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Here is a thread and discussion on this vehicle from earlier this year.

Thanks


https://www.saacforum.com/index.php?topic=22221.msg169698#msg169698

[I do not know]

Hot Water heaters were an AO Smith product of Milwaukee.  I have never heard the former Ionia employees mentioning anything about hot water heater production in the Ionia plant.  Ionia's specialty was automotive related products from the Mitchell Bentley days forward and also fiberglass technology - therefore the Corvette and Shelby related production.

I can not say if the badge is authentic or not - I do not know.   If I were the individual interested in purchasing though, I would just want to do more homework to make sure what I was purchasing was in fact authentic and researching stuff like this can be really fun and lead to learning other things.  That is just me.  If it could be verified as the real deal then think how much better one might feel about the purchase vs always wondering if in fact it may be something different. 

I just wanted to maybe clarify some items from the other post and help clarify a more accurate picture of the Ionia operations from back in the day. When information and assumptions about the history of the Ionia plant get mixed up, that is what I am more passionate about.   

In a separate For Sale post - there is discussion about AO Smith security badging and guard shacks.  Per posting guidelines, I am attempting to clarify a few items mentioned in that posting -  through this separate discussion.

There is a prior comment in the other posting that contains interview information that pertains to an AO Smith employee who worked out of the Milwaukee AO Smith facility - NOT - the Ionia, MI facility.  The Ionia facility was the only division that converted the Mustangs into Shelbys.  While this was occurring, this plant and facility was making a lot of other products including fiberglass parts yet for the vette (but no longer the vette bodies).  So if the facility was producing so much more than Shelby conversions, than why would the badge designate just Shelby??   I just spoke with a friend and former AO Smith engineer from that time period who stated that employees were not identified by product or product line worked on.  This was a union facility and employees could be working on Shelbys one day and working on Corvette parts another day.

There was also only ONE guard shack at the Ionia AO Smith facility and it was basic at best - and located on one of the side streets.  See the two included photos.  This guard shack was on West Main street and only some of the employees would have passed by the shack on the way to a facility entrance from this side and location of the building.  Again, only one guard shack but multiple employee entrance locations.

The Ionia, MI facility also went through a number of name changes during its existence including: Ypsilanti Reed Furniture (1913-1948)  Mitchell-Bentley Corporation (1953-1964)  Dow Smith, AO Smith, General Tire (1971- ), Gencorp (last name before the factory was torn down in 1996).  That would be another flag to me regarding the prior mentioned interview when the individual says he worked at AO Smith for 38 years.  Yes - very believable for AO Smith Milwaukee employees and not questioning that - but not as much for a an AO Smith employee of Ionia.  The AO Smith name was for a small time period and one of many names used.

This is just my opinion, but I would therefore want proof or verification from a former Ionia AO Smith employee before accepting that this is the real deal. Ionia was a really really rural town back in the AO Smith time period and not sure that the badge fits the time period and location.  My opinion only

Please see the link below to the on-line Old Cars Weekly article by Al Rogers. 
There are some great photos and information in this article.  Check it out.


https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/found-a-special-shelby-in-a-stable

Here are a few photos of the car at its 37 year storage location in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Per Pete's comment, there is a lot of original paint on the car (including wind tunnel fixture marks).

There are plenty of shiny restored red Shelbys out there.  But how many 1969 pilot plant cars with original red paint and original white stripes are out there?  This will be an awesome barn find display vehicle at the upcoming MCACN show.  Thanks to the new owner and Billups Restorations for sharing it in this "as found" condition with all of us. 

Lowell

An nice 7 page article by Al Rogers with a lot of great photos will be out soon.  Just a heads up.

Old Cars Weekly - October 15, 2023 edition.

This magazine is available through subscription only - with a digital subscription option available.

Thanks Pete - It was an honor to have been included as a "resource" for the family

To help all interested to understand how the car ended up at Montcalm Community College - the college is located 20 miles directly up the road north of Ionia, MI  (home of AO Smith and the Shelby garage operations in 1968 -1969)

The awesome thing from a Shelby historical perspective is that both the 1967 prototype GT500 that was donated to the Michigan Training Unit Prison (Ionia, MI) for shop class purposes and the 1969 prototype 100029 donated to the college were NOT destroyed and still exist today.  That could have easily been a different scenario for either vehicle.

On a side note - I have a car friend who still lives in Ionia, MI who attended the college when the Shelby was in the shop class and he got to rebuild the transmission back in the day.  How cool is that!!

Here is a photo of the car when it was at Montcalm Community College in mid-michigan.  This photo appears in the Shelby American #49.

In hopes of keeping this story accurate - the car originally had a 390 4-speed.  That was changed out within the first couple of months of the car's life and replaced with a 428 CJ and an automatic.  (This is shown in the Shelby Inventory documents from October 1968). The 390 is obviously long gone. 

Thanks to former SAAC member Bill VanEss, the college sought legal advice on if the car could be auctioned off and since Shelby American was not an entity any longer - the college got the car titled and auctioned it off in May, 1985.  Kurt Knoll purchased the car with 27,000 miles on it and has had the car ever since.  The car still has basically the same mileage on it as it did in 1985 (and the wind tunnel fixture checking marks in the paint.)

Mr. Knoll passed away last year.  I was able to see the car for the first time this past February though had been aware of it since 2001.  (And it was less than 10 miles from my house)  I also spent many hours with the car this summer -  gathering the parts that had been taken off of it over the years by Mr. Knoll.  I look forward to seeing what Jason does with this car - refresh or restore.  I am thinking this might be a good time to possibly write an article about the car for the Shelby American Magazine.

Lowell

Check out the Manufacturer Plate that I purchased at an indoor swap meet last weekend in Kalamazoo, MI.

What are the odds of finding this plate?
And then the odds of connecting the dots ......??

Fun stuff - You just never know. 


Lowell

Here are a few photos of the car as seen this past weekend at the MCACN - Gilmore Auto Museum show.

Thanks

The 67 Registry has arrived in West Michigan!!!!

A huge thanks to Dave and Nancy Mathews for all of their time and efforts in making this happen.


Lowell

[first four 1967 GT500s made]

Hi Pete - there were 2 additional vehicles that I am aware of that received 1968 fiberglass.  Those cars are 1967 GT500 #100, and the 1967 GT500 prototype V738-2.  I have an email from Fred Goodell jr stating V738-2 was used as a 1968 fiberglass fit test car at the Ionia Shelby engineering garage.  This car was then painted custom metal flake gold by Sonny Fee just prior to being donated by Shelby American to the Michigan Training unit prison.  I am including a newspaper photo of the donation on 12-30-1968 and a photo of the car in the MTU prison body shop in 1987.  What is also interesting about all of this is that these 4 vehicles were the first four 1967 GT500s made.  First V738-2 in September 1966 and then the other three - 100, 131, and 139 three months later in December 1966.  All four of these GT500s were at the French Lick Shelby show this past October for a historic reunion. 

On another note - I was told by an Ionia AO Smith employee who was the shop foreman that the first 1968 Shelby was a gold gt350 - (that ended up being the Paris show car).  That is what he told me - and had a photo above his fireplace of him and 3 other AO Smith employees behind the car inside of AO Smith as "proof".  For what it is worth.

Lowell

Totally worth the price.  Chuck was there - how many other book authors on this topic were?  This book contains a lot of written information about the operation as well as great photos.  This is a must have book for anybody wanting to know the real details about Shelby American back in the day. This is also a quality printed book with good binding and heavy pages. You will not regret the purchase.

[Very First 1967 Shelby GT500]

The Rumor is correct Bob - let's make it FOUR red 67s.  Given the historical significance of the trio planning to attend, I thought it would be a great addition to the show if the Very First 1967 Shelby GT500 be there with them.  V738-2 paved the way for the trio's existence and was built approximately 3 months before the other three GT500s (100, 131, 139).

Please stop by and say "Hi" if attending the show.

Lowell

When Shelby operations moved to Michigan in August, 1967 – they set up an engineering garage in Ionia, Michigan that had been a former car dealership.  This smaller sized building was located a block to the East of AO Smith.  There were maybe 15 employees that worked out of this facility including Chief engineer Fred Goodell, and painter Sonny Fee.  There was also a Shelby office located in the Southfield / Livonia area just outside of Detroit.  This was only an office and did not have any provisions for working on cars.

While in Ionia, the Shelby engineering garage was not fenced off or secure so if the cars were not being worked on inside the engineering facility, the other vehicles were either in the prototyping department at AO Smith or in the AO Smith lot, which was fenced off and guarded.   

There is a Shelby Engineering Cars Inventory document that exists dated January 24, 1969.  On this 2 page document are 14 vehicles with a simple inventory number assigned to it.  Little Red was inventory number 67st103.  The 1967 Shelby GT500 prototype was inventory number 67st102.  1967 GT 500 #100 is listed on the document as 67st109 and the gold 1968 GT500 number 101 conelec vehicle was assigned inventory number 68st203.   Three of the vehicles mentioned above ended up getting sold through the dealer in Littleton, Colorado – so that helps explain how that could have occurred.

In those hand written notes questioned – that obviously did not happen and  am thinking at that time Ford did not care what Carroll "wanted" to occur.  The car he was probably envisioning was what ended up to be the Green Hornet – which was Inventory number 68st133 – painted by Sonny Fee and made in Ionia, not California. 

As a side note to Eric's comments - 67st102 – the 1967 Shelby GT500 prototype was also shipped to Ionia from California and sat in the Ionia engineering garage and was a 1968 fiberglass and fit test car for the duration of the 1968 year – so another 1967 car that received 1968 fiberglass.  This was explained to me by Fred Goodell Jr about 20 years ago. (I still have the email)  The car still wore that 1968 fiberglass while serving as a shop class car in an Ionia prison for over thirty years.  67st102 is not listed on this inventory document because it was donated to the prison on December 31, 1968.  The car still has the dried label maker adhesive of 67st102 on its windshield today.