1988 Shelby CSX-ND (CSX-T #236)

CSX-ND at Shelby American Grand Opening, 1998.

Carroll Shelby himself signed the car at SDAC-7 at Donna's request!

We bought this car on the 21st of June, 1997. Within two weeks, we removed the TII engine that was installed, fixed some body damage, applied custom graphics, oh, and did one of, if not the first install of a TIII engine into a non-factory car. We ran it, at first, with an 88 T2 SMEC system. We ran a custom distributor off of the exhaust cam, and solved the problems of it rotating backwards, and oil sealing. At the end of those first two weeks, we had driven it over 1800 miles to Chryslers @ Carlisle, and then onto SDAC-7.

In early 1998, we went to SBEC electronics, and built a variable nozzle turbo system, based on a VNT25/T3 hybrid, along with a Tial 38mm external wastegate to take care of the high end stuff. It would routinely spin the engine to 9000 rpm, with some bursts as high as 11000 rpm. It sounded like regular Indy car fare. We took it to Carlisle again the summer of '98, and then to Las Vegas for the new Shelby American grand opening. Two weeks late, on October 30th, the car was destroyed in a hail storm consisting of baseball and softball sized hail. I was driving at the time, and the car had the power to get me out of danger. The car sat for about a year, and I then sent it off to a body shop to be restored. Several months and cubic dollars later, the shell came back with fresh paint. It was nice, but I became a bit dis-interested in it, and it sat for another year. I then sold the shell in 2001. We enjoyed this car immensely, and I won't rule out building another like it someday!