1965 VIN’s

[gt350hr]

  272 was a "roof stripe, Cragar wheel" car shipped together with two other no stripe , steel wheel cars with serials in the 400s to my local dealer in Anaheim Ca. Jim Schield's wife bought 272 new from McCoy Ford and they still have it. Craig Conley ( at one time) owned the other two "plain cars. The Ford vins were farther apart than just a couple hundred.
   Randy

[Bigblock]

I'll ask about this story I've heard since this conversation about 65 VINs is on going. A local Shelby member purchased a 65 fastback K code built in San Jose that is painted pale yellow. He says that this car was destined for SA because its VIN is in a block of VINs of others that went to SA. But someone needed a yellow car for a special order so this one was pulled and finished. I'm thinking he got this story from the PO. How could that ever be proven?

[CharlesTurner]

I'll ask about this story I've heard since this conversation about 65 VINs is on going. A local Shelby member purchased a 65 fastback K code built in San Jose that is painted pale yellow. He says that this car was destined for SA because its VIN is in a block of VINs of others that went to SA. But someone needed a yellow car for a special order so this one was pulled and finished. I'm thinking he got this story from the PO. How could that ever be proven?

Paperwork would be the only possible explanation.  Although, even if it were true, what's significant about it?  The car never became a Shelby.

[Coralsnake]

I think all the 1965s were white. There is no added value for a " might have been"

[Bob Gaines]

Not the way Ford's system works . Add this story to the long list of improbable unsupported Shelby related stories out there. It was entertaining to hear another one however.

[gt350hr]

   +1 Bob, "most" people don't understand how the assembly line went. It wasn't "all Mustangs , all the time". Nor was it "run a hundred K codes"  and go back to A and C codes.
   Randy

[427heaven]

I have had many K CODES over the years but never thought to add on ... Ya know... This was going to be a SHELBY ! The coulda shoulda woulda never added value in my eyes maybe because it was the pale yellow color issue, that he wanted to fluff it up some. That color seems the hardest to get rid off, painted them resale red- end of problem.

[6R07mi]

I'll ask about this story I've heard ........... He says that this car was destined for SA because its VIN is in a block of VINs of others that went to SA.
But someone needed a yellow car for a special order so this one was pulled and finished. I'm thinking he got this story from the PO. How could that ever be proven?

IMHO not likely since the SAI destined cars were scheduled to be built to DSO add & delete spec, assembly plants don't function well to deviation from planning schedules.
cars were built in whatever batches could accommodate unique materials as they arrived at San Jose. i.e. C5ZX- parts, axles with 10x2.5" brakes, BW T10 trans, brake prop valve, etc

jim p

[J_Speegle]

   +1 Bob, "most" people don't understand how the assembly line went. It wasn't "all Mustangs , all the time". Nor was it "run a hundred K codes"  and go back to A and C codes.
   Randy

+1 Allot of confusion between how the orders were received, processed, then how they were built. Plenty of "I heard" and flat out made up ideas that have been repeated over and over again. There was one I heard a couple of times told at shows, back 30 years ago, where the story was that they "ran out of K code engines so they built Shelby's with 6 cylinders and later shipped the K codes to Shelby where they met up with the cars and were installed" 

We've learned allot over the years through interviews with managers, workers, guys that laid out the plant, documents and more that have helped with the understanding we have today. Having the read completion date for 67 production (would have been nice to have things like start dates) has helped allot. We have a much better idea of what took place but there appears that their will always be some unknowns and some stories will always persist.

[camp upshur]

I have encountered the *opposite*. Two years ago at the Pismo Beach Saturday morning cruise there was a basic white 271hp 4sp 2+2, rough, complete and unrestored with a VIN of 5R09K217XXX. The owner was unaware and I did not play it up. That is right in the middle of the May 65 SFMs.

(thank you J_Speegle)

[gt350hr]

  That's odd, my '66 carryover cars were all 5R09K 24xxxx . That run was built after May for sure.
   Randy

[shelbydoug]

I have encountered the *opposite*. Two years ago at the Pismo Beach Saturday morning cruise there was a basic white 271hp 4sp 2+2, rough, complete and unrestored with a VIN of 5R09K217XXX. The owner was unaware and I did not play it up. That is right in the middle of the May 65 SFMs.

(thank you J_Speegle)

Could it be a GT350 that was retitled as a Mustang?

[J_Speegle]

Could it be a GT350 that was retitled as a Mustang?

Sure he looked at the vin when looking at it and would have taken notice of the two holes for the Shelby tag if they were there.  Plenty of examples of Mustangs and other Ford models built on the same assembly line and built between cars that would later become Shelby's though they were ordered in the same DSO and assigned VIN's when the order was received months or more earlier.

[dockbay]

I was in LA over the weekend at a wonderful Shelby event at the Petersen Museum and brought 5S276 (one of the cars identified in the above picture) back to her birthplace!! 

[propayne]

That's so cool - thanks for posting!

- Phillip