1967 Super Snake for sale?

[BGlover67]

https://www.mecum.com/lots/FL0119-359599/1967-shelby-gt500-super-snake/

Interesting that Kieth found her alone with her keys in the ignition, and now this.  Well, here is everyone's chance to finally get a shot at the SS herself.  Guess on price?  Why didn't the current owner just call Vern?

1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake
The One-of-One Shelby Supercar Main Attraction!
Auction held by Mecum at Kisssimmee, FL, Jan 3-19

Highlights

    The one and only 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake
    GT40 Mk II 427 engine, built specifically for this car
    Purpose-built for the Goodyear Thunderbolt tire test
    Shelby invoice, MSO and Goodyear tire test photos
    One-off chrome inboard headlight surrounds
    Unique Le Mans Blue hood striping to distinguish the car
    Fitted with passenger car, 7.75x15-inch Goodyear Thunderbolt whitewall tires
    The Super Snake drove 500 miles at an average of 142 MPH and retained 97% of the original tire tread
    The Super Snake was never mass produced because the projected retail price would be over twice the price of a baseline GT500 and more than a 427 Cobra
    This prototype was sold in August 1967 for $5,000
    Featured in many magazines and My Classic Car

When Ford redesigned the Mustang in 1967 to take the 390/320 HP big-block V-8, Carroll Shelby took the next logical step and introduced the GT500, the first big-block Shelby GT, powered by a modified Police Interceptor 428 CI engine rated at 355 HP. Buyers took to the new car immediately, and the car outsold its small-block GT350 stablemate 2,048 to 1,175 units. In addition to his partnership with Ford, Shelby was also the West Coast distributor for Goodyear, who in February asked Shelby to take part in a promotional event for its new Thunderbolt line of economy tires. Shelby judged that the GT500 would be the perfect choice for an extended high-speed demonstration of the new tire, but the decision took a twist when former Shelby American Sales Manager Don McCain approached Shelby with the idea of building a supercar that would outperform anything else in the world. Then employed by Dana Chevrolet in South Gate, California, and Mel Burns Ford in Long Beach, McCain suggested that Shelby put a racing 427 in the GT500 for the test, let him sell the car and then build 50 more for Burns.

Ever one to leap at opportunity, Shelby instructed Fred Goodell, Shelby American's chief engineer on loan from Ford, to prepare a GT500 with a special engine for the test, which would be held at Goodyear's high-speed test facility near San Angelo, Texas. Goodell selected GT500 No. 544 for the task: "We rebuilt it with a special lightweight 427 racing engine; special rear axle, special transmission and, of course, Thunderbolt tires." McCain later described the engine as "the mother of all 427s at that time ... aluminum heads, aluminum water pump, forged crank, Le Mans rods, just basically everything inside the engine was built to run sustained 6,000 RPM—to race at Le Mans." Essentially, it was the same powerplant used in the GT40 MkII that had won the famous French endurance race the previous year, including a variation on the MkII's "bundle of snakes" exhaust system and its 600 HP output. Goodell made other modifications to prepare the car for the tire test. An external oil cooler, braided lines and a remote oil filter were installed to increase the 427's reliability; stiffer springs and shocks were mounted on the passenger side of the GT500 to counteract the high-speed cornering forces it would encounter on Goodyear's 5-mile oval track. Goodell completed the car with one-off chrome inboard headlight surrounds and a unique version of the production Le Mans striping with two narrow blue stripes flanking a wide blue center stripe, elements that distinguish it from all other GT500s.

Upon its arrival in Texas the last week of March, the Super Snake was fitted with Shelby 10-spoke aluminum wheels mounted with 7.75-15 Thunderbolt whitewall tires, which were overinflated with nitrogen to keep the sidewalls rigid and prevent overheating. Before the test commenced, Shelby took a number of invited journalists, including the editors of "Time" and "Life" magazines, for demonstration laps around the track. Over the years, there were conflicting claims as to who actually drove the car on its 500-mile test, but the story was set straight by Goodell during an interview for an episode of Speed Channel's "My Classic Car." After the demonstration runs, during which Shelby reached a top speed of 170 MPH, Goodell recounted, "[Shelby] came back and he handed me his helmet and he says, 'I've got to go to Washington, so you go ahead and drive the test. And so I got back in the car and I drove the car in the 500-mile test. We drove at 142 MPH average for 500 miles." The test was a complete success; the skinniest tires ever mounted on a Shelby GT, the Thunderbolts had performed flawlessly, retaining 97 percent of their original tread.

The Super Snake was then shipped back to Mel Burns Ford in California, where it remained on display while McCain worked to generate interest for a limited run of 50 427-powered GT500s. At over twice the price of a baseline GT500, the Super Snake was priced well beyond its competition, including Shelby's own 427 Cobra. McCain was forced to admit the car was "just too expensive"; it was ultimately shipped to Dallas where it was purchased by Braniff International Airways pilots James Hadden and James Gorman, who then replaced its original 2.73 gearset with a 4.10 unit for drag racing. The Shelby Registry states the car was purchased in 1970 by Bobby Pierce of Benbrock, Texas, who cared for it for 25 years before selling it to David Loebenberg of Florida.

The Super Snake returned to California seven years later when it was bought by Charles Lillard, who later sold it to Richard Ellis, a collector of rare Mustangs in Illinois, at which point the car registered 26,000 miles on the odometer and showed almost no deterioration.

Ellis proceeded with what he describes as a "light restoration," locating the correct wires and hoses for the engine compartment, a period-correct Rotunda fire extinguisher, NOS Shelby 10-spoke wheels and, amazingly, four brand-new Thunderbolt whitewall tires in the proper size. As Ellis explained in an interview with "Auto Enthusiast Magazine" in September 2011, "I wanted to own this piece of Shelby history worse than anything. It was well cared for by its previous owners, but I've put a lot of effort into returning it to the state it was in on the day of the tire test."

Ellis elaborated about the tires: "The Thunderbolts were made for ... well, boring family cars in the '60s, which is why nobody reproduces them or has even heard of them for 35 years. I found what has to be the only surviving set in a warehouse in Akron, Ohio. I'm sure Shelby pulled the original Thunderbolts and threw them away when the car got back to California."

The Super Snake was also featured in the book, "Million Dollar Muscle Cars" by Colin Comer, and in 2013, ownership changed hands to Shelby collector John Wickey, who has fastidiously cared for this illustrious one-of-one Shelby super car for the past five years.

Built with the heart of a Le Mans champion yet ultimately destined for but one day in the sun, there is only one Super Snake, the result of a confluence of forces that could only have happened in the charmed life of one Carroll Shelby.

[Bob Gaines]

 It is kind of a pet peeve of mine everytime someone says how well done or well preserved this car is. I hope someone buys it and wants to restore it back to condition it was like Mel Burns Ford finished it. Forget tire test day and those god awful looking tires.   "I've put a lot of effort into returning it to the state it was in on the day of the tire test ." It hasn't come close to being returned to that day yet.   Richard Ellis had the best of intentions but was obviously out of his element given what was done and what was not done. Their are so many historical mistakes on the car when he owned it even after the "light restoration" then and even more now it is hard to know where to start. I have been around and looked the car over some 3 decades now. The car was restored under Bobby Pierce's ownership and although nice for time it was not close to state of the art way back then let alone now.Richard Ellis's restoration consisted of adding a few NOS parts. Some where appropriate and others not IMO. A significant Shelby like the Supersnake deserves a significant well done restoration IMO. John Wiky the current owner told me the day he bought it that he was not going to do anything restoration wise with it and instead use it to drive to local cruise nights . More power to him since it is his car. At the very least take all of the add on junk off and make it look like did day 2 after Mel Burns Ford had their way with it. For example as far as correct historical build even given the 427 modifications the car would have trouble scoring even a low bronze in the shape it is now. It still looks like a great driver just like it was when Ed Meyer and myself at the wheel drag raced it outside Fontana some years ago. Ed had his turn also. If someone wanted more then the driver quality is now (nothing wrong with that if that is your expectations)  then I would love to help make it righteous again in a advisory capacity. 

[Bob Gaines]

Yes ,I would love to own it but it is past me in the ownership dept now.

[Side-Oilers]

Bob, please regale us with info on how the car was to drag race.  That's pretty awesome.

[Side-Oilers]

Looked at the pix on the Mecum site. Seems strange that the carb has a choke plate. Not too bueno for extended high rpm running.

[Bob Gaines]

Bob, please regale us with info on how the car was to drag race.  That's pretty awesome.

Charlie Lillard ask if we wanted to drive it and we both said ok . He said drive like you stole it or something like that but if you break it you fix it . I said we can do that . We drove it though the tunnel to the outside outer road and I floored it in the tunnel . You should have heard the echo. We drove around the outer road to the front gate . We made a turn at the front gate to head back the other way and I saw a Ferrari F40 pass by .  I can't remember if Ed told me to race him ,yeah that was it  . Anyway I sped up to catch him but when I got about  1/4 the way even he floored it so I followed suite . The Ferrari had the advantage since he started first . Ed was screaming like a little girl (not really I just want to stir him up) . I shifted into second and started to pull him good.  I wound it out to a little under 6 K (it was someone else's car after all and I really didn't want to be rebuilding a engine) . I went to shift into third and the shifter malfunctioned  (no I missed 3rd) . The F 40 sped on . Ed bellowed "OK my turn" .  I stopped and we did a Chinese fire drill. Ed did a few bonzi spurts on the outer road before driving back to the inside of the track to give the car back to Charlie. I told Charlie what I did and he thought I was joking . To this day I don't think he believes that we dragged the Supersnake.       

[Side-Oilers]

Awesome!  I hot rodded CSX2000 around for about an hour, back in 1999 (with CS's blessing) but your experience is right up there.

[1690]

For starters, they need to take the reproduction 10-spokes off of it.  As Bob said, I was a bit surprised when I looked at the car last week.  I thought it would have been well-sorted out before trying to sell it .

[Richstang]

None of the 1967 photos show it with an antenna on the fender, so even if the "Day 2" or Tire Test Day approach was followed shouldn't that be removed?
I wonder about the red Koni's., maybe they were an SAI or Mel Burns upgrade for this specific car, but not from Ford San Jose.
Any thoughts?

[T-Bone68]

Great stories Bob.  Thank you for sharing.

Other questions about originality if anyone knows:
-The 1965-1967 SAAC registry has an old picture of the car with what looks like a Hurst t handle.  Did it have the Hurst t handle or white ball as originally setup?
-Recent pictures show an oil temp gauge nestled between the oil pressure and ammeter ones.  Again, was that original setup or later addition?

[Greg]

Awesome car!

[JWH]

Bob - great story! I truly hope the next owner will bring you on as a consultant to get this car historically correct.

According to a Hemmings article, the Super Snake sold at Mecum's Spring Indy auction in 2013 for $1.3 million.
Jeff

[BGlover67]

According to a Hemmings article, the Super Snake sold at Mecum's Spring Indy auction in 2013 for $1.3 million.
Jeff

How much do you want to bet it sells for less than that?  I don't wish that on the current owner, I hear he is very nice.  But it is looking a little long in the tooth as Bob mentioned.  It kinda reminds me of folks that buy a house, live it for years.  They never spend a dime on updating anything and then want top dollar when they go to sell years later.  Not the best business model.

[427heaven]

When you own the only one, and the best of the litter, prices don't go down they go up. Sitting in a collection doesn't hurt its looks or performance any. Good Luck to the future owner of the MOTHER OF ALL SHELBYS-

[1690]

When you own the only one, and the best of the litter, prices don't go down they go up. Sitting in a collection doesn't hurt its looks or performance any. Good Luck to the future owner of the MOTHER OF ALL SHELBYS-

I think Shelby's personal Super Snake, twin-Paxton, Cobra went down...$5.5 million (2007) to $5.1 million (2015).