And guess who the majority shareholder of Hertz was? Yep, that would be Ford Motor Company. The oft-told story is that Hertz demanded 1,000 Shelby G.T.s for their rental fleet, but the real story might be that they were highly encouraged by Ford to buy the cars to offset the financial loss of Shelby in 1965.

Is the picture starting to become clearer?

One of the key pieces to the puzzle of how the convertible looked in the first four months of its life lies in the restoration of the car commissioned by the Volo Auto Museum when they bought it at auction in 2001. They restored it with 1967 Shelby parts due to the parts and signs that they found on the car.

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“When we got the car, it was styled as a 1967 since that’s how Volo had restored it,” Brian says. “ When they tore it down for restoration, they found fingerprints and telltale signs that led them to believe the car was indeed styled as a 1967. There was clear evidence of tailpan modifications to accept the 1967 Cougar tail lights, 1967 Shelby inboard headlight wiring, the 1967 emblem on the passenger dash panel, and more.

This is very important. Regardless of what they had found, the experts still had their opinions. Because Volo had restored it that way, somewhat against the opinion of some experts, a black cloud followed this car around. Whether Volo was right or wrong, once that perception exists, it is hard to get away from it.”

The beginning of the rift in the Mustang program between Shelby American and Ford Motor Company had begun when the Shelby-designed fiberglass parts wouldn’t fit the 1967 production cars after they were delivered. One persistent, plausible rumor is that Ford sent Shelby a pre-production shell (or buck) of a 1967 Mustang around August 1966 for Shelby to develop his unique fiberglass parts on. He wanted his own car that was more unique than the Mustang upon which it was based. The rumor goes Ford failed to mention that the buck they sent had been used in some low-speed seatbelt sled testing. If you’ve ever seen the crash-test dummy videos, you know the body shell was most likely tweaked. Probably not visually, but certainly it would not be right when you’re developing tens of thousands of dollars of fiberglass parts with tight clearance specs to bolt on to it.

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So when the production 1967 Mustangs rolled off the truck from San Jose, none of Shelby’s fiberglass parts would fit. They were instantly behind the eight-ball to meet production schedules.

As Shelby was spending days and weeks making the parts fit, cars were backing up and they couldn’t ship them out. By the third month of ordering, October 1966, the ordering process changed, and it began to crumble. Styles said, “This is evident when looking at the DSOs en-masse,” Brian says. “For example, With the exception of the one order for 100 small-block cars, almost all of the DSOs were for one car each, with very few part deletions on these first cars. Looking at the spreadsheet I built, the guy in charge of ordering the cars was Gerald W. Nuznoff, the purchaser for Shelby American. He was the same guy as in 1965 and 1966. However, when we look at DSOs in October 1966 that changes. It’s no longer him; it’s Ray Geddes doing it, who was a Ford employee. That’s significant.”

Due to launch problems with the program, Ford Motor Company stepped in and took control, sending Ray Geddes to run purchasing and inserted Fred Goodell as Chief Engineer. Ford also turned to A.O. Smith Plastics in Michigan (who built the Corvette fiberglass bodies) to help solve the fiberglass issues. “The cars showed up, but they can’t assemble them,” Brian says. “It was chaos at Shelby. So Ford steps in and takes control, as evidenced in the orders.”

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What about this convertible? Number 0139 was completed a week behind schedule at the San Jose plant and released to Shelby American on November 25, 1966. It was the third G.T. 500 (big-block) to be completed. On December 07, Shelby deemed the convertible complete. That means the car originally wore the 1967 Shelby styling. A.O. Smith hadn’t even developed the new 1968 parts yet. It’s also worth pointing out that, unlike Ford, Shelby American VINs were assigned when the car was completed, not when it was started.

“Robert Carlson, Sales Manager at High Performance Motors, recalls Carroll Shelby driving-up in the red G.T. 500 convertible (#0139),” Brian says. “It caused a bunch of excitement according to Carlson. Everyone in the dealership came outside and gathered around the new 1967 G.T. 500 convertible to get a closer look.’" Carlson left Shelby in January 1967 to take care of his family, which indicates this event took place in December 1966.

The convertible was intended to be a mid-year offering. However by the time the models would have entered production, Ford made the decision to postpone its mid-year debut until the following year (see the meeting notes in the document online). In March of 1967, A.O Smith shipped the 1968-styled hand-laid fiberglass parts (two hoods, front ends, taillight panels, and center consoles) to Shelby to modify two cars, one fastback and one convertible for “photographic purposes.”

There is much more to the story and this car’s history than we can possibly deliver in a single print story. Check out Mustang-360.com for, as Paul Harvey used to famously say, “the rest of the story.” For now, Sam and Brian Styles are content to be the car’s caretakers for this chapter in life, especially after solving the mystery that has shadowed this car since the day it rolled off the San Jose assembly line in 1966.

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If you want to see even more of the research material, timeline, and more about this unique 1967 Shelby G.T. 500 convertible, check out 1967shelbyconvertible.com.

The Theft of #0139

“When Carroll Shelby was interviewed in 2003, he indicated that the convertible was his personal driver,” says Brian Styles, current caretaker of the car. “According to employee interviews I collected, Carroll was driving that car during December 1966, and it was styled as a 1967. Never mind the opinions. I have interviewed people who were there. I heard he preferred driving Thunderbirds. Speculation is he probably loaned #0139 to one of the girls who worked in the upstairs executive office and used to be the receptionist at the Venice shop. She had been with Shelby a long time.”

Whatever soap-opera situation you may want to imagine, Shelby had to restyle the convertible, changing it from the 1967 parts it had to the new A.O. Smith 1968 parts. He painted it white (to stand out better on the black-and-white magazine pages of the day), and prepared it for press and marketing photography. Perhaps he had a hard time getting the car back from the employee due to a misunderstanding of what was a loan versus gift. Whatever was going on, an employee reported to the police that the car had been stolen. Apparently, it was soon recovered in the Palos Verdes hills (not far from Shelby’s facility) with some of the bolt-on parts, such as the wheels and carburetors, air cleaner assembly, steering wheel, and other parts, missing. Interestingly, the police reports and also stories from the Shelby employees who went to retrieve the car show the thieves were out of the ordinary and very professionally stripped the car. For example, the wheels were taken, but the lug nuts were re-installed back on the studs, and the radio was gone but not a wire was cut.

An insurance claim of $506 from Zurich American Insurance on June 20, 1967, for “repairs of engineering 1968 prototype convertible.” The claim was paid to Shelby to recoup the losses, and the parts list of what was taken looks nearly identical to the parts that would have been removed to convert it from a 1967 to a 1968. Hmmmmm. In an interview with SAAC in 2003, Shelby teased that something fishy may have been going on. As Donald Farr wrote about the situation in his June 2012 Mustang Monthly story on the car (www.mustang-360.com/featured-vehicles/mump-1206-1967-shelby-convertible-rare-air) “[Carroll] laughed about the ‘stolen car’ story, saying that was simply the ‘public version.’ He stopped short of an explanation, wrapping up his comments with, ‘It's better to let a sleeping dog lie.’"

We never did get the full story. Although, perhaps a little mystery makes the story even better.

Rarity & Significance as a Shelby American G.T.

While the historical significance and rarity of the 1967 G.T. 500 Convertible has been long-known in the Shelby community, it wasn't until after another decade of fact-finding and published research that the rest of the automotive community came to know just how significant this car actually is. #0139 isn't just the rarest Ford Mustang or Shelby G.T. This convertible is undeniably the world's rarest production automobile.

• The only 1967 Shelby G.T. convertible ordered, serialized and built.

• The only G.T. 500 convertible serialized and built by Shelby American.

• The only G.T. convertible ordered with and factory-equipped with dual-quad carburetors.

• The third G.T. 500 to be serialized and completed.

• First was a fastback (0100), second was a coupe (0131), and then this convertible (0139).

• One of two 1967 model year vehicles to be upgraded with 1968-styled fiberglass for photographic purposes. The other car was an Acapulco Blue fastback.

• Valued at $4,249.76, the convertible was the most expensive G.T. 500 in Shelby American's company car inventory (per the Vehicle Fixed Asset Ledger 07/31/1967). This number doesn't include the $7,396 worth of handcrafted '68 styled fiberglass from A.O. Smith (in 2014 dollars, that's an additional $50,000 of parts).

• Initially claimed by Carroll Shelby as his "personal driver."

• One of the most photographed and publicized Shelby G.T. cars ever built. This was the convertible seen on the cover of the press kits, dealer literature and featured in every print ad introducing the 1968 Shelby Cobra G.T. models.

And Since This G.T. was Born on the Ford Mustang Assembly Line:

• The first Ford Mustang convertible to receive a 428cu.in. engine

• The only 1967 Mustang convertible factory-equipped with a 428 engine.

• The only Mustang convertible to be factory equipped with dual-quad (8v) carburetion.

• The third Mustang (all body styles) completed with a 428cu.in. engine.

• Recipient of first Ford reinforced C-6 "PCG-R" automatic gearbox, tag # PCG-R 000001.

Rarity as Compared to all Pony/Muscle Cars:

When looking beyond this car's significance to the Ford and Shelby arena, it's also worth pointing out that this is the only knownconvertiblepony car that received both dual-quad (2x4bbl) carburetion and air conditioning from the factory. The only other convertible pony cars to get dual-quads would be the 426ci Hemi cars, and none of those ever received factory air conditioning.

As Fate Would Have It

Many know it was common practice for automobile manufacturers, including Ford, to destroy pre-production prototypes and heavily modified post-production vehicles rather than expose them to the liability of having them somehow end up on public roads.

Ford also had a well-established history of selling safe, unmodified, regular production cars through their B-lot, which is exactly how the twelve 19641/2 Mustangs were disposed of after being used for the Magic Skyway Ride at the 1965 World’s Fair.

In the case of this 1967 convertible, Shelby’s use of the term disposal on internal hand-written documents simply implied that they would ship the car to Ford, along with all their other fixed assets when the Los Angeles operation was finally shuttered in August 1967.

The 1968 Shelby G.T. Was Designed by Ford, Not Shelby American

The numerous design changes between the 1967 and 1968 Shelby models weren’t for looks. They were to fix the problems caused by Shelby American’s design of the 1967 G.T. model. Problems included:

• The combination of the new front-end and hood provided a clamshell design that minimized hood-lift at speed.

• Widening and moving the hood scoop forward did a better job of capturing more amounts of fresh air for the large Holley carburetor.

• The added hood vents helped to extract the warm air from the engine bay (an update introduced mid-cycle to help eliminate the overheating problems on 1967 big block cars equipped with air conditioning).

• The rectangular Marchal lights set in the grille opening blocked less fresh air than the larger 6-inch circular inboard lights. They also didn’t upset the California DMV.

• The redesigned rear valance replaced the 1967 Cougar tail lights with those from a 1965 Ford Thunderbird. The shallower T-bird assemblies required less butchery of the Mustang’s rear panel, resulting in a better seal against noxious fumes and dust entering the trunk and passenger compartment.

• The addition of the new center console provided the interior with added comfort and additional storage.

• The added exterior bright-work and interior wood-grain applique were about the only purely aesthetic changes that Ford made to the car.

Insider Documents Found!

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The Styles’ website (1967shelbyconvertible.com) has all of the documents that they were able to uncover during their research into this car’s history, and reveal the details of the thought processes and decisions made during that timeframe, as well as much, much more. Here are a few of them, including the 1966-06-07 Staff Meeting Minutes that discuss the planned convertibles.

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