bitzman
Registered User

I don't know if it's possible to be disappointed about something that happened in a race 47 years ago but up until today when I was perusing the net I had always assumed Claude DuBois being a Shelby dealer that it was a real Shelby (no. 17 on the side) that he raced at LeMans in 1967 (DNF) with Chris Tuerlinckx, finishing 58 laps. The entry list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans)says "Ford-Shelby GT350" so maybe the LeMans officials didn't look for the Shelby tag. I found postings on another forum that said it was a notchback converted to look like a Shelby which to me is like proof there is no Santa Claus. The same postings hinted there was a second hardtop (with custom sales papers indicating 5R539 and a (1970) race logbook of "5R539") (which) was sold to 3 german buyers, wrecked in the 80's. This second car shows the same wiper mods than the 1967 Le Mans car, so most likely was the "other" hardtop. Amongst other track records this hardtop was raced at the Nuerburgring. So now that I get over my disappointment that it was not a real Shelby R-model, I would still like to hear an opinion from a '65 GT350 fan on which is worth more-- a Mustang hardtop that was a lookalike of a Shelby R -model that actually raced in the fabled race or a real R-model that actually raced in Europe at other tracks such as when Jochen Neerpasch winning the GT Class at Nurburgring 1000km in 1967. Maybe I should buy that Register...

http://www.barnfinds.com/1967-shelby-gt500/ I dunno. I'd rather have a car parked inside than one parked outside. What did it sell for? I like my baubles shinier.

http://bangshift.com/blog/1967-shelby-gt500-barn-find-amazing-car-found-in-death-valley-california.html Looks real, (there's 50 pics at the website) so now my question is how did a guy in Mass. find out about it? Good detective work or an ad in Hemmings? Anybody hear what he paid? I guess the rainfall ini Death Valley is about 1 /1000th of what it is in Mass so not too rusty...

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT WHERE LA'S AUTO MEMORABILIA COLLECTORS FIND THEIR STUFF... An annual event in Los Angeles is some type of literature fair. In the past two years the fair has been held at the Automobile Driving Museum at 630 Lairport in El Segundo. El Segundo is a town very close to Los Angeles LAX airport, and in fact only a few blocks from where Shelby American operated their LAX factory. This year the fair will be from 9 am to 2 pm on Sunday, June 30th. Original art work is also sold but car parts are not. If there are hard parts, it's memorabilia, such as trophies for racing, manufacturer's signs, etc. but no generators, engines, gearboxes fog lamps and the like. In past years this event was a Society of Automotive Historians event. Though the event has rotated from one location to another, it has persisted for many years. Those vendors who still want a booth can contact the museum through their website http://www.automobiledrivingmuseum.org/2013/06/30/literature-fair-on-sunday-june-30th-2013/

The Mustang I was a two seater, mid engined, but the Mustang II was a four seater, and a running driving prototype in 1963. I was assuming in the past it was built on a prototype "pilot" chassis( those are what they call cars built up while they are still testing the assembly line but not necessairily destined for showrooms) , but in Mustang Monthly in their Dec. 2012 issue they say it was built on a Falcon Sprint chassis and that the SN is X8902-SB-208. I know if it says "X" that might be experimental but is the rest of the SN more like a '63 Falcon Sprint or like the earliest of Mustangs? I would like to know what the title says if experimental cars have titles...

Dean Jeffries, 80, died on the 5th of May. He was a famous Hollywood customizer, one of the original grtoup from the '50s that included Cushenberry, Barris, Gene Winfield, etc. He is most famous for his Mantaray show car using a Maserati frame , his own hand formed body and a Cobra engine given to him by Shelby, for whom he painted the first Cobra several times (to make people think Shelby was just churnin' out Cobras). He was also given a GT40 roadster by Ford in the hopes that he would put it in the movie as he was not only customizing cars for the movies but driving the cars. He even broke his back filming a stunt in Romancing the Stone. When I last visited his shop a couple years ago he was still finalizing the transplant of a four cam Ford Indy engine into his GT40, determined to show this is how Ford should have built the GT40. You could say his restoration of the car was one of the longest in history. His life is profiled in a book by Tom Cotter that is $25 on Amazon.com

I think Rem was sent from Shelby to Ford to re-do the car after the J car crash. I liked the J-car better... http://www.thevrl.com/photo/ford-j-car-in-the-wind-tunnel?context=featured http://api.ning.com/files/3Gs40plUa2Nx5LG-gU2nDCSb0zzmtqxAhoE*dmNycSRE3P6F8gyUb55qEO0UF0iNjrHQQ7pOy8pwpEWwLg3qfZLwUg4imEbj/Z152KodachromeRacer6.jpg

Motorbooks has a nice website promo for an upcoming book INSIDE SHELBY AMERICAN by John Morton who some may remember paid his own way to Sebring and ended up driving the big block prototype (after it was repaired after Teddy Treebagger hit a tree). The book looks like it has never before seen pictures and I hope it tells the story free of PR puffery (like the new Alan Mann book, I'll try to find the promo page on that). Here's the website, hope someone who gets a copy first reports on it here... http://www.motorbooks.com/motorbooks-blog/From-Race-School-to-Racer/21

On an excellently laid out site it has the complete story of the car that the Volo Museum had, a 1967 Shelby GT500 convertible prototype. They even have a list of previous owners though they have a ten year gap (Sept '67 and Jan. '77) in owners. My question is: what's the lowest this car ever went for when it might have been thought to be just a "Kustom" by some owner who, inspired by the '68 , built a '67 style one. By the way I went to the Velo Museum website and now they have a replica of the car for sale--that struck me as kind of funny--they sold the real one but if you come there to see it you can see a replica of it. I didn't look at the replica closely enough to see if it had painted on items like the originals (the original in some early publicity photos with the babe at the beach). : Here's the list of past owners on the website called http://www.1967shelbyconvertible.com. One of them prior to Volo must have gotten one heckuva deal if it's history wasn't widely known back then... (I think there was a story circulating once that the Museum bought it just because it was interesting and only began to research it after they bought it and realized that it was the prototype and that began its escalation in value) The list of owners from the website, accessed May 7, 2013: November 1966 - Shelby American September 1967 - Ford Motor Company January 8, 1977 - Neil Osbjornson - titled in his parent's names (Donald & Grethel) August 1978 - James Ventrella December 1985 - Richard Kot 2000 - Brian Grams / Volo Auto Museum March 27, 2007 - Dana Mecum / Mecum Collection May 17, 2009 - Samantha Styles / Styles Collection

It not only sounds like it was successful, but it sounds like on the top end ($8500 of prices mentioned) he is up there in price. I wish I had known about it but will now hope it's posted next time he has a show. Here's the story about it.I predict he will get into movie car design like the guy whose last name is Simon who did Captain America villain's Red Skull car. And Camilo is still driving a Ford GT. It's not too many designers that can drive the car they are responsible for designing! http://www.mustangevolution.com/mustang-news/mustangs-illustrated-automotive-artist-camilo-pardo/

I can't remember if it had suspension pieces but it was a complete tub. The guy who had the xerox copy of the photo said that one went to McLaren to make the open race car, the second to Holman & Moody. So did Holman & Moody ever dispense of it? I think since it was built in period (the sixties) it could be built out as a legitimate Ford GT lightweight. But the guy who showed me the xerox photo said neither car had a SN plate, but I think one raced at Mosport in Canada, Here's the reference. As a open race car in USRRC it had the '65 GT40 long nose. GP Canada Mosport 1965 - Photo Gallery - Racing Sports Cars Photo Gallery from race GP Canada Mosport 1965 on Racing Sports Cars website ... Ford GT-X1 #GT/110 - Ford A 427 V8 7000 cc N/A: Bruce McLaren Racing Ltd. (GB) www.racingsportscars.com/photo/Mosport-1965-09-25.html - Cached so inorder to cross the border I would think they (customs) would check your SN if they thought you might be importing the cars to sell (at least it was the other way around when I bought a gullwing in Canada). Or maybe if you were a big league race tem they just waved you through like you are celebrities. But I don't think Ford could have exported it to Europe to race without the cars bearing SN plates (chassis plates). Anyway I heard one of the mechanics that stripped the first chassis of bodywork, engine , trans, etc. also kept the chassis plate as a souvenir so if that's true one had a chassis plate, so why wouldn't the other?

i found it in an auction announcement of a few years ago but haven't searched for what it sold for, if i sold. This is off a website called live Auctioneers, but then it says RM auction, monterey on it, can't tell whether you could have bid for it on this website or not. Lots of pictures. I think I have seen pictures of it back in the day when it was white. i doubt Jim Hall built the 351. he was in bed with Chevy, why would he build a Ford? Also if it had succeeded, the car could have given his chaparrals a run for the money. Incidentally it mentions Mike D. who also rebuilt the 427 Cobra coupe for Sutherland. I didn't know he was a race driver as well as a builder. ------------------the listing from website www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7717170 1967 Shelby American Can-Am Cobra Group 7 Sign In to see what this sold for Chassis #: 02 435 hp, 351 cu. in. Ford V8 engine, five-speed manual ZF transaxle, four-wheel independent suspension with transverse-mounted coil springs, four-wheel disc brakes. Wheelbase: 95" - From an important private collection - An example of the last competition car built by Shelby American with Ford backing - Chassis no. 02, Jim Hall-built 351 Cleveland V8 - A take-no-prisoners racing car from the glory days of the Can-Am series The GT category of the U.S. Road Racing Championship was perfect for Shelby to demonstrate the performance of his new Cobras, and they competed in the USRRC from the very beginning. The team from Venice, California also built and raced in the sports-racer category, but by the end of 1964, it was apparent that the lure of the USRRC’s prize money and publicity was attracting the attention of specialists. Cars from Lola, Chaparral, McLaren and others were going to dominate in the future. Ford and Shelby turned their attention to achieving the long sought goal of defeating Ferrari. After winning the sports car manufacturer’s title in 1965, in 1966 they swept the first three places at both Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans and won at Sebring, achieving the goals of Henry Ford II and Carroll Shelby. It was time for Shelby to take another look at the USRRC and specifically the six-race Fall series known as the Canadian-American Challenge Series, the Can-Am. Announced in early 1966, the SCCA-sanctioned Can-Am was positioned to catch the attention of European teams and drivers in North America for the two season-ending grands prix, the USGP and the Mexican GP. SCCA put together six tracks, assembled an unprecedented prize fund and announced the rules: FIA Group 7. They specified two doors of at least a certain size, two seats on each side of the body centerline in a cockpit of set minimum dimensions, envelope bodywork covering the wheels, minimum weight and wheelbase. That was it. Shelby still had plenty to do in 1967, and they turned to freelance designer Len Terry, who with Frank Nichols of Elva owned Transatlantic Automotive Consultants. Terry seized upon the loose Group 7 rules to create, in only a short period of time, an innovative, aerodynamic design. Based on an aluminum monocoque center structure, Terry’s principal innovation was the suspension. It used at both front and rear a single transversely mounted coil spring compressed by rocker arms on the upper suspension control arms. Conventional tubular shock absorbers controlled suspension movement and allowed coil springs to be mounted over them in case the radical suspension proved troublesome. The system allowed body roll to be controlled by anti-sway bars independently of the effect of the stiffness of the suspension springs, giving it unusual adaptability and adjustability. Three tubs were constructed, but the first complete car didn’t arrive in Los Angeles until late, with barely enough time for a shakedown run at Riverside and preparation for round four of the 1967 series, the October 29th race at Riverside. In the hands of Jerry Titus, it managed only three laps before the fuel pump failed. Two weeks later, at the finale in Las Vegas, it crashed. By then Ford had pulled its funding for such ventures, and Shelby turned its attention to more productive, and lucrative, activities. The damaged tub was stripped and the parts used to complete the second Shelby American Can-Am, the car offered here. It and the spare monocoque were then sold to Mike Koslosky. Koslosky raced it in SCCA A/Sports Racing with some success during 1968 and 1969 and then sold it to Hull Dobbs Ford in Tennessee, where it graced the dealership’s showroom for a decade. At that point, a long-term restoration began, using a Ford Cleveland-based engine (the Can-Am’s original 351-cubic inch Ford was based on a 289 block) built by Jim Hall. Upon completion of the restoration in 1988, it was sold to Ed Cudahy in Denver and vintage race-prepared by Mike Dopudja. It made its debut in the 1989 vintage Group 7 race at Elkhart Lake, competing well against big-block cars. The quality of its restoration and preparation earned it the Concours prize for Sports-Racers. Since then it has been little used and remains in excellent restored condition. After experimentation at Shelby with coil-overs, its original innovative Len Terry-designed transverse coil spring suspension has been re-installed. The engine is still the Jim Hall-built 351 Cleveland with four downdraft Weber carbs driving through a ZF 5-speed transaxle. It was acquired by the current collection in 2004 and remains essentially in its as-restored condition. With further refinement and development, it should be an intriguing entrant in historic races. It is an example of the last competition car built for Shelby American with Ford backing and an important addition to any collection of Shelby automobiles or American high performance sports-racers from the epic early years of the Can-Am. As it is a thoroughbred racecar, RM Auctions recommends a thorough service and going-through prior to racing or track use. Addendum: Please note that this vehicle is sold on a bill of sale only.

It is also scheduled for the Mecum Indy auction. This is the white car with blue stripes and originally installed 427 so Shelby could use it in a tire commercial. The auction publicity says it belongs to Richard Ellis. I haven't looked up their estimate yet but I am sure it is well beyond 200K, and I even think with all the documentation (and hopefully the Goodyear promotional film replayed at the auction) this could be a half million dollar Shelby. My question is: before SAAC started documenting cars, there wasn't much ink on this car, does anyone in the forum remember turning the car down when it was offered by former owners because it was just thought of as somebody's incorrectly restored Shelby (wrong engine, wrong stripes). You can admit it, because I admit selling my first gullwing Mercedes for $2500 and my second for $11,000 when they are now worth $500,000 each. Hey we get too soon alt und too late smart!

If you go to the Mecum website there's lots of pictures. Here's their catalog copy: ESTIMATE: $200,000 - $250,000 "This Sapphire Blue 1966 Shelby GT350 was ordered by George Hodges of Rochester, New York on March 16, 1966 with radio delete, Le Mans stripes, 10-spoke aluminum wheels and rear seat. It was delivered to its first owners on April 14, 1966 from Nagel Ford of Rochester. George and his wife Jeanne would enjoy active ownership through the following years, even nicknaming it “Beast.” In 1993 the Hodges attended the SAAC national convention at Watkins Glen, New York. George and Jeanne had met Carroll Shelby at the Dearborn convention years before, where Shelby expressed his appreciation that they had enjoyed their GT350 for so long since buying it new, and they renewed their acquaintance with friendly chat, trading jokes and posing for photographs. The highlight of the occasion for the Hodges, however, came when their beloved “Beast” was awarded the very first Survivor Class Award given at a SAAC convention, winning out over a field of 14 other entries for the prize. Concours chairman Steve Yates awarded the prize to the Hodges, and commented later that “the car was obviously used and maintained but not primped as a ‘show car’…their enthusiasm, friendship and pride of ownership captured our vote, as it reflected the real spirit of the Survivor Class.” George passed away later that same year in December of 1993, leaving the car to his daughter Sandra Hodges Wohler of Windsor, North Carolina. Mrs. Wohler placed the car in careful storage, where it remained for the many years. This all-original, all matching numbers one-family Shelby now shows fewer than 54,000 miles. It is being offered with full service records and documentation from Day One, including the original build sheet, bill of lading, owner’s manual and listing in the Shelby Registry, completely ready to be fully enjoyed by its next owners." Full disclosure: I don't work for Mecum but have sold some memorabilia at their Monterey event.

I think there were a couple Mustangs made into wagons back then, maybe one for someone named Barney Clark, an ad writer, Intermeccanica later went on to build the Italias, some of which had Ford V8s. Is the Intermeccanica one kicking around car shows or lost in the sands of time? The Italias are coming up in price by the way, though their mickey mouse front suspension requires hefty rebuilds as the Fiat parts can't take the weight of an American V8. sorry about the mis-spelling Mutang sounds like something good to eat in Mongolia

I know last year was the big year for Cobra, and this year the honored marque at the Monterey races is Corvette but of course Cobras can still enter and I wonder who has announced they will be there? It might help that the SAAC 28 convention is over the 4th of July weekend so people who bring their Cobras to that event in Fontana (near LA) could go up to Monterey a month and a half later (or is that too long to store your car out of sight?). I am sure the Grand Sports will be there so am hoping to see the Cobras that ran against them be on the grid too.

I have seen pictures of a blue Quarterhorse Mustang with a revised '69 Shelby nose, I think there were three of them, one is registered as a Boss 429 but am puzzled as to why they existed. Were they Ford thinking maybe we can sell a Boss 429 engined Shelby? Do the keepers of the Shelby American papers show it was a Shelby project or a Ford project? Did they have anything to do with bunkie Knudsen and that's why they disappeared? (Knudsen was hired from GM but ticked off HFII who fired him, creating the immortal line "Knudsen is bunk."

I always thought it was on a used car lot before it was found before the present owner but now found out it was advertised in Competition Press, the predecessor to Autoweek. I wonder what the price was (I am guessing maybe $7000 to $10,000?) and if anyone has the ad? I'd like to trade some old photos from Shelby American for a good copy of the ad. I wonder how the person bought it--maybe Shelby sold off all their remaining projects, parts and stock and it was thrown in with that. I look forward to the day when the finished car appears at Monterey or some similar venue. I saw it in person at a shop in Hollywood, I think around 1965, must have been there for some temporary repair. I never heard who the designer was--it's not like the Daytona coupe that was publicized from Day One as Pete Brock's design.

I talked to an old guy who collects Ferraris and he told me his Testa Rossa (which he has since sold) had a 427 FE installed by Shelby American. I find it hard to believe that during the hayday of Shelby that they could take time off from building road and race cars to do this installation. Also the 427 must weigh about 200 lbs. more than an alloy block alloy heads 3-liter V-12. But the guy is an unimpeachable source, (has made millions with old Ferraris!) so I'm asking does anyone remember hearing of this car? Not to be confused with a Ferrari 750 Monza (originally with four cylinder Ferrari engine) that had a Chevy in it that was kicking around the shop in Dallas that Shelby had with Dick Hall.

The Ghia bodied Cobra chassis built by Willment with a Ghia body was once at a shop called Checkered Flag in Marina Del Rey. Did anyone here see it at the shop? What year was that? I lived in the Marina del Rey for a while but don't remember seeing it or hearing it was advertised. Was that shop (they may still be there) an offshoot of Checkered Flag in the UK? I think the chassis number was CSX3055. (No, don't have a register, I can't lift it...) Thanks for any distant memories of that car.

I remember hearing about this car decades ago before it achieved its later fame. This website http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1082886_original-shelby-1967-gt500-super-snake-heads-to-auction says the GT500 is headed for a Mecum auction in May but I never heard the story of when it was found -- did this one ever go through a period when its background wasn't known and people thought it was just a custom GT500 so the owner was able to buy it for a song? The story says Richard Ellis purchased it with only 26,000 miles on the clock so I guess it didn't have a chance to get too beat up at that mileage, but I wonder if he knew it had been in the Goodyear promotional movie, etc.?