As I creeped along towards the gates of Beech Bend Raceway Park for my first day at the NMRA All-Ford World Finals, I was already feeling out how things were going to turn out, and it could be summed up in one word: Mustang. Not to discount the other Fords that were there, but tons upon tons of Ford’s ubiquitous pony car were pouring into the park, and I was starting to get the sensation that this was going to be a late-model geekfest. Again, not discounting that…twelve-second EcoBoost Mustangs, plenty of 9-second V8 stuff on hand and some trick rides in the show and shine area would make for some nice viewing, but would it be all the same?

Before I could answer myself, the sound of old-school power started to fill the cabin of the Chrysler. It wasn’t particularly loud, but after hearing a bunch of Mod motors with Flowmasters, the sound stood out, and within seconds I saw, in person, one of my top ten dream cars, period: a late Shelby GT500, packing a 428. Oh, dear mother, I was sold. While most people (and Hollywood, it seems) tends to prefer the 1967-68 Shelby Mustang, my personal favorite is the 1969-70 version. I can’t explain why that well, except to say that it is the one Shelby Mustang that actually looks seriously removed from the standard car. It looks different enough to warrant a new name, unlike the others, where they visually looked like a hot-rodded Mustang. With only 3,294 cars converted to Shelby specification and just over 1,500 GT500 coupes made in the 1969-70 run, I had to chase it down, and I made a mental note to do just that. Even with the weather out, the GT500 was drawing a crowd, with cameraphones flying out and people looking down the body lines. Even after well over four decades, the Shelby is still a visual knockout. Those that know look the car over carefully. Those that don’t…especially younger kids…ask tons of questions.

The car belongs to Jason McDaniel, and was purchased by his father Donnie in 1973 for the paltry sum of $800. The Shelby was already pretty tired, even for just being a couple of years old: one fender had been bashed in and the 428 was making bad noises. Some engine rehabilitation was performed immediately and the car was cleaned up and driven for a bit. After a while the elder McDaniel took the Shelby off of the road to prepare for the restoration that the snake deserved. Unfortunately, not everything happens at the speed that we want it to, and such was the case for the Shelby, which wound up in an old barn for a while until the late 1980s, when the GT500 was brought back into the daylight for a serious, full-on restoration.

As soon as the restoration was complete, the McDaniels started attending some of the larger car shows and quickly realized that the land of the 100 point restorations was not something they wanted to be a part of. Trailering the car, the unbelievable amount of detail work and lack of actually driving the car sucked the fun out of having the Shelby in the first place. So they started bringing the GT500 out to cruises and local shows and found it much more enjoyable…we are going out on a limb here, but we’re willing to bet that standing on the loud pedal of a 428 might have had some influence in that decision. They got the bug to attend the first NMRA event in Bowling Green in 1998 when the entered the car show simply for the better parking and got an excellent reception from everyone, and have attended every year since except one. According to Jason, “It started out just my dad and me but two of my sons come with us now. It’s a tradition we look forward to all year. Dad’s Shelby and my ’66 Fairlane have such big parts of our lives. Lots of father, son and grandson quality time spent rubbing on that car.”

Now that you have the story of the Shelby, I should probably explain what it’s like to meet one of your heroes in person. The car behaves just like a well-tuned car from 1969 should: turn the key, and the engine spins for a beat before lighting off with no drama or smoke. The 428 is smooth here, with a light cam and an exhaust note that has intent without screaming about it. Unfortunately, that has always been a knock against the big Shelbys: they were luxury cars compared to prior versions. If you want a good comparison, the 1965 Shelby G.T. 350 is like a teenaged gang member with a baseball bat, whereas this GT500 is like a man in a business suit holding a blackjack…there’s refinement, but there is still plenty of violence on tap if the moment dictates it. The paint is gorgeous and belies the fact that this is an older restoration. Every factory sticker is present, nothing looks out of place and the car looks ready to either hit the leaf-lined backroads or to head over to NCM for a few laps. The lines are gorgeous…I could study this car for hours…and while Shelby fans might not give this version as much love as the priors, I don’t care. It’s that good.