[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.