Notes

#0289
This car wasn’t completed by SAI until about two months after it was originally built by Ford. This delay was due to the car having a defective engine. SAI received a special order from a buyer by the name of Paul Nichter in Buffalo, NY who wanted a 427 CID G.T. 500 to replace the 427 Cobra he used to own, The Cobra had been totaled by his mechanic, who lost his life in the accident. When Shelby received this call for a 427 G.T., #0289 was chosen because it needed a new engine anyway. The SRG learned of #0289's defective engine from an April 1967 invoice where SAI attempted to bill Ford (Invoice # P 13289) for a variety of engine and/or transmission repairs for twelve (12) different cars, including. #0289: "Engine $422.79 and Labor to R&R $140.00." According to the registry, “Nichter flew to California himself and picked up the car at the Shelby American factory 2/14/67 and drove it back to New York. The Shelby American Production Order form is marked “Special 427 engine" and the invoice for this car itemized a “Special 427 Light Weight Engine... $2,000.”

#0544
Documented as a H.O.R. (Home Office Reserve) Company Car. This car was designated for the purpose of '68 development. The planning stage of Shelby's vision for the '68 models began in January 1967. During Feb-April-1967 multiple company cars, including #0003, #0131, #0139, #0463, #0544, and others) were used for this purpose. Along with fuel injection and supercharged offerings, an optional 427-4V engine was also being planned. It appears that #0544 became the primary test car for the planned 427-4V offering. As a '68 engineering car, #0544 also wore several of Shelby's '68 styling features including a louvered hood, outboard high beams, bright accents on grill texture, and a “Racing Stripe” applied over the top. References to the styling features can be found in the Confidential 1968 Product Planning document #2, dated January 16, 1967. The optional 427 engine was outlined in the press release and fact sheet handed out during the press day at Ford's Long Tead Technical Conference (LLTC) on July 7, 1967, which took place at Riverside International Raceway. Leveraging Shelby being the west coast distributor for Goodyear Tires, #0544 was used for a day of testing Goodyear Thunderbolt tires at Goodyear’s high-speed Texas test track in late March. The Thunderbolt tires were mounted on Shelby 10-spoke aluminum wheels for the tests. Later, the concept of a 427-powered G.T. 500 was pitched by Don McCain as a special order limited production car available exclusively from Mel Burns Ford (similar to that of a COPO / Yenko Camaro). Some confusion stems from an August 1967 article published in Drag Strip magazine that referred to #0544 as having a “Super Snake package,” however, we have not found any paperwork from Shelby American that used the name “Super Snake” or “Super Snake package” to refer to this car or any other 427-powered G.T. 500 model(s) built or planned. It is worth noting that there were two supercharged 427 Cobras that Shelby American called "Super Snakes."

#1947
Initially documented as an H.O.R. (Home Office Reserve) car, #1947 was first allocated for the Ford Los Angeles sales district. After it was returned, it was fitted with the 427 lightweight engine and repurposed as a factory drag car. Could the reason for its return and new engine be due to a failure of the original 428-8V? The Shelby Production Order form is marked “427 Modification. Sold to above party after modifications.” Shelby American invoice shows the base price: $3,975.24; modifications $1,824.76; Invoice total $6,110.00. (Notation on the invoice: “subtract rear fenders $108.29; add power steering $64.75; total $43.54).” Our assumption is that the deduction for the 'rear fenders' might be due to them not being 'cut' or 'rolled' to add clearance for drag slicks.


Louvered Hoods
#0289 and #0544 were most likely two of the first six cars to receive louvered hoods. Both these cars were completed in the month that followed the confidential memo that made it priority #1 to solve the overheating problems affecting the GT500 air-conditioned cars (#0100, #0131, #0139, and #0463). Cars #0131, #0463, and #0544 were photographed in-period with 67-½ front ends (a/k/a/ ‘outboard’ high-beams) before the end of March 1967.

See Also