by: JP Emerson
There is nothing more expensive than missed opportunity
It all started with a phone call. Sound familiar? Slowly, the information about a family’s long held “special Mustang”, a 35,000 mile 1965 Shelby GT 350 was revealed with just one request, “tell the story as it was shared with me.”
Having long worked and shared stories through the years and across many publications it seemed a simple and straightforward task. There have been, and likely will be more stories like this one in the years to come, whether a Shelby or another brand with amazing and true tales and history to shine a light on.
But this one with its deeply personal connection to a family and more documentation than even the Shelby registry had in hand would certainly have no trouble finding an interested media outlet.
Knowing fully what was placed before me to articulate and present, my first calls were to well-known Shelby experts to collect facts and data.
Armed with info only someone with intimate knowledge of the car would know, a conversation was had with Aaron Shelby, who incidentally was out of the country at the time, and Howard Pardee, the ’65 & ’66 GT350 Registrar for the Shelby American Automobile Club.
Aside from sharing some personal connection with the car, Howard was back home at his computer within the hour comparing notes collected in his files with mine to ensure 100% of our combined information was factual and documented.
Both Aaron and Howard went above and beyond to ensure the story’s credibility.
Parallel to these wheels in motion, I reached out to several in the automotive media, and in particular Ford & Shelby camps requesting a return email or phone call regarding a very important automotive story to share.
In each case, several attempts were made via email and phone calls over the following few weeks. All except one went unanswered, and the one that did, expressed little interest, stating they only returned my correspondence because I was persistent in that I needed to speak with someone.
Perhaps I’m more old school than I realize, but in a time where print media has all but evaporated into digital, clicks and advertising, fighting for your eyes on their pages would seem paramount.
Dangling a story that certainly would bring all of these and more, like the clickbait and pop-up ads they fill our screens with each day, should certainly have caught someone’s attention.
All the while thinking if they were truly “car people” and not “keyboard cowboys” offering pennies for any repackaged stories to pass off as content on a webpage, someone would follow up.
The response I expected, as it turned out, sounded much like listening to cars rust. Opportunity knocked for each media outlet, and no one returned my calls or emails.
I can only imagine what would have become of 5S335 if Vernon Estes didn’t answer when opportunity knocked.
No, this was a real story, with real people and real interest, just like the owner who made the call on this incredible time capsule Shelby 5S335.
The people who weren’t interested in pageviews, but instead reaching a real person who truly appreciates the opportunity being extended to them and acts upon it, because it’s important to the caller and ultimately the collector car community.
You won’t find the story of 5S335 in a publication you may expect, nor on a show designed to produce much of the same self-generated “interest”.
5S335 is being shared for the first time with people much like those who loved and cared for the car away from the lights and manufactured hype.
By people who “answered the call” without demand of contracts or rights in perpetuity be signed first before “offering” to “do it in house” if we’d just share our information and location of the car with them.
Yes, it’s true, it all started with phone calls, was followed up with emails, and ultimately the opportunity passed each of the expected and well-known outlets and networks by.
But for true car folks who care about these cars as a part of the family, much like the original owner Dr. William Burrow or Donald and Alice Dunford who served as caretakers of 5S335 for half a century, it’s more than just a story…it’s a legacy.
And will be passed on by those who cared enough to answer when opportunity knocked.
Can you hear me now?
View video here: https://youtu.be/xLZ_yX7-wm0?si=XmbB8OU0MRRNOpSV
Copyright © 2024 JP Emerson All Rights Reserved.
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