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lways on the alert for anything
Shelby-related, and especially
vigilant for anything R-Model, we
came across a Ford press release dated
April 28, 2015 announcing that they
would be producing a limited run of
100 2015 Shelby GT350s to commem-
orate the GT350’s 50th anniversary.
They would also be releasing 37 spe-
cial GT350R models to pay homage to
the original 1965 Shelby factory com-
petition version of the GT350. The R-
Models were promised to be ultra-high
performance cars without rear seats,
air conditioning and other amenities.
They would be 130 lbs. lighter than a
comparable Mustang and were likely
be the quickest and most responsive
Mustangs Ford has ever built.
Once the initial wave of euphoria
subsided, we were left staring at the
number “37.” SAAC’s newest registry,
printed in 2011, pinned the number of
R-Models at 36. We recalled that we
had counted the number of R-Models
in SAAC’s 1987 Registry (28 years
ago) as 37. We immediately called the
1965-1966 GT350 Registrar, Howard
Pardee, to see if he remembered it the
same as we did. After all, he is the
Grand Master where these cars are
concerned. Pardee recalled that the 37
number was based on factory docu-
ments we had discovered in Shelby
American’s attic between 1985 and
that book’s publication date of 1987.
Work orders, shipping invoices and
sales invoices for the competition ver-
sions showed that two prototypes were
built initially (5R001 and 5R002), fol-
lowed by three batches of cars from
the San Jose assembly plant: 15 units,
5 units, and 15 units. The math was
pretty straight-forward: 2 + 15 + 5 +
15 = 37.
However, between the 1987 Reg-
istry and the 1997 edition, more fac-
tory documents were found including
the “Holy Grail” of 1965 GT350 pro-
duction, a hand-written ledger con-
taining every Shelby serial number
and the correlating Ford VINs (along
with the dates they started and fin-
ished production) for every car. We
used this list to verify which cars were
built into R-Models (there had previ-
ously not been any questions, but hav-
ing the Ford VINs provided absolute,
irrefutable proof).
We began to attach Ford numbers
to the cars in these three batches:
5R094 - 5R108, 5R209 - 5R213 and
5R537 - 5R540 and pretty quickly we
discovered that we were one car short.
The numbers no longer added up to
37: 2 + 15 + 5 + 14 = 36. After double-
and triple-checking both the Shelby
and Ford numbers to the point of
being bleary-eyed, we were at a loss to
explain the missing car.
The problem was in the final batch
of R-Models. There were fifteen Ford
VINs but only fourteen Shelby num-
bers. We poured over the ledger and
found the discrepancy. Keep in mind
that the Mustangs ordered by Shelby
American were built as “knock-
downs” – the term used at the assem-
bly plant for a car that had some parts
purposely left off during production.
We all know that Shelbys left San Jose
without hoods, rear seats and exhaust
systems. Additionally, cars earmarked
to be competition models had no sound
deadener, upholstery, carpeting, side
and rear windows or side vents. Once
these cars were delivered to Shelby
American, they were parked outside
the race shop in a long row, and were
not brought inside to be completed as
a finished R-Model until an order was
received.
It is also important to look at the
timeline. The last batch of yet-to-be-
finished R-Models was shipped to
Shelby American in late May 1965.
The second batch were being com-
pleted through the next few months,
but sales had slowed noticeably. Work
on some of the cars in the third batch
didn’t begin until October and Novem-
ber, and by this time the last cars from
the second batch were completed.
Aside from a pair of third batch
cars completed prior to the first of
1966, all of the remaining cars (with
the exception of two) were finished be-
tween January and July of 1966. The
last two shipped were in March 1967
(to Canada) and April 1967 (to Bel-
gium).
The SHELBY AMERICAN
314 Fall 2015
A