Shelby real or fake?

[Scott8950]

My guess is the shell possibly is the missing car #1444 but I seriously doubt it was ever raced. It is a cool piece for shows.

 

 

[vamach1]

Why don’t you think it was a local drag racer?  They will probably do an Eleanor version and sell it for $300K.  The Shelby history is suspect.

Edited January 15, 2022 by vamach1

[Scott8950]

20 minutes ago, vamach1 said:

Why don’t you think it was a local drag racer?  

The first thing is lack of rubber under the car, they said it has none and that's pretty much impossible even if you clean it. It really doesn't fit any class but that doesn't mean it couldn't have been raced at some local track just for fun. The lack of any lettering or stickers. I do think someone was building the car and for some reason stopped. I absolutely love the car it is probably one of the coolest drag cars I've seen in awhile.

[Ace-Garageguy]

3 minutes ago, Scott8950 said:

The first thing is lack of rubber under the car, they said it has none and that's pretty much impossible even if you clean it. It really doesn't fit any class but that doesn't mean it couldn't have been raced at some local track just for fun. The lack of any lettering or stickers. I do think someone was building the car and for some reason stopped. I absolutely love the car it is probably one of the coolest drag cars I've seen in awhile.

All agreed. Cool car.

But another thing that just jumps out at me is the lack of clearance between the rear tire and the wheel arch. Unless the suspension is pretty much solid, that's not going to work when the nose comes up and the tail squats at launch.

[Daddyfink]

Shades of the Skip Hess Revell Kit Mustang 

[lucky 130]

There used to be a guy around town back in the late 60's early 70's built "clones" of Shelby's. They were very well done and accurate in looks and performance. I've seen a couple of his cars being passed off as the real deal, and the public was buying the ilussion.

[Ace-Garageguy]

42 minutes ago, Daddyfink said:

Shades of the Skip Hess Revell Kit Mustang...

Yeah, but that car had considerably more clearance at rest, at least two, maybe three times as much as the car on the opening shot:

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 minutes ago, lucky 130 said:

There used to be a guy around town back in the late 60's early 70's built "clones" of Shelby's. They were very well done and accurate in looks and performance. I've seen a couple of his cars being passed off as the real deal, and the public was buying the ilussion.

Yup. There was a guy I used to know locally built one from a wadded-up wreck, using not much more than the VIN plate and block from the real car.

But he got every detail right, down to the yellow grease pencil scribbles behind the seatback on every car assembled on the Shelby line.

Knew another semi-local guy who built '65 Corvette Grand Sport clones, again capturing generally unknown details like the visible woodgrain on the inner rear fenders...relics of GM's original short-run wood tooling. Pretty sure he got busted for fraud when he tried to pass one off as legit for lotsa $$.

[Snake45]

Am I the only one who sees that it doesn't have a '67 Shelby front end or headlights on it? Looks like a standard '67 Mustang 2+2 with Shelby side scoops and stripes and a pair of added headlights (the wrong size) in the grille. 

[Scott8950]

14 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Am I the only one who sees that it doesn't have a '67 Shelby front end or headlights on it? Looks like a standard '67 Mustang 2+2 with Shelby side scoops and stripes and a pair of added headlights (the wrong size) in the grille. 

I believe they said it's a fiberglass front end.

[Daddyfink]

7 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Yeah, but that car had considerably more clearance at rest, at least two, maybe three times as much as the car on the opening shot:

Yes, I know, I am just saying it is reminiscent of the Skip Hess car

[afx]

I've watched the video a few times.  The buyers said they replaced the rear wheels with the intent of making it a street car, likely the reason for the lack of tire clearance.  Pretty sure these are photos of the car as found with smaller rear tires.

Edited January 16, 2022 by afx

[afx]

The buyers also said they believe the car was being built to compete in IHRA FF/X class for 1968/69.  Haven't been able to find rules for that class yet for that time period..

[Scott8950]

13 hours ago, afx said:

The buyers also said they believe the car was being built to compete in IHRA FF/X class for 1968/69.  Haven't been able to find rules for that class yet for that time period..

Was there a FF/X class? I have searched high and low for that class in IHRA and AHRA with no luck.

[Ace-Garageguy]

While unsuccessfully looking for an "FF/X" class, I came across this Shelby that's been cubed.

Naturally the VIN plate was sold, so there's another totally bogus car out there somewhere.

https://www.motorious.com/articles/news/cubed-shelby-gt500/

[BlackSheep214]

Looks like a job for the guys to investigate at AUTO / Biography......

[larman]

This is certainly a cool car, but I don't see what all the hubbub is about......I think it is a real Shelby, probably the chassis they think it is, but it's pretty cut up for a stock resto and it has no obvious racing provenance. Let's go back to the late 60's when this was built. At the time it wasn't priceless and rare, it was a few years old Mustang (I just saw another youtube video where a guy bought his legit '65 GT-350 for $900 in the early 1970's). The builder decides to turn it into a drag car, doing the mods we see. Tilt front end, set back fuel injected engine, racing seats, etc. He doesn't worry about the original emblems and parts, it's a race car. Unfortunately, either the class it is being built for rapidly changes making it obsolete, or the builder runs out of money and/or interest. The project is halted and it sits in storage for 50 plus years, never making a run down the track. Not so hard to believe. An interesting story and a cool car, but I think it's significance is being exaggerated partially because these guys are fan boys like us, but it also doesn't hurt its perceived value either.

Edited January 16, 2022 by larman

[Daddyfink]

 

[Scott8950]

7 minutes ago, Daddyfink said:

 

That's Tommy Lee Byrd he lives about 20 minutes from me,  him and his dad have some very cool cars.

[afx]

MotorTrend article on the car with as found photos:

https://www.motortrend.com/features/missing-mustangs-an-afx-1967-shelby-gt-350-with-amnesia/

Edited January 17, 2022 by afx

[Scott8950]

It's possible this car was wrecked early in It's life and someone used the vin tags for a clone. 

[vamach1]

SAAC would know the Ford VIN and Shelby VIN so they could determine if it was legit IF the front end of the car was kept.  Otherwise it’s a ghost car and the origin cannot be proved without owner documentation.

[afx]

The MotorTrend article I posted states:

Thomas brought in both Randy DeLisio and Dave Mathews, both 1967 Shelby historians, who confirmed the shell is in fact a 1967 Shelby, but which exact Shelby (of the 1,174 cars built) remains a mystery.

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by afx

[Scott8950]

They have proven it is a shelby or the remains of one anyway. Someone probably has a high dollar fake GT 350 in their collection sporting this cars vin tags. 

[TarheelRick]

I seem to remember one of those "car rebuilder shows" on TV that had purchased a Mustang to rebuild.  During the process they realized the VIN tag had been removed and replaced.  Not sure if the VIN matched the car they had, they called in some "Mustang experts".  It seems the expert found a VIN stamped somewhere under the rear sheetmetal, and in fact the Mustang was a stolen car with modified VIN tag.  Not sure if this recollection has any significance to this discussion, just threw it out there.