JIM SLAVEN’S 1969 SHELBY GT 500

I was sitting by my ‘90 T-Bird super coupe when an older gentleman walked up to say “Nice car” to me. I thanked him, and he asked me if I would be interested in a trade. I asked him what he had, and he replied “A Shelby GT 500.” I said “Yeah, probably.” He gave me his card, and I told him I would try to come and see it the next weekend. Two weeks later I phoned him and told him I was coming to look at his car. As I left the interstate and was going down back roads of Arkansas, I was wondering what kind of surprise I was in for. All of a sudden at the top of the hill there was a big building and a sign that read “Matthews Mustangs”. I got out of my car and went into the office and saw Mr. Matthews sitting there. He got up and said “Follow me.” We walked down this long hallway to a door that opened to a large warehouse. When he unlocked the door and turned on the light, there it was: A 1969 GT 500 Shelby. Not only one, but two, side by side. We walked over to them, and he said “You can have your pick, the red one or the blue one.” One was Nbr 511 and the one next to it was Nbr 512. He told me both had been sitting there for a little over 10 years. Needless to say, a little while later I was loading Nbr 511 on my trailer. All the way back to Oklahoma people would drive along side the trailer and then go zooming by with either a honk of the horn or a thumbs up. She looked pretty good for her age, but was ready for a restoration. After several weeks I decided to try to do it myself. A friend of mine had a body shop in Hennessey, so I took her up there and started dismantling her. Not being well educated on the art of resto, as I took off all the parts I just put them in boxes. The next thing I knew, I had boxes stacked up darn near to the ceiling. As I ripped out the old carpets under the passenger seat, I found the original build sheet. We checked the Nbrs and everything matched. About 9 months later she was finally finished, and I took her to the Shelby and Mustang show in Tulsa. I was a little nervous because she was up against 12 other Shelbys in her class. At the award ceremony she took first place. I think as I went up to the trophy, I had tears in my eyes, I was in such a shock. A couple of months later I took her out to Las Vegas for the SAAC Shelby meet there. At the racetrack she ran like crazy, leaving all those little Cobras in the dust. That was a great experience. Later Carroll Shelby came over and sat in the passenger seat and autographed the dash next to the lock and both sun visors. As he got out, he shook my hand and said “That’s one fine 69.” It has really been a highlight of my life to be able to show her off and talk to the many enthusiasts in the Mustang world!!
                                                         

Carroll Shelby autographing the dash as Jim looks on.            A Shot of the autographed dash. The sun visors are
                                                                                                     autographed also.