The First Shelby GT 500 Cars to be Built - 1967 Shelby GT 500 Convertible


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	1967 Shelby G.T. 500 Convertible

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While researching the 1967 Shelby G.T. convertible, it became evident that 0139 shared many similarities with two other cars (0100 & 0131) ordered from Ford between August 8-10, 1966.

After compiling and comparing the Shelby American Production Orders, Vehicle Order Images, Marti Reports, and Ford's Domestic Special Order (DSO) forms, we now know that these three cars were the first 'regular production' Mustangs built with 428-8v engines.

Research has taught us that these three cars weren't just similar -- they were, in fact, ordered identically (except for the body style). The San Jose assembly plant completed the fastback first, followed by the Coupe and then the Convertible.

All three cars were almost assigned to the Metuchen assembly plant and we're not sure why. One hypothesis is that it had something to do with these cars being equipped with the 428FE and air conditioning. We're continuing to research this information and hope to have answers in the future.

Ford Motor Company Information Coupe Fastback Convertible

DSO Item Number 3000 3001 3002

DSO Number¹ 2504 2511 2512

Model (Serial) Body Style 65 (01)
Coupe 63 (02)
Fastback 76 (03)
Convertible

'Package' Originally Ordered ² 413H 413F 413C

'Package' Delivered ³ 413H 411F 413C

Engine ⁴ 8-Cylinder "Ford Cobra 8V"
428 cu.in. 2x4bbl Special Interceptor

Transmission C-6 Automatic - Special Calibration and
GTA Shift Pattern with "Lockout" Quadrant
('Customer Supplied')

Core Options Air Conditioning and Exhaust Emissions Control ³

Other Options Power Steering, Power Front Disc Brakes, Courtesy Light Group, AM Radio, Interior Décor Group, Tinted Glass, Deluxe Seat Belts.
(the Fastback also received a fold-down rear seat)

Wheels & Tires ⁵ 15" Kelsey-Hayes MagStar Wheels
Goodyear E-70-15 Bias-Ply Tires
(wheels & tires were 'Customer Supplied')

Rear Axle Ratio ⁵ 3.25:1

Paint Code / Color ⁶ #2008 / T / "Candyapple Red"

Interior ⁷ Black Décor (Deluxe)

Assembly Plant
San Jose, California

DSO - Date Typed Aug. 10, 1966 Aug. 10, 1966 Aug. 09, 1966

DSO - Date Approved Aug. 10, 1966 Aug. 11, 1966 Aug. 11, 1966

DSO - [Received] Stamp Aug. 15, 1966 Aug. 12, 1966 Aug. 12, 1966

Data-Entry to Ford Computer Sys. Aug. 16, 1966 Aug. 15, 1966 Aug. 16, 1966

Serialized Nov. 02, 1966 Nov. 01, 1966 Nov. 01, 1966

Scheduled for Build Nov. 14, 1966 Nov. 25, 1966 Nov. 14, 1966

Actually Built Nov. 08, 1966 Nov. 07, 1966 Nov. 21, 1966

Released Nov. 10, 1966 Nov. 08, 1966 Nov. 25, 1966

Invoice Date Nov. 10, 1966 Nov. 09, 1966 Nov. 19, 1966

Ford Serial Number (VIN) ⁸

7R01S133xxx 7R02S132xxx 7R03S133xxx

Shelby American Information Coupe Fastback Convertible

Production Order "Received" Date Dec. 07, 1966 Nov. 10, 1966 Dec. 07, 1966

Designation on Production Order Co Car - Engineering Proto Co Car -
PR Service Co Car -
Engineering Proto

Options (per Shelby VIN) ³ A/C A/C A/C + Emissions

Cost from FoMoCo (Mar.31, 1967) $2,711.12 $2,861.99 $2,645.11

Assigned Value (Jul.31, 1967) $3,318.84 $4,207.83 $4,249.76

Cost-to-Value Delta 18.3% 31.9% 37.8%

Shelby American Serial (VIN) ³ 67411H9A00131 67411F9--0100 67413C9A00139

California Inventory Number ⁹ 061 ? 062

Ionia Inventory Number 67ST103 67ST109 ?

SAI Disposition Notes "remain in CA" "disposal" "disposal"

Actual Disposition All three (3) were shipped to Dearborn and eventually sold to the public as used cars by the spring of 1969.

Current Status (2020) Restored
Restored
Restored

The fourth G.T. 500 built by San Jose was a 4-speed Fastback:

67400F7A00171, Lime Gold, DSO 2528, built on Nov-30, 1966, released on Dec-03

Seven (7) G.T. 500 cars were built by San Jose the next day making it impossible to determine which one was completed 5th, 6th, 7th ... or 11th. The G.T. 500 cars built on December 1, 1966 include (in numerical order): 0164, 0167, 0173, 0180, 0182, 0183 and 0185.

Footnotes:

1. Other than DSO 2505 for one hundred G.T. 350 cars, the rest of the pre-production orders were placed between Aug. 8th and 10th, 1966, including 2504, 2511 & 2512, were dedicated to one car each. The coupe has the lowest item number; the convertible's DSO form was typed first; the fastback was serialized and finished first.

2. Shelby created "Package Codes" to designate the core build of the cars they were ordering from Ford. For example, a "200F" package would be a GT350 4-speed fastback; a 411F would be a GT500 automatic fastback with AC. Shelby invested the effort to create 48 different package codes (16 for fastbacks, 16 for coupes and 16 for convertibles), further evidencing their intention to offer more than one body style for '67.

3. Ford records (DSO and Marti Report) indicate that all three cars (0100, 0131, 0139) were originally ordered with the Exhaust Emissions system. A FoMoCo Change Notice, dated Aug.10, 1966, was issued to delete the exhaust emissions system from DSO 2511 (0100 - the Fastback). This deletion is also confirmed by the Shelby VIN for 0100. The Shelby VIN for 0131 (the Coupe) indicates no emissions system and it's likely a mistake since the Ford record confirms the car was built with Exhaust Emissions and furthermore and a vintage photo indicates remnants of an emissions system in 0131's engine bay. It's also worth noting that the Coupe 0131 never actually had a Shelby American VIN plate installed atop the Ford VIN on the inner fender.

4. Motor Code: 1967 Shelby big blocks were all coded with an "S" in the Ford computer record which would normally denote a Special 390 GT, however, these cars left the factory with the FE-based 428cid 2x4bbl "Special Interceptor." This information is verified by the DSOs, SVOs, Ford computer records and the Ford Invoices.

5. Rear axle ratio, wheels/tires (and engine code as mentioned above) are some of the options that are not accurately represented in the Ford computer record as compared to the way the car was actually ordered and built (per the DSO).

6. The first three G.T. 500 cars were also the first three 1967 'production' Shelby G.T. cars to be painted rrd. The next (4th) red G.T. was not built until February 8, 1967 by Ford San Jose (and not finished by Shelby American Inc until April 12, 1967). It almost as if red paint was planned to be a mid-year introduction, just like the convertible body style was.

7. All cars on DSOs 2501-2512 were ordered with the performance-oriented 5A Comfort-Weave (black) trim. It appears this material was not yet available at the start of production, so cars received the 6A smooth vinyl (black).

8. Actual 'hidden' Ford VINs will not be published, however, we can confirm that the sequence in which the Ford serials numbers were assigned to these cars was 1) Fastback, 2) Convertible and 3) Coupe. This is not the sequence in which they were actually built.

9. Company Car numbers appear to be another form of asset tracking that was implemented by FoMoCo when the took over Shelby American, circa April 1967. Visit the Shelby Research Group for more info on this topic.