a week away. Oh yeah! That’s fun! But times have changed and as Don said, “What I really love now is what I’m doing with the Roamin’ Angels and my angel, Marty. Happiness is more important than objects.” Hey Don, you don’t need the Wailing Wall – you got it together! Alright!

‘at the Wailing Wall’ is a new column extolling the car memories of the hot rod enthusiast. This month’s story was written by George Paige. Contact George at 273-0415 to have him tell your tale or write your own story to share.

‘at the Wailing Wall’ is a new column written by George P. Contact George at 273-0415 to have him tell your tale.

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