SEMA 2004

I was pleasantly surprized to come across the Ford Shelby GR-1 (Group Racing 1) at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas in 2004. It's sexy and sleek. It is definitely inspired by the Shelby Daytona Coupe of the 1960s and packs a modern punch of more than 600 horsepower. The car is based on the chassis of the Ford GT. I want one.

The wide mouth of the Ford Shelby GR-1 definitely reminds me of the Cobra.

A nice shot of the cars very sleek and sexy lines.

The Ford Shelby GR-1 concept car was on a rotating turntable so it was easy to capture a number of great images.

The Ford Shelby GR-1 concept car looks great from every angle.

The Ford Shelby GR-1 concept car at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas in 2004. It is a great looking car and reminds of the Shelby Daytona Coupe.

I turned around to see this bright yellow original Shelby Cobra #33 as it came screaming into the parking lot.I know this car, not only from seeing it in numerous car magazines, but also because in early 2004 I was taken for a ride in this amazing car. It was my very first Cobra ride, driven by the guy you see in the photo. Can you say 0-140 miles an hour in nothing flat?

This great looking Shelby GT 500 arrived during the photo shoot. I must say, it was pretty cool hanging around the Shelby American Factory. I was more than a little star struck.

In November 2004, I dropped by the Shelby American Factory with my wife Arlene. It was late on a Saturday afternoon and I was expecting at best to be able to look through the window and hopefully see a few cars.

Needless to say, we were thrilled to see that we just stumbled upon a photo shoot of the Carroll Shelby Bike from Orange County Choppers of the hit TV series American Choppers and two Eleanor Shelby GT 500's.

As you can see there was almost no one around. I was expecting at anytime for the people from Shelby to ask us to leave or put the cameras away. They didn't and made my wife and I feel very welcome.