MICHELLE MARGETTS
JIM MARSHALL with his beloved Shelby Mustang “Gort” at the Marina Green, San Francisco, circa 1983
When I met Jim in March of 1984, he was down on his luck. Instead of a Spitfire or Jaguar, Jim was driving “Truck,” a venerable Ford Ranchero. Jim was very loyal to that car-truck hybrid, especially because he could get commercial plates, allowing him to park in yellow loading zones in San Francisco’s notoriously impossible-to-park-in commercial areas.
But it was another kind of Ford that he was truly in love with, and heartbroken about: the Shelby Mustang GT350. I believe he had two Shelbys, both made in 1966. Both had the vanity plate “GORT,” after the robot in the classic 1950s sci-fi movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, Jim’s absolute favorite movie of all time.
It was that second Shelby that Jim had to sell to pay his lawyer’s fees after the gun bust in 1983, and, as he put it, “Keep my ass out of jail.” You could tell he pined for that car, which he had so perfectly customized for himself, with a custom British-racing-green paint job, Boss 309 engine, Hurst shifter, Recaro seats, and Nardi wooden steering wheel.
MARSHALL with “Truck” on a Highway 101 off-ramp, San Francisco, circa 1985
JIM MARSHALL and KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, early 1970s
This is one of Marshall’s favorite portraits: a moody, sexy shot of KRIS KRISTOFFERSON in a Los Angeles hotel on a long-forgotten Sunday in 1970. Marshall held Kristofferson in the highest regard. He thought of him as a true Renaissance man—Rhodes scholar, star athlete, helicopter pilot, the list goes on and on—and especially admired his songwriting and easy charisma.
