Chapter 7 - Rand McNally, Sam Walton, and Carroll

[nolastyankee]

The beauty of writing is that at any given time, you might just be the first person in the world to take commonly used words and put them in a unique order that has never been written or spoken before. Today is one of those days, as I am pretty sure that nobody has combined into one sentence the names of Carroll Shelby, Sam Walton with map makers Rand McNally. Of course nobody in their right mind would normally make such an association, but these three subjects are occupying a large percentage of my time lately.

But first, what about the rescue Cobra? Though I have been conspicuously absent from this forum, it has not been so much because I have been wrenching in the garage. In fact, with the exception of a mildly sanded 289 FIA shell, my garage is empty. Empty!

The garage was vacated a couple weeks back when I took the chassis and a whole pile of parts up to Green Bay for powder coating. A visit and call today indicated that I will see my components return home at the end of next week with a fresh coat of satin black.

Our 351 Windsor is at the machine shop where a friendly guy named Dave calls me every couple days with good news and a few ideas on how we can make this monster small block develop more horsepower...And even more ideas on how to lighten my checkbook. In all seriousness, the engine in the Spence car was highly suspect upon disassembly, but it turns out that the machine work was fairly decent. Inside, our friend had popped for top of the line TRW forged pistons and a fairly stout short block assembly. Combine this with some Roush heads and it looks like we will be coming home with a fresh 400 hp mill under 2K. Not bad considering that the engine was reported to be a junkyard special.

With all this activity there is not much for me to do at home these days...Except look at the map. If the Cobra project weren't exciting enough, a late Friday meeting with my boss several weeks ago has added another degree of challenge to the resto-mod...I now need to transport a fully disassembled Cobra 900 miles to my new home in Rogers, Arkansas. Sure, the nice promotion at work is making this move easier and it now looks like I'll be able to get to the Unique homecoming after all. Deep South Cobra Club, here I come!

Enter Sam Walton...Again, not normally a name that you would associate with this adventure, but I am going to represent my company by working with (and for)almighty Wal*Mart in their home town.

With the surprise of relocation fresh on our minds, my wife and I joined my parents for a long weekend in Las Vegas for valentines day...Funny that our trip should also correspond with the 2004 SAAC meet! What a lucky break! (OK, OK, no coincidence)



I have seen many Cobras and Shelby Mustangs, but the sight and sound of a loping aluminum snake is always enough to get the blood pumping. This day was no exception as real-deal CSX cars mingled with fine replicas of all makes.



As I stood snapping photos, my wife nudged me in the arm and spoke excitedly...I looked up to see the old boy himself (Carroll) walk by and head to a 70's GT500 for a signing and picture. The owner spilled words all over himself and Carroll was there to administer a tongue lashing which set the man back with a unusual stare. To paraphrase the awkward interaction, it seems that the owner tried to tell Shelby that the GT500 convert was 1 of 1 that was exported to Spain in the specific color combo, etc. The old man wasn't impressed and told the groveling owner that he imported lots of cars, and that his vehicle was nice, but not all that special. Here are the protagonists just before the 'exchange of words'.



The Vegas sun shone brightly on gleaming paint and bulging fenders. There were plenty of nice example cars which provided an abundance of paint ideas.



Back home in blustery Wisconsin, nights of wrenching h

[pgermond]

Very exciting, indeed. Did I miss something.... what's up with the crutches?

Phil

427 Roadster, #4279436
Southern Automotive FE
3:31 and Toploader

Roseville (N.Cal)

[nolastyankee]

Phil,
Noticing the crutches was very perceptive of you. This is a topic I knew that I would have to address eventually, so please don't feel awkward for bringing it up...



Although a Cobra with an automatic transmission seems like heresy to most diehards, there are occasions where it is absolutely necessary. I truly love everything about manual transmissions and have fond memories of driving them...Unfortunately I just can't manage the clutch pedal these days.

Neary five years ago now my life was very different and my garage was full of racing bicycles instead of cars. Though I have been a car nut all my life, the feel of the road under your own power on two wheels had gotten me through college and early career. While training for another racing season with some friends, a repeat offender drunk driver hit me and two others in our group. Medically speaking, I was done for but managed to live through a battery of surgeries. The result was the loss of my left leg at a pretty high level, hence the need for crutches and the automatic tranny.

Fast forward to the present, and life is good once again. There are certain advantages to being an amputee like a lifetime pass to all of the national parks, upfront parking (with extra room and fewer door dings), and shorter lines at Disney land. And I almost forgot the best of all...That tight legroom problem in a Cobra? No big deal for me, though I wouldn't recommend this solution to the general public.



This is me standing next to Carroll's personal car, CSX 3560.

Unique 9122 - 289 FIA Cobra - The Legendary "Spence" Car

[pgermond]

Damn! Now I feel like a complete idiot - I thought maybe you had a skiing accident or something. Although, you sound as though you have taken it in stride and have a very positive outlook on your life (the National Park thing ain't bad either ), and that's wonderful - You know, you can make an automatic almost act and sound like a manual transmission with some creative shifting techniques (I learned that in my mom's 383 Plymouth in high school)

We are all loving your adventure.... keep 'um coming... and good for you


Phil

427 Roadster, #4279436
Southern Automotive FE
3:31 and Toploader

Roseville (N.Cal)

[nolastyankee]

Phil,
No worries, you had no way of knowing and I wasn't volunteering that information until now. I'm just happy to be alive and have a great job, wife, family, and a fun project to share.

Unique 9122 - 289 FIA Cobra - The Legendary "Spence" Car

[WBofTN]

Great story and pics - I needed a change in attitude this a.m.
and congrats on the move to Arkansas - lots of winding roads and warm
weather in NW AR. I think you will love it.

WB

'93 Unique 427/351W/4sp

[jhaynie]

Carroll Shelby, a great visioneer, car builder, racer, developer, etc. But what a jackass.

Man I would love to visit that place and see those cars.

John

[clayfoushee]

Yankeee,

When does the novel come out? You are a very talented writer.



Clay

'98 Unique #9299, 427FE side oiler, top-loader (close), 3.31 rear

Annapolis, MD

[eliminator]

John,

I will second that on CS.

Eliminator

[TurnpikeBoy]

Well....not to defend the ol'boy, but do you guys mean to say you haven't gotten crankier as the years went by? I sure as h*ll have, and I ain't 80 yet, not by a long shot.

And - is anybody here presumptious enough to tell the Weavers that they know more/better about their car than the builders? Sounds like maybe Mr. GT500 needed a dose of reality; who better to administer it?

Yank, gotta think you must be onto a second career...your writing is just flat superb. Congrats on the move, and on the promo - and we'll be ready for your next installment when you are.

Yeehah

[Brent]

Turnpike, You have a good point, however, he is still an a$$. [B)]

Brent

[TurnpikeBoy]

<img src=images/icon_speech_yeah.gif border=0 width=29 height=15 alt=Insert Speech Icon: Yeah!>, that IS the short and long of it, Brent.

But he sure has lots of company there, doesn't he?...1 of 1 exported to Spain in that color.

Who really gives a damn? It's still just a car.

I find an immeasurably bigger accomplishment, right here, in the form of people who can do for themselves. Starting with NoLastYankee.

Yeehah

[WBofTN]

Brian:
What does NoLastYankee mean??? And will you have to change your call sign
when you arrive in AR-Kansas??
WB

'93 Unique 427/351W/4sp

[nolastyankee]

WB,
The name "Nolastyankee" is another hospital reference...When I was injured as described above I went to the hospital on a Life Flight helicopter. I had no ID upon arrival so the hospital identified me as "No last", as in no last name.

In order to distinguish between persons who arrive without identification, hospitals also add another unique word to the "No last" moniker. Similar to the naming convention for hurricanes, this goes in alphabetical order but instead uses the phoenetic alphabet. On May 16, 1999 the next available letter was "Y" and from that day forward I became known in the ER as "nolastyankee".

To this day, many of the nurses who cared for me still only know me by this call sign. Well, I suppose they recognize the crutches too.

Unique 9122 - 289 FIA Cobra - The Legendary "Spence" Car

[WBofTN]

Ah - makes perfect since now - very interesting
WB

'93 Unique 427/351W/4sp

[Silk]

Yank,

Really envious of your chance to attend SAAC. On my list of "to dos," but haven't made it yet. Thanks for posting the pics. Keep us updated on developments with Spencemobile - sounds like you're making real good progress.

Gary
Unique FIA 351W

[eliminator]

Brian,

You know it might have been nolastzebra don't you.

Eliminator

[clayfoushee]

Brian,

Worse yet, if you'd gotten there too soon, it might have been NolastX-Ray.

Keep the stories coming, and I really think you should consider developing your experiences into a book....I'm deadly serious!

Clay

'98 Unique #9299, 427FE side oiler, top-loader (close), 3.31 rear

Annapolis, MD

[nolastyankee]

As "call signs" go, I could have ended up with something much worse than yankee. Zebra, x-ray, whiskey, etc. Now keep in mind that I would have preferred to avoid this naming altogether, but that just wasn't in my hands.

I have given some thought to writing a book and there are quite a few amazing tales that came out of my days in the hospital. Even with these I don't think I have a good enough story to keep a reader interested. Besides, every yahoo who has survived a life event has written a book. Hell, Anna Nicole Smith even has a book out and she can barely write her own name. I'll wait until I have something worth writing about. Until then you guys are stuck with Cobra stories!

Hey, there's an idea...How about a new Unique builders manual?

Unique 9122 - 289 FIA Cobra - The Legendary "Spence" Car

[Mike Geddes]

Yankee
Great story about the 'spence' car, and also your drive and enthusiasm
to overcome your disability.
About 'auto' boxes....i've been running one in my 427 since I built it in 91/92...just love it.
Alan Weaver may remember this, some years back at one of the Weavers
'CobraFests' a guy turned up at the Taladaga race track with a Unique Cobra that had been modified to operate with hand controls...the young guy driving it did not have the use of either legs.....did the track course real well.....
Mike

Mike Geddes