'68 Shelby GT500 to '68 Mustang California Special?

[Aaronw]

I spent a little time researching this last night. Am I correct that a conversion from the GT500 kit to a California Special would essentially consist of some badging / script changes, striping changes and a 289, 302 or 390 motor in place of the 428?

[george 53]

Aaron, I'm not 100% sure, but I THINK the C/S Mustangs were DEALER only options. They had the Shelby rear taillights, but I don't think they had the Shelby facia in front. Otherwise they'd have been just RE badged Shelby's and I DON'T think ol Carrol Shelby woulda gone for that!!! Ford Dealers in Cali made a few Cali only models. I think Denver Ford dealers had a special Mustang/Torino package as well.

[MrObsessive]

Yup.......the California Special had the regular '68 Mustang front end (Shelby fog lights though) but had the sequential tailights in the rear.

Also, AFAIK.......ALL California Specials were 2 dr hardtops-----I've never seen a fastback one.

A roof swap would be in order ('66 Mustang would be a start) as well as reshaping the "hips" to something shallower than the fastback.

Here's a couple pics courtesy of Google............

HTH!

[MrObsessive]

Also I wanted to add that the tops of the rear quarters were a scooch taller on the hardtop than they were on the fastback.

I've seen some conversions that while nice......had a droopy look to the rear due to the quarters not being changed.

[MrObsessive]

Aaron, if you want to get brave, you could build this..........

This was a one off done by Ford in '68 nicknamed the "Green Hornet". It had a Conelec electronic fuel injected 428 as well as an independent rear.

Beautiful car that fortunately escaped Ford's crusher!

I tried to build one back in the mid '90's that while not bad...........was a tad crude due to my not knowing some things that I do now!

[george 53]

Bill, that car was featured in Hemmings MuscleCar review back in 07.It was found here in Michigan I believe and restored to it's original condition, INCLUDING the IRS!!! It was a VERY interesting article, as I never knew that it existed.

[MrObsessive]

True story about that car George:

When I wanted to build my model of it, I located the guy who originally owned the car! I located him through the magazine as it was featured back in one of the car magazines back then (circa 1995-96).

The guy told me that he just sold the car not that long before for something like $75,000------and the new owner resold it a short time later for quite a huge sum more!!

I needed to get info about that IRS setup and got some neat information about it. Also the fuelie setup was interesting as the car used an electric fuel pump mounted somewhere in the trunk IIRC which he sent me an illustration of.

I may take some pics of the one I did...............but it may not be until later in the weekend if I can find it. It's among a bunch of other models put away when I moved to the house.

[Aaronw]

I knew the conversion being that easy had to be too good to be true. The info that I found made me think the CS was just kind of a Shelby without the performance. So to do the conversion right, I basically need 3 kits, a '68 GT500, a non-Shelby '67 or '68 and a hardtop from a '65-68 and a whole lot of work.

Well unfortunately that pretty much makes it a someday project, at least for now.

While I was looking around for info last night I ran across the current California Special ('07, '08, '09) and it appears that would be able to be done with either the current GT or GT350H kits and decals. Is that right or have I just opened another can of worms. There was a Grabber Orange one that looked rather nice.

[Abell82]

I knew the conversion being that easy had to be too good to be true. The info that I found made me think the CS was just kind of a Shelby without the performance. So to do the conversion right, I basically need 3 kits, a '68 GT500, a non-Shelby '67 or '68 and a hardtop from a '65-68 and a whole lot of work.

Well unfortunately that pretty much makes it a someday project, at least for now.

OR... You could purchase the Resin California Special kit from R&D Unique, and build it now.R&D

Edited March 14, 2009 by Abell82

[Aaronw]

OR... You could purchase the Resin California Special kit from R&D Unique, and build it now.R&D

That would make things easier. I've never bought from R&D, can anyone comment on their quality?

[Joe Handley]

Aaron, if you want to get brave, you could build this..........

This was a one off done by Ford in '68 nicknamed the "Green Hornet". It had a Conelec electronic fuel injected 428 as well as an independent rear.

Beautiful car that fortunately escaped Ford's crusher!

I tried to build one back in the mid '90's that while not bad...........was a tad crude due to my not knowing some things that I do now!

Is there something funny with the nose of that car, or am I seeing things?

[MrObsessive]

Is there something funny with the nose of that car, or am I seeing things?

Nope, that's the '68 Shelby front end on that car. Ford built this one off as a possible new model addition to the Shelby fastback and convertible, but nixed the idea late in the game from what I've read.

I also read that the car started life as a California Special, but later had the Shelby front end grafted on. The green color is actually a candy painted over the original Lime Gold.

Here's one I built 13-14 years ago-------crude by my standards today, but it still exists!

I didn't have the car's 10 spokes back then, (I do now from GMP) so the Magnum 500's and redlines were the next best thing.

I'd really like to do this one again since I have all the right stuff to make one now including the decals from Keith Marks................someday.