Shelby American Automobile Club National Convention 25

I had sidled up to the hotel bar, relaxing after a long but pleasant day at the track, when in strolled Carroll Shelby, looking trim and fit and shaking a few hands on the way before joining a couple of friends already seated at a table. His mere presence created a palpable tingle among the patrons in the room. To their credit, all respected the man’s privacy.

It occurred to me that, were it not for that lanky, silver-haired Texan engaged in animated conversation with his tablemates, most in the room would have had no reason to be there at all. For, like me, they were gathered in the rugged northwestern corner of Connecticut to partake of the Shelby American Automobile Club National Convention 25 at Lime Rock Park.

To us, the term “national convention” sounds just a little too formal; maybe “national festival” would be more descriptive, because SAAC’s big annual gathering is to Ford fanatics what the original Woodstock festival was to ’60s hippies: an absolute orgy of sights and sounds. As beautiful as it was to see the unmatched collection of Shelby GTs, Cobras, vintage Trans Am racers, and GT40s in attendance at this year’s anniversary event, it was even more of a blast to hear them thundering around Lime Rock’s 1.53-mile road course—doing precisely what they were built to do so many years ago. Four of SAAC-25’s five days were devoted to track-oriented activities, culminating in a trio of 12-lap races, one for Cobras, one for GT350s, ’65 to ’70 Trans Am cars, and Tigers; and the third for those magnificent, omnipotent GT40s.

But SAAC also draws a large contingent of street and show cars, and the Lime Rock community restriction on starting unmuffled race engines on Sunday was the perfect excuse to use the race course itself as a one-day show field. Thus, fully two-thirds of the track was covered in some of the finest high-performance Fords on the continent. With absolutely ideal weather, spectators poured in, milled around the machinery, and perused a large vendors’ area and swap meet where the only limit on what could be had was the limit on the credit card.

For SAAC registrants, the day doesn’t end when the sun goes down. This year’s Saturday night banquet was attended not only by Mr. Shelby himself, but also by a whole raft of his original Shelby American team members. As you can imagine, with this many hard-core racers/fabricators/crew on hand, it was a very colorful soirée that lasted until well after midnight.

If you’ve never been to an SAAC convention, put one on your “must do” list for next year. You never know who you might cross paths with in the host-hotel bar.