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SRG \ 1967 \ Reference
Factory 427 CID G.T. 500
Cars
There were a total of three (3) cars that are
documented to have left Shelby American's LAX
facility with 427 V-8 'lightweight' engines.
These cars were not special-ordered from Ford with a
427. All three (3) were regular production G.T. 500
units on DSOs containing multiple units. As such,
they originally received the 428-8V ’Special
Interceptor’ on Ford’s San Jose assembly line --
just like every other ‘67 Shelby G.T. 500.
Shelby American removed the 428 engines, and
installed the lightweight (aluminum heads) 427-4V Le
Mans engines at the Los Angeles airport production
facility, and there's a different reason behind each
of the three (3) swaps.
The upcharge for the 427-4V lightweight engine was
approximately $1,824.76, according to SAI Production
Orders and Invoices.
Detail |
67400F5A
00289 |
67402F4A
00544 |
67410F4A
01947 |
Paint |
5 - Dark Green |
4 - White |
4 - White |
Trim |
5A - Black Knitted |
5A - Black Knitted |
5A - Black Knitted |
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Wheels |
KH Mag Star |
KH Mag Star |
Shelby 10-Spoke |
Radio |
? |
AM (added by SAI) |
AM (added by SAI) |
Front End (High Beams) |
? |
67-½ 'outboards' |
67-½ 'outboards' |
Hood Type |
? |
Louvered 'Air/Con' |
Louvered 'Air/Con' |
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DSO Number |
84-2528 |
84-2530 |
84-2581 |
DSO Item Number |
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Package Code |
400F (4-Speed) |
402F
(4-spd & Emissions) |
410F (Automatic) |
DSO Total Unit Qty |
145 |
100 |
127 |
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DSO Typed |
1966-10-23 |
1966-10-17 |
1967-01-27 |
DSO Accepted |
1966-10-24 |
1966-10-24 |
1967-01-31 |
DSO ‘Received’ |
1966-10-26 |
1966-10-26 |
1967-02-02 |
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Ford Order Rec’d |
1966-11-08 |
1966-11-08 |
1967-02-02 |
Ford Serialized |
1966-11-23 |
1966-11-23 |
1967-03-14 |
Ford SJ Scheduled |
1966-12-05 |
1966-12-22 |
1967-03-31 |
Ford SJ Actually Built |
1966-12-19 |
1967-01-11 |
1967-04-13 |
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SAI LAX Completed |
1967-02-14 |
1967-02-09 |
1967-05-06 |
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Dealership |
Frontier Ford
Niagara Falls, NY |
N/A - Retail Sale |
N/A - Retail Sale |
Original Owner(s) |
Paul Nichter |
James Gorman & James Hadden |
N.C. Luhmann |
Original Owner City |
Buffalo, NY |
Dallas, TX |
San Francisco, CA |
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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
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