ARRC Riverside 1968 - Shelby GT350R #23
Added 2024-04-27 23:18:17 +0000 UTCThe winningest Shelby on record.
Charlie Kemp raced this 1965 GT350R (SFM5R538) to a record 17 consecutive wins in 1968 and 1969.
Completed on November 10, the race-ready Shelby was made available for purchase and subsequently ordered eight days later by Treadway Ford Inc., in Mobile, Alabama. In early 1966, SFM5R538 was purchased by its first owner, Birmingham resident Roger West. The sale included other associated racing pieces and a second set of wheels, which brought the total to just over $6,200. Within weeks of taking delivery, West began racing it in B/Production throughout the Southeast. A year later, West entered the 24 Hours of Daytona with Donnie Allison, and the 12 Hours of Sebring with Allison and Joseph Ausburn. Though the Shelby didn't officially finish either endurance event, as the rest of the 1967 season unfolded West was honored as SCCA Southeast Divisional Champion. Shortly after, West offered the Shelby for sale, reportedly in part to take delivery of a new GT40.
SAAC records state that established racer Simon Charles "Charlie" Kemp purchased West’s G.T.350R in December 1967 from Foreign Car Center in Birmingham, Alabama, at the cost of $4,600, which included a stash of spare racing parts. Kemp was then introduced to mechanic Pete Hood and the pairing would yield a fruitful outcome. Renumbered 23, the Shelby cemented its legacy over the course of 54 starts through 1971, of which it finished 42 with ease, amassing 32 race victories in the process. Most notable were its 17 consecutive wins between 1968 and 1969. Also during 1968, Kemp hit a top speed of 184 mph during a race at Daytona; this has since been accepted as the highest speed ever achieved by any 289-cu.in. equipped Shelby - Mustang or Cobra - at a sanctioned closed-course race. To keep pace with the competition during Kemp's ownership, the Shelby was reportedly modified throughout the era according to the rules and methods then popular, yet it retained the majority of its special Shelby components.
The livery aims to represent the car at a 1968 ARRC race at Riverside.
Info by Hemmings.com
