1966 GT350H Question

[dv67shelby]

I was just in attendance this past Sunday to a local car show here in Western NY and viewed a 1966 GT350H (#1264). First off I am not an expert of this particular year and made the following observations. The vin number to the car designating engine contained an "A" code and the Shelby Vin plate was a definite reproduction and did not have the Vin numbers stamped into it. The car also had some minor incorrect details such as wrong steering wheel, a vacuum advance on the distrubutor, Deluxe pony seats.... I questioned the new owner as to these items and he replied that some of the GT350H cars came with non-Hipo solid lifter engines and that the "A" code designated a California built car. He had displays for the car and some reproduction Shelby paperwork taped to the windshield and was adament to the cars originality. I tried to tell him in not so many words to contact the 66 Shelby Registrar to validate the car. My question to all you 66GT350H experts out there...Did some of these cars come equipped with a standard 289 A-code or C-code engine? This car was a Black w/gold striped Automatic transmission car and did appear to have the correct Seatbelts and Dash Tach.
David

[shelby6t5]

More than just suspicious: All 65 to 67 Shelbys would have an R for the plant code, as in 5R09K 123456, "A" is not a asembly plant code. How did you see the VIN #? That car has no info in registry after it was Shipped to Hindsdale IL <where my 65 was shipped to as well> Repo tag + A + Pony seats + a perhaps unscrupulous seller who picked that SFM # as it was "unknown"= be very suspicious (this is the new math)

Mike

[dv67shelby]

The vin number was listed on the NY registration on the windshield. I tried explaining to the owner that the "A" in the registration sticker meant the car was originally an 289 - 4 barrel nonhipo engine & had nothing to do with the car being built in CA. I believe this owner was generally mislead and urged him to contact SAAC. I tried to nicely inform this gentleman about the cars inconsistancies but as you can imagine he did not want to hear or believe my opinion that the car might not be real. Since he was not trying to sell the car I strongly believe this guy was taken advantage of. This car was at The Tri-Five Show in Clarence, NY this past Sunday. Maybe some of the Shelby Forum membership here had a chance to view this car at that show.
David

[rsimkins]

David,

From the information you have given I believe that the car was in no way an original Shelby. I think you handled the situation well. The owner will be in for a rude awakening when he finds out the truth. There are some details that an expert could probably pick out right away like the missing cowl reinforcement or missing Shelby VIN outboard of the right side shock tower.

As stated by Mike, the Ford VIN for this car should start with 6R09K. And yes, "R" is for the San Jose assembly plant and "K" for the Hi-Po 289. I've never heard of Ford producing a non-Hipo solid lifter engine. I'm fairly certain that Shelby always started with the Hipo when modifying 289s. While it is difficult to make some statements such as "always" and "never" with any degree of certainty when it comes to production Shelbys, one thing you can say is that in 1966, all G.T.350s were built with "289 Special" engines as a basis. So put a big flashing red sign over this one, (danger, danger Will Robinson) and keep clear. And this also proves the point, let the buyer beware.

[6S2349]

David,
I've seen the car. It's definately a fake. The VIN is the dead giveaway. But even before I saw that I looked at the export brace, no reinforcement or equal spacing on the bolts at the cowl. Then I looked at the reproduction ID plate, he put an extra H in the number sequence. Just to make sure it wasn't a rebody I looked at the registration sticker in the windshield that lists the real chassis VIN. I guess he really didn't want anyone doing the same because he had put a drop of glue on the show card and stuck it to his windshield over the reg. sticker. Sure enough, A code. I walked away. He certainly was trying to make it look like a real car with a window sticker and other paperwork. He's had other questionable "rare" cars over the past 20 or more years. I even think this was the car he was driving to cruise nights a few years ago as a 65 R model replica.

[eljimb0]

Hey,
Talk is cheap. Lots of yarns get spun at "cruise ins". I would guess that the baloney goes back and forth both ways. What about the guy with a real car
that has had a frame off restoration bragging that his car is completely original.... Original "Scott Drake" is more like it.
jimbo

[roddster]

Just so you all know, I've never heard of ANY 66 Shelbys being made with an "A" code engine. BUT, there were about 10-12 67 GT 350's that had the code, but had the real 289 Hi-Po under the hood. These where very late in the production run.

[fordcore]

Hope he didn't pay a lot for it cause it dosen't sound genuine. I suppose it's hard to admit to reality if you got burnt, I just don't understand why they would keep trying to pass it off as real. They just keep digging a deeper hole.

[dv67shelby]

I'm just wondering if the real 66 Shelby (#1264) survived over the years and is presently owned by someone. As I would be extremely upset if someone was using my Shelby Vin on a fake and calling it real!!!!!
David

[eljimb0]

Originally Posted by dv67shelby

I'm just wondering if the real 66 Shelby (#1264) survived over the years and is presently owned by someone. As I would be extremely upset if someone was using my Shelby Vin on a fake and calling it real!!!!!
David

How would you feel if you were the 5th owner of #1264 and somebody walked up to you at a car show and told you your car was a fake. You are in the registry as the owner. As was owner #4 and owner #3.. and you look into it farther and find out that owner #2 bought #1264 from a wrecking yard in 1968???
jimbo

[bullit]

Is this car listed for sale on any websites ?