prototype, engineering and pre production vehicles

[ssmustang]

Hello:

  I am new to this forum but have been a member over at the Cobra Jet and Boss Forums for some time. I own a 69/70 engineering Mustang, won't use the P word as I have seen many heated discussions over that terminology, and I am not here to create controversy or represent my car as something it is not. I know I am quite late to the party but only recently found the Serendipity article on Lowells Shelby done back in 2009. I can't believe in my years of research I failed to include 'Shelby' in a search. My bad!

  The article very much got my attention. Two specific items were the X designation which I have not seen before, and the second was the revelation that a 'Program Description Book' still exists.

  My purpose here is to possibly expand the information base of these special vehicles. I was not there, some that were have helped me in my efforts and as we all know and have seen we continue to lose those that were directly involved in these programs.

  A few things I am looking for or trying to sort out:

  X vehicles - how many vehicles are known to exist with this designation?

  Photos or video from 68/69 at any of the Ford test tracks (Dearborn, Romeo or APG). I have heard of a promotional video 'Torino' which reports to have footage from the Romeo proving Grounds, have not been successful locating it so far.

  I know this one does not seem to interest many, but I have been trying to better understand the 'Asset tracking system' aka Brass tags.

  I very much understand and totally agree that individuals who possess this information want to remain anonymous and not have certain documents, tags, etc. exposed. We live at a time when money incentivizes the creation of fakes and Photoshop becomes a great tool if you can start with something real. Thankfully, this site and others expose these vehicles quite quickly.

 Thanks,

 
   

[Coralsnake]

I have not seen any references to Shelbys being called "x-vehicles".
That may be exclusively a Ford designation.

Brass tag cars were different to the best of my knowledge. They were cars assigned to Ford executives for the most part. I am aware of some brass tag Shelbys.

68-70 Shelbys there are very few preproduction cars. Most cars were built as Mustangs and then assigned to Shelby engineering for a specific purpose. (Lowells car is not like that)  During these years that number is probably around 60-70 cars

This video is from the test track in Dearborn. These were very early Shelbys. The red fastback, 9S02S100026, is a pre-Shelby production car. The convertible is Shelby car number 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fzTpCEP82M

[ssmustang]

 Sorry Coralsnake, should have clarified that question. I know the X designation was a Ford thing but giving that Lowells vehicle had been tracked back to December 8, 1964 I would assume there may be more besides just Mustangs. Cougars, Torino, etc? Thanks as always.

[TransamEd]

There used to be a list (as of 2009) of early 1967 brass tag cars (delivered until Dec. 1966) on the FE-Forum listing Fairlanes, Galaxies and Mustangs with the brass tag numbers first digits (last digits removed for obvious reason).
I counted 20 on this list for the Detroit area only. The listed ones were mostly for the 427 development, 14 of those showing specific 427 engine test usage, 2 for drag tests, some for highway use.
Nothing with a word Shelby..

[ssmustang]

 TransamEd: Thanks for that information. I will head over there and see if I can find this list.

[LightWtJet]

Brass tag cars were different to the best of my knowledge. They were cars assigned to Ford executives for the most part. I am aware of some brass tag Shelbys.

This video is from the test track in Dearborn. These were very early Shelbys. The red fastback, 9S02S100026, is a pre-Shelby production car. The convertible is Shelby car number 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fzTpCEP82M
===========
I would like to comment on these statements-
Brass tags were added to all prototypes at Ford. They were used to track costs and workloads by year, carline and body style for the numerous programs.  Yes, executive cars got them also.
I am quite sure the video you provided was at the Michigan Proving Grounds in Romeo Mi. not the smaller Dearborn Track. There were no trees beside the track in Dearborn. I worked at the Dearborn track for over 36 years. My 1968 Mustang did development work at the Dearborn track.
The 4,000 acre Romeo Track opened in 1957 and contained a high-speed test track, numerous roads of various surfaces and topographies, a hill climb track, and a salt bath -- along with offices, garages and support structures.

[ssmustang]

 Thanks for your input Roger, always appreciated from those who were there. Here is a little more on the Romeo facility. You can zoom out to see the entire complex. I was told vehicles that would be sent there from the X garage were trailered. Is this something you could confirm? Another interesting tidbit I recently found out was many 'engineering/prototypes' were sent from Detroit to the APG for final sign offs? Any info on that?
https://clui.org/ludb/site/ford-michigan-proving-ground

Here is a link to APG.
https://clui.org/ludb/site/arizona-proving-ground-0
 

[LightWtJet]

Thanks Bob- Nice layouts on the two tracks - brings back lots of memories.
Cars were trailered to the Romeo(MPG) track to allow the track driver to return home. A typical trip there would be to run a car on General or Rough Road Durability after it was prepared at the Experimental garage.
APG (Arizona Proving Ground) was used for engine cooling work, salt bath corrosion, truck and vehicle testing when the weather was poor in Dearborn. Of interest to Mustang performance buffs, Engine Division did drag testing on the first Cobra Jet Engine there recoding times of 13.2 secs. This was a blue printed engine and that time was unheard of from a production vehicle. This allowed work on signing off the engine to proceed.
Bob - Perhaps you could share more details on the Brass Tags as I believe you have accumulated quite a bit of info on them.