Rare cars rev up fundraising for disorder

Andrew Edwards

Roy Mytinger rebuilt his own 1967 Shelby Mustang GT 500, a

powder-blue speed demon that was shown Sunday with about 80 other

classic cars at the 24th annual Concours de Nice car show. The event

showcased the creations of the famed car designer Carroll Shelby, the

man who designed the Cobra.

However, Mytinger, who lives in Trabuco Canyon, cannot drive his

machine. The 46-year-old auto enthusiast was diagnosed with

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s

Disease, in 2001. The illness gradually destroys the ability of the

brain to control an individual’s muscles. There is no cure for the

ultimately fatal disease.

“It’s hard to deal with,” Mytinger said. “You do the best you can.

My arms are pretty much gone and it’s hard to walk, so I get pushed

around in a wheelchair.”

Despite the disease, Mytinger is still able to enjoy his Shelby,

which took about three years to restore.

“It’s just as much fun,” he said. “I’ll call someone up, Dean,

Eric, Rick -- let’s go romp around; the car needs some exercise.”

To aid Mytinger and the many others living with the ailment, show

organizers with the Cobra Owners Club of America Orange County agreed

to donate the money made at the show to the Orange County chapter of

the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Assn. A preliminary count of

Sunday’s take came in at about $1,000, event chair Hank Jesch said.

The Shelby Mustangs of 1965 to 1970 were meaner, tougher versions

of the popular Ford Mustang. Bob Stockwell, president of the Cobra

Owners Club of America Orange County, said the vehicles rolled off

the factory floor in 1965 with suspension systems built for racing.

“The Shelby Mustang really was the first muscle car people could

buy and run on the street,” Stockwell said. “It was a race car in

disguise.”

Carroll Shelby designed the Shelby Cobra before he worked on

Mustangs for Ford. Like Mustangs, the Cobras at the show were built

to go fast, but the low-slung and snakelike Cobra has a cool, sleek

image compared to the aggressive look of a Shelby Mustang. In 1965,

the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe became the first and only American car

to win the Federation Internationale de L’automibile’s World

Manufacturing Championship for GT cars.

Cobras and Shelby Mustangs are few and far between, Stockwell

said. Between 1964 and 1970, about 13,000 of those cars were built.

During that time, Ford produced about 3 million standard Mustangs. In

all of Southern California, there are only about 300 to 400 members

of the Cobra Owners Club of America.

“These cars are so rare today, the 1964 Cobras, they’re

priceless,” Stockwell said.