Little Red

[Coralsnake]

Has anyone ever seen the engine bay of Little Red?

[shelby6t5]

Yes, but it was a long time ago - could not tell you anything in detail, and even if I could, I would not know how correct it was.

Mike

[67GT500#2100]

Should look something like this.

[Coralsnake]

Whoa, is the second picture a vintage pic? Never seen that one before. Was little Red dual paxtons? I guess I need to study up on that bugger

[vernonestes]

Wasnt there also a GT 500EXP that test fuel injection i think?
Best Regards,
Vern

[5S284]

The second photo I doubt is a vintage photo, it looks like a serpentine belt, which they never used at Shelby American. The car looks like the 1967 GT500 that Cobra Automotive twin Paxton puffed a couple of years back. A give away was the Cobra carb enclosurers ,which just happened to be the same one used on the originally Carroll Shelby owned 427 Cobra twin Paxton which was auctioned a short time back, Cobra Automotive performed the engine rebuild and put the twin Paxton Supercharger on with these same carb enclosures as in this second photo. There was an article which was poorly written in Sports Car Market about the post auction results of 5S010, which was owned prior to the auction by Cobra Automotive's Curt Vogt . This article stated some incorrect figures and history that the original supercharger for this car just happened to be found just before the auction and added a huge value to the car. The blower is readily available through Craig Conley, he can even add the C serial number if you want and the air box was a repo unit same as in the photo above, a repo, and same on the 427 twin Paxton car, also repos. The air box on 010 would have been one made in 1964 early 1965,or even earlier perhaps like the Studebaker ones, where they just say PAXTON on the box. 5S425 had the unique one off rectangular COBRA airbox so the 715 could fit inside. In otherwords, the photo above was not taken in 1968.

[5S284]

Hi Vernon, the car pictured above was called "Little Red'' and was the 1967 GT500 notchback prototype. It served as being the test bed for various engine components. It was a very well liked car by those who worked on it. It did not have the traditional roll bar but did have black leather interior. It was crushed. The other notchback car was for 1968, it was called the "Green Hornet",or the "EXP 500". It had a Conolec multiport fuel injection system . It should have been crushed, but was found and is restored . Both cars were under the guidance of Fred Goodell, Shelby American's chief engineer at the time.

[Coralsnake]

Ah, it was a dual Paxton according to the Registry. My first impression was the engine bay was too sterile for a vintage picture. Thanks for the insights on the superchargers. It has become an interest of mine. If anyone anyone sees vintage 67 or 68 Paxton pictures let me know. I am only interested in factory installations.

[John76]

I dont know if that is the original pix of the engine but whatever that setup is in looks crazy. I thought the FE motor was shoe horned in there already...then add twin paxton supercharges. i wonder what else you would have to take off to make it fit? No power steering...what else? Looks fun to drive.

[Coralsnake]

Oh, you can do it with power steering

[67GT500#2100]

Here is the Shelby de Mexico version of little red.

Quoted from Bob McClurg. "The arrival of the first production prototype (1967) was an occasion celebrated at the Ford Dealer's Convention held in Guanajuato, Mexico. Pictured left to right are Ford dealers Pablo Bush, Marceal Llano, President of Ford Mexico Sev Bass, Ford Dealer Hipolito Gerard and Velazquez. This car (complete with Terlingua Racing decals) was the sister car to the infamous "Little Red.""

[5S284]

Hi Pete, If you want some good photos I always put my beliefs on factory /automotive road tests in magazines of the day. This is how I set up 6S099 with a blower,as with most things Conley knows more about Paxtons than anyone. There were at least 2 if not 3 magazines which road tested Paxton puffed cars for 1966, not sure about 1967. A massive muscle car collector in Seattle has the only 1968 GT500 factory Paxton car produced .I didn't even think they made one but it is in the registry. Kopec once did an article in an old Shelby Marque which listed all (or most known at that time) the magazine road tests for the Shelby Mustangs, if you have the back issues, I think in his article he tells you which ones were the Paxton cars.

[roddster]

Yes, the registry states lil'Red had twin Paxtons. But what it doesn't say is that it was kind of a test mule for various engines. They put so many different engines in it that the Shelby American crew left the air conditioning stuff off the engine side of the car.
How do I know? I've written Dave Mathews, the 67 registrar. Seems the car had a "Luxury interior" but as I even offered to support buying this car's Marti report to see exactly how it came from Ford, I got no acceptance of my offer.
I'd love to build a clone of this car, but, I'd want an accurate clone, not some "almost" one. Leather interior, maybe Cougar? Console(s) ?? I'd like to know this stuff
Judging by the early build date, I'll bet it also had the early 67 steel/fiberglass hood, and, maybe even the deck lid. And, judging by the photos, there were also different body itterations. I'll bet that silver painted tail light panel was not on the car at first at all, and the grill with the outboards likely wasn't there.
I have many, if not all of the car magazines showing 67 Shelby's, none of which feature lil' Red. Oh, and that one from Car & Driver in 1978 does'nt really mention "lil'Red" , just driving it.

[67GT500#2100]

Don't forget the rear tail light panel, though it still had the Cougar tail lights, is painted silver like the 68's.

[racingdivision]

Originally Posted by vernonestes

Wasnt there also a GT 500EXP that test fuel injection i think?
Best Regards,
Vern

Yes it was now carburated and sports independent rear suspension. Unlike Little Red, it was Ivy Green. It is or use to be owned by Craig Jackson of BJ fame.

[67GT500#2100]

Vern, her is a link to the EXP 500 site. It has alot of info on the "green hornet".
http://www.exp500.com/

[Coralsnake]

Oh very good information from all.

As for the deluxe interior, I wonder if you saw the 67 car on eBay recently? It had 67 style door panels but they were trimmed with woodgrain instead of the common aluminum. There is also a 68 ad on www.nvsaac.com that shows a car with a similar interior.

An accurate recreation of Little Red would be neat if it were done correctly.


As for there only being one supercharged 68, I don't think that is accurate. I know of at least two engineering cars that received Paxtons. One is #56 (a gold GT500) and the other is #4102 (a yellow KR / in a collection I think). It is unlikely that either car was sold with the Paxtons intact. But, it is still very cool.

To date I have seen a few GT350s, but no one has been able to produce any factory documents to the best of my knowledge.

That website has some inaccurate items as well. Some of the photos are of Little Red and not the Green Hornet. The Hornet's Shelby tag is a turn off to me.

[mherman2]

Here's out thread from last year on the Green Hornet. I saw it up close and personal last year in the back of the Barret Jackson showroom garage up on a lift.


EXP 500 "Green Hornet"

Does anyone know what happened to the GT500 made for Mexico in the pics? Crushed or sold to a drug cartel for high speed border runs?