[RickM]

Recently I closed the deal on a 1984 Shelby Charger that had been mentioned in Shelby Times #4 in 1986. On page 35 there was an article and two photos of the car once owned by Bill McPeak of Central Florida.

I had discovered the car 6 years ago at a buy here-cry here lot in Apopka but at the time the car had a price tag of $6k. With 2 car payments already under my belt I didn't have the available funds to pull off buying the car.

Back then I had made contact with Dave at Positive Impressions who quickly narrowed down the previous owner of the car based on the unique license plate attached to the front which read Shelby Dodge Club, Jacksonville.

Dave pointed me towards Mr McPeak who had confirmed it was indeed his old car which he purchased new for his wife back in 84 and also made mention that the car now had a 2.5 and a 3800 stall converter for a little extra kick.

When I looked at the car 6 years ago it was looking at a time capusle. At the time it had just over 40k garage kept miles and it sported a Direct Connection valve cover, louvers and a odd accessory Mopar radio. The grey interior was spotless and the paint was near showroom perfect.

Well a few years went by and in my travels around Orlando I stumbled on the car once again.....at another buy here-cry here lot. This time the car was looking a little sad, the paint was failing and from the road the body had a couple noticable dings. I called the lot the following Monday morning and was told the car had a sticker of $2500 cash. A couple days went by and a 16v car came up for sale and I directed my interests towards it.

While surfing the net for another VW project I decided to do a quick search of Shelby Dodges just to see what came up......there it was, Mr McPeaks car, now looking like total ass with weeds growing around it and a smoked automatic.

I quickly called on the ad and spoke with the seller. Not 100% sure that it was Bills old car I asked a coule key questions about the car. When I asked about the front license plate the guy on the other end said yup its still on it. COOL!

I recently spoke with the original owner who shed some light on the cars build. Everything that has been done the the car is period correct and taken mostly from the Direct Connection catalog of the 80's. Here is a sample of the mods and a little history:

Delivered new to Westside Dodge Jacksonville, FL

Dealer traded to Gainesville Dodge where it was purchased by the original owner. *Dealer trade is a term we use in the new car business when we "trade" new inventory between dealers.*


2.5 tall deck built balanced and blue printed by Dan Dvorak of Waldo, FL
http://www.moparmusc...shop/index.html

DC Intake

DC 5 way cam gear

DC Spark Computer

DC Holley non-feedback Carburetor

DC Header - Shipped to Oklahoma for ceramic coating inside and out.
Supplied by Joe Varde: http://www.front-run...msa_dodges.html

Head mildly ported and port matched

DC oversized valves

3rd set of Rhoads lifters ever made for 2.2/2.5

Mahle turbo spec pistons to lower compression.

Head milled (no spec)

The transmission is the stock unit with a Mopar shift kit and a Turbo Action 3800 stall...Unfortunatly the trans it toast.

During our conversation the original owner also offered me a spare set of NOS louvers for the car as well as a complete set of NOS decals. He also offered a folder of misc documents for the car and a few black & white photos taken in 1986.


I will be adding pics as I get them resized.

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This post has been edited by RickM: 11 August 2008 - 04:23 PM

[GLHS0136]

Cool story.

[ColdwaterHotrod]

Great story.... looking forward to seeing you bring her back to life again &

This post has been edited by ColdwaterHotrod: 11 August 2008 - 03:07 PM

[RickM]

This is what makes this car even more special....photos of the actual car from 1986:

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[twobjshelbys]

Wow, a little bit of well documented history! Way Cool!

[twobjshelbys]

What is the plan for the tranny?

[RickM]

twobjshelbys, on Aug 11 2008, 10:18 PM, said:

What is the plan for the tranny?

For now I am going to put the A413 from my turbo mini in the Charger. I have planned on making my turbo mini a 5 speed and this will speed things along.

I will have to swap the Chargers smaller spline axles for later large spline axles. I already have one new axle on hand so it's a matter of buying another $50 axle.

Using the mini's A413 will allow me a little time to get original trans inspected for damage and if its cost effective it will be rebuilt. I also plan on sending the 3800 stall converter to Turbo Action for a rebuild....this will put the car back the way it was.

This post has been edited by RickM: 12 August 2008 - 03:26 AM

[ilmor]

Cool story about a recent Shelby! It's a shame that the previous owners let it go like that, but a good thing for you!

[shelbymotorsports]

Rick

Have you tried to locate Bill? I remember him from years ago.

Sometimes when a previous owner learns that their "baby" is being saved and cared for by an enthusiast, they sometimes can find paperwork, original parts, etc buried away in their house.

Keep us informed with updates. Those automatic Shelby Chargers were a one year deal and are prety rare.

Steve

[RickM]

Hey Steve!

Yes, I have contacted Bill, I may have not made that clear in my first post.

Bill stopped by my office a couple weeks ago and dropped off a folder of misc ligature and a few black 7 white pics of the car when it was new. (attached)

I also had the original license plate made up to go back on the car (see pic)

shelbymotorsports, on Aug 19 2008, 05:14 PM, said:

Rick

Have you tried to locate Bill? I remember him from years ago.

Sometimes when a previous owner learns that their "baby" is being saved and cared for by an enthusiast, they sometimes can find paperwork, original parts, etc buried away in their house.

Keep us informed with updates. Those automatic Shelby Chargers were a one year deal and are prety rare.

Steve

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[shelbymotorsports]

Here's a scan from the Shelby Times.

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[RickM]

Here are a couple update photos. Bill stopped by my office yesterday and said he's going to hit the big Mopar show at Garlits this weekend. I understand he will be offering his 86 GLHS for sale at the show.

Here is a flyer for the show if anyone is interested: http://www.floridamo...mashowflyer.pdf

And the pics:

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[StokedShelbyOwner]

Looks like a great event Rick, update us on the results after


Alan

[yfi guy]

I've seen this story somewhere. Maybe it was on this site a while back, I can't remember (I'm terrible at that). I remeber you checking up on the car. Regarldless, I'm sure you are ecstatic about finally having it in your possession. What now?

[RickM]

yfi guy, on Oct 31 2008, 07:41 PM, said:

I've seen this story somewhere. Maybe it was on this site a while back, I can't remember (I'm terrible at that). I remeber you checking up on the car. Regarldless, I'm sure you are ecstatic about finally having it in your possession. What now?

So far we have been enjoying the car as it is. We take it on all our weekend outings/road trips leaving our ‘07 Pontiac and ‘00 Jeep Grand Cherokee in the driveway….I drive the car to & from work M-F as well.

Even with the cramped rear seat my 11 year old twin boys still prefer the Shelby over our other rides.

As tuned the, car gets 18.8 MPG on Amoco Ultimate. That’s right about what my V8 Grand Cherokee gets for gas mileage.

This post has been edited by RickM: 15 December 2008 - 11:20 AM

[RickM]

here are a few pics from when I bought the car home.

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[RickM]

a few more from when it arrived home.

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[bigwrench1]

RickM, on Dec 15 2008, 02:04 PM, said:

a few more from when it arrived home.

I am in Clermont and have a 83 1/2 Silver Charger with 64,000 original miles. Lets get together some time. looking at getting a Fl. Shelby meet and Club back together.

[sdac guy]

bigwrench1, on Dec 24 2008, 10:23 PM, said:

I am in Clermont and have a 83 1/2 Silver Charger with 64,000 original miles. Lets get together some time. looking at getting a Fl. Shelby meet and Club back together.

RickM just revived the Florida SDAC chapter this past summer.

Follow this link and click on the SDAC logo in FL for info.

SDAC Chapters

[RickM]

Bill Brobst & I just had a "meet" in Clermont a few weeks ago! He and I met up at Gators with our Chargers.

The direct link to the FLSDAC is: http://www.flsdac.org/

EDITED POST to fix the FLSDAC link.

This post has been edited by shelbymotorsports: 26 December 2008 - 06:55 PM