56ace
Registered User

While I am not positive, from the pictures I have seen, I believe it was done with lead. Jay

Thanks for posting the pics as I always like to see old cars that have lived full lives even if they are not in the best of shape currently. As for some of the things that ID the one car as not an early Shelby. All '65 and '66 Shelbys started life with a VIN of 5R09K or 6R09K, but then had a Shelby VIN assigned and a tag placed on the driver's side inner fender. Additionally, the door tag was removed and so the early Shelby's did not have the tag you show the picture of. The tag in your pic shows a VIN with a C as the 5th digit which translates to a 2 barrel 289 instead of the coveted "K" HiPo motor that came in all of the early Shelbys and other Hi-Po Mustangs. Other things that point out that car as not a Shelby are the 2 braces pointing back towards the firewall from the shock tower mounts, the rear GT350 emblem on the wrong side, and the unequal spacing of the export brace mount holes at upper center of the firewall. There are also many other little things such as '66 instrument cluster with a '65 dash, no dash tach or pod, etc , but the tag you showed with the VIN is the definitive proof. That being said, if the car was raced in the '60s and a person could trace its history, it would still be a cool car to have. Jay

I believe all 65s used the standard plate with the black Ford emblem and no other emblem attached. I am not sure who makes the best repro, but NOS ones surface periodically on ebay. Jay

557, I absolutely agree with you and that is why I am checking before I reserve a set. If I cannot determine what they look like beforehand, I will wait and see what the actual plates are like. For me the key is whether they are stamped. If they are, it would be fairly easy to make them look very close by repainting. If the characters are painted, it will be a non-starter. I may have to call the DMV to get an answer for that. As for the sequence, most of the original '66 cars I have seen carry RXX through TXX letters so using a SFM sequence would fit with originals.

With the difference in price ($50 for the new plates and ~$150 for the old plates) the new ones might viable if they are close. As I understand it, another plus is you can specify what sequence you want. This means I might be able get SFM081 for 6s081.