If you are a fan of the Shelby Cobra and the other Shelby and Ford products, you’ll be wanting to mark April 19-21, 2011 on your calendar. That’s the weekend that the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum will be hosting the premier Shelby gathering in the country in conjunction with a 50th anniversary Shelby Cobra exhibit in the museum.
There will be Cobras, other Shelby Fords, and ton of other non-Shelby Ford products on display, but the real kicker is the fact that the long defunct Pomona road course that was last run in the 1960s will be revived for the weekend and laps will be made with historic cars. This promises to be a really bitchin’ event.
The first Shelby Cobra was hand built in Dean Moon’s shop. Funny thing is that the car was repainted multiple times as Shelby sent it around to various magazines and gave them the impression that he had a whole fleet of Cobras when he in fact had…one!
This event will draw out some of the coolest and most historic Shelbys and Fords in the country. If you bleed blue ovals, you need to be in LA this April!
Here’s the release from the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum –
POMONA, Calif. – The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum announces the premier Ford-Cobra-Shelby Reunion with an exhibit honoring the 50th Anniversary of the Cobra and a weekend of related events. The Ford-Cobra-Shelby Reunion is a 3-day fun fest for all Ford and Ford-powered vehicles, including GT40s and GTs as well as all Shelby vehicles. The Ford-Cobra-Shelby Reunion is scheduled for April 19-21, 2012, and most events will be centered at the Museum.
“We’ve wanted to celebrate the Cobra for a number of years.” Said Parks Museum executive director Tony Thacker, “The first car was assembled right here in So-Cal at Dean Moon’s shop in Santa Fe Springs and, in 2012, the dates align for an exciting inaugural Ford-Cobra-Shelby Reunion-the first of many because there are reasons to celebrate for many years to come: the Cobra Coupe, The Shelby Mustang; the GT40 to name but a few.
The list of activities is still being developed but will include:
Cobra’s 50th Anniversary Exhibit
A banquet honoring Carroll Shelby
Panel Discussion
Show N Shine
3 days of open track on the vintage Pomona Road Race course (1956-’63)
The annual Fabulous Fords Forever
Mid America Ford and Shelby Nationals are proud sponsors of the Open Track portion of Ford-Cobra-Shelby Reunion. Mid America has been successfully organizing Shelby-focused events since 1974 and track events since 1977. The historic Pomona Road Race Course will be an amazing step back in time. The track has remained the same since operations from 1956 to ’63. Dan Gurney, Max Balchowsky, Carroll Shelby are just some of the distinguished drivers who raced on the historic course. Dave MacDonald won there in Cobra #97 in 1963. Proceeds benefit the Parks Museum and the Carroll Shelby Foundation.
“We’re extremely excited about this event,” continued Thacker. “The opportunity to incorporate the Parks Museum and the various facilities here at Fairplex So-Cal is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time. There are also high-performance driving schools here, a superb Sheraton hotel and, of course, Auto Club Raceway at Pomona-one of the world’s most famous dragstrips. Put it all together with the Fabulous Fords Forever scheduled for Sunday, April 22, and you have the ingredients for a truly memorable event.”
Vendor and Event Registration Forms are available on the Museum’s web page, http://museum.nhra.com/apcm/templates/general.asp?articleid=676&zoneid=41&navsource=reunions
Sponsorship opportunities are available, contact the Tony Thacker at 909-622-3454 or email [email protected].
For more information call: the Museum at 909-622-3389 or Lynne Rose at 714.771.4499
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
