There's no need to ask Angelo Paletta about which car company is his favorite. He has been a tried-and-true Blue Oval fan since his father was driving Ford products back in the 1950s. Now Paletta is grown up and his car collection has too.
He calls it the Car Cathedral. Paletta's two-story garage is an ode to all things Ford. Inside sits a handful of Shelby-centric Ford rides, lifts, memorabilia, and even an upstairs dinner done up in the style of an old American diner.
Paletta has the Gulf colors on his shoes. His cars show a love of Ford's accomplishments on the world motorsport stage. There are no Ferrari or Chevy logos to be found in this small museum of a garage. Instead, what we have are a few Ford GTs from various decades, plus special Mustangs like the Ford Shelby GT500KR, Boss 302 Laguna Seca, and a pair of Cobras.
The most interesting car in the entire lineup has to be the all-aluminum original Shelby Cobra 427. According to Paletta, it's one of just 12 built and it might just be the only one with aluminum inner-wheel fenders. This car has only been driven 200 miles. Those bias-ply tires are original, just like the rest of the car. If this is a true original low-mileage aluminum 427-packing Cobra, it's easily worth between one and two million dollars.
Another heavy hitter in this collection, both value wise and in terms of overall performance, is Paletta's new Ford GT. It's been painted to match his Ford GT40 Le Mans winning replica. The livery works well on both cars and it's rather cool to see them living side by side in this vault to pure Ford affection.
Paletta has a serious problem on his hands, that he lovingly refers to has Obsessive Car Disorder. The only cure is to keep stocking that car cathedral with more excellent machines.
