Jim Elliott's Page

I bought this car as from it's 93 year old original owner back in 2001. I knew I couldn't afford to buy a real Shelby, so I did what I could to build a clone. Over the next 6 years, I did all the work myself. The only thing I didn't do was assemble the engine, I had to sell off some car parts to buy a crate motor. I stripped the car down to a bare body shell in my own home garage, and by reading books and watching every how-to show on tv, I learned to do the bodywork and paint myself. To save money, I bought anything and everything off ebay. I joke about my car being built from other people's cast-off parts, but it's true. The wheels came off ebay, from a guy whose son didn't like them. The reproduction Shelby nose and hood were factory seconds that couldn't pass quality control, so I got them cheaper. The carbs were bought off ebay from a guy who couldn't get his car to run right with them. They sit on a 2-fours intake that I actually borrowed from a freind. The Shelby valve covers were bought used off ebay, then bead-blasted and painted. I was given a stack of '67 Cougar taillights that a freind found in another freinds barn. He was going to throw them away but gave them to me instead so I could see if I could make them work. Out of the eight he gave me, I found two useable buckets and one lens, I bought another lens off (you guessed it) ebay. To offest costs, I sold all the original Mustang parts I didn't need, like the headlights, grille, side vents and such, and while that helped, I still came up short. I originally planned to install a 5 speed trans, new suspension, a rack and pinion conversion and discs all around, but that's gonna have to wait. I got it running just in time to enter it in a local car show and managed to get a second place trophy in my class, competing with some pretty nice pro-built cars. But the real fun is driving the car with my 8 year old son and my wife. To me, that's what cars like this are for, enjoying the whole experience as a family.
That's all well and good, but why did I enter in the "Crown My Car" contest? At my first car show, I got a second place trophy, and only winners got their picture taken. I visited the photographer later and asked her to take a picture of my car. Her husband asked how I did, and I proudly told him I got a second, and I did everything myself, so I was thrilled. He congratulated me, but then said something I will never forget. He told me that second was good enough, after all, you can't compete with pro-built cars. I don't agree with that at all. I truly beleive in my ability and sense of proportion, and if I had the extra money to finish the car as it deserves to be finished, I could compete with any pro-built car in my class. So how about it? Wanna help me? Thanks for the opportunity, Jim