Whenever Tom Shelton straps into his rare and race-winning 1977 Ferrari 308 GTB, he feels like he’s driving an old friend while remembering another one that made it all possible.
“I have been driving this Ferrari for 35 years, but I have only owned it for about 10,” Shelton said. “My dear friend, Ed Wettach, who I drove the car for, was a fellow Ferrari dealer in Atlanta. When he passed away the family called and asked if I wanted to buy it, and I didn’t hesitate.”
Both top Ferrari retailers in the Southeast in the 1990s, Shelton and his brother Steve Shelton built the top Ferrari dealerships in Southern Florida while Wettach’s legacy continues today with the successful Ferrari of Atlanta franchise.
Tom Shelton and Wettach, however, had a high-speed connection away from the showroom floor. Wettach wanted to follow the familiar “race what we sell” motto and Tom Shelton was the perfect choice as the team’s driver.
Although the Ferrari is frequently mistaken for an IMSA GTO or GTU specification car on HSR weekends, it was built primarily for SCCA.
“We were successful in SCCA competition back in the 1990s,” said Shelton, who drove the Ferrari to a fourth place and lead-lap GT2 finish in the 1991 SCCA Runoffs at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after starting eighth. “Ed was a dear, dear friend.”
The Ferrari was built on the production line in late 1976 as a 1977 model for a short-lived spell as a road car. It was converted to a race car in GT2 specifications in 1979, with the 3-liter DOHC V8 fitted with Weber carburetors and cranking out 285 horsepower. At its 9000-rpm optimum, the 308 looks right at speed on the track and sounds even better.
The 308 collected a mass of SCCA hardware primarily in the late 1980s and early ’90s in the SCCA Southwest region. The Ferrari was a frequent class winner and set 15 track records in the SW and California regions. Wettach and Shelton also won the Southeast divisional GT2 Championship in 1991 and ’92. On the driver-side rear quarter window, three of the sought-after Valvoline SCCA National Event Winner stickers have been on the Ferrari since Shelton earned them back in the 1991 season.
The Shelton brothers were also successful co-drivers in the golden era of GTP competition, sharing both a March-Chevy and Porsche 962. Steve is also best known for winning the 1988 North America Formula Atlantic Championship in the Atlantic (née Eastern) division, and Tom Shelton would love to co-drive with his brother again in one of HSR’s many two-driver championships.
“He is doing great,” Tom Shelton said of his little brother. “He is doing a little artwork but is talking about coming back and doing some historic racing. He sees me having too much fun!”
Tom Shelton first attended the 12 Hours of Sebring as a college student in 1964 and most recently raced in HSR on the legendary airport circuit 61 years later in the Ferrari in March’s season-opening HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour presented by Mission Foods weekend.
It will be no surprise to see him back at Sebring in the Olthoff Racing-prepared No. 84 Ferrari this December, battling for more race wins and podiums at the season-ending HSR Sebring Historics, Pistons and Props, Presented by Alan Jay Automotive Network, December 5 – 7.
Next up for HSR is the Watkins Glen Classic 6 Hour presented by Mission Foods, June 11 – 14, at Watkins Glen International.
