| Historic 1965
Shelby GT350 |
| Vehicle
Description |
|
In 1990 this car
was chosen to be placed on the cover of "Mustang Montly
Special 25th Shelby Anniversary Issue." Fully documented and
extremely desireable. This 65 Shelby demands respect when
driven to Shelby conventions and events. HISTORY This unit
(SFM5S508) was built in Shelby American's original L.A.
Airport Hanger Facility, alongside the famous Cobras, which
still stands today at 6501 W. Imperial Highway in Los Angeles,
California. This unit was built in June/July 1965 and served
as a "Factory Demonstrator" assigned to S/A executive Robert
Copher. It was eventually sold and invoiced to Ford-S/ A
dealership Burns Ford in Louisville, Kentucky on 2/4/66 for
$3,049.00 (enclosed is a copy of this invoice). According to
SAAC's official records, there were 525 cars made with the
1965-S Model designation, and 37-R Models, for a total of 562
production units built by Carroll Shelby the first model year.
The '65s were the cars that gave the breed their fame and
notoriety, which exists today. Rightfully the 1965 prices are
considerably higher than most other years with exceptions,
such as the rare 1966-GT350 convertibles and other rare
Shelby's produced. This particular unit (SFM5S508) has
undergone several complete frame up restorations by several
owners in years past and the largest percentage of it's parts
today are original S/A or Ford factory O.E.M. parts. At
SAAC-10's National Convention, this unit placed 4th in the
1965-GT350 Concours event with a decent score of 263/300.
Since 1987 this car has been kept garaged and covered. It is
insured, licensed and occasionally driven only in clear/dry
weather. It has won many 1st places at local shows and
completed nearly 30 high-speed laps at SAAC-14's Pennsylvania
Pocono Speedway, which ended abruptly with a front U-joint
failure. Today, SFM5S508 is simply immaculate (you could eat
off the bottom of the floorpan) and would make any owner just"
Gleam" with pride of ownership. It's a screamer too and runs
like a Banshee you can hear and feel this car coming before
you see it. This unit was originally sold by Burns Ford to a
gentleman who wanted a new (sports) car for his son's pending
high school graduation in 1966. Well, young 17 year old
William Girdler met his bride-to-be (Barbara) because of this
new car. After a mere 4-5 months of ownership William and his
father agreed to return the car back at Bums Ford and traded
it for something more "docile". William had accrued far too
many speeding tickets, so it was either the car or lose his
license "type" decision. William then traded his Shelby for a
Jaguar XKE at Burns Ford and then joined the Air Force. Now on
the "Used" car lot SFM5S508 was sold by Burns Ford for
$2,700.00 to it's second owner, Albert Tinnell of
Shepardsville, Kentucky, in mid-summer of 1966. In the fall of
1966 Albert installed a radio, cheater slicks on steel wheels,
moved the battery from the engine compartment to the rear,
installed AFX-type traction bars. He then took SFM5S508 to his
first drag race at Ohio Valley. He had a 1/8-mile ET of 8.50.
The original HiPo engine was destroyed in a race and a Chevy
350 engine with special engine mounts and a large radiator
were installed. (Enclosed is a picture of SFM5S508 taken in
the spring of 1967 at Clemont, Kentucky.) Sometime after this
period, SFM5S508 was painted sapphire with white stripes.
Later it was painted orange with a flat black roof with black
stripes by PeeWee at S&H Body Shop. SFM5S508 was drag
raced exclusively for 6 years, from 1966 to 1972 and was
campained under the name" Thunder Colt". In 1968 Dave Walker
of Louisville, Kentucky saw "Thunder Colt" at Cedar Creek
Bullet Dragway being raced in "C" stock or "E" sport (NHRA).
In 1972 "Thunder Colt" was again seen behind a gas station
sitting is tall weeds. Several months later it was gone.
"Thunder Colt" was then spotted in some barn and Dave Walker
then purchased SFM5S508 for $500.00 from Albert Tinnell. At
this time all that was there was a body, 5 original Shelby
wheels, 2 front Koni shocks, override traction bars, shock
towers cut out for a 350cu in small block Chevy engine. At
this time it had 17,000 miles. Dave parked the car at his
father's machine shop for 18 months. Dave than stripped the
paint off. Topcoat was orange body, flat black top. Next coat
was sapphire with white stripes. Next coat was the original
white with blue stripes. Dave then painted it black with white
stripes. (Enclosed is a picture of Dave Walker with the black
Shelby in Louisville, Kentucky.) Dave also installed 5.67
gears, Detroit Locker, 4-speed top loader with wide ratio,
original 289 HiPo, cyclone headers, oil/tach dash pod, fuel
pressure gauge mounted outside window, fiberglass rear shelf,
AM radio with one speaker up front in the center, radio
antenna was located at the rear passenger fender. In November
1974 Dave Walker sold SFM5S508 to Dave Trimby of Decator, IL
for $2,000 who then resold the vehicle I-week later to Ron
Davis of Souder, MO for $2,500. The mileage at this point was
32,500 miles. (Enclosed is the bill of sale with a picture of
the black Shelby.) Ron Davis then did a ground up restoration
on SFM5S508 to a FACTORY DRAG CAR condition. (Enclosed are
pictures of the restoration and a letter confirming the
restoration.) In 1981 Wayne Conover of Hanover, P A, purchased
SFM5S508 for $8,700. (Enclosed is a photo of this vehicle
parked among various Shelby's at Conover's Cobra Ranch.) In
1981 Dave Lipscombe of Mechanicsville, PA purchased SFM5S508
for $9,500. (Enclosed are various pictures of the vehicle.)
Dave also noted that the car had AF/X Ladder Bars installed
when he bought it. In August 1982, Dave Carbonneau of Somers,
CT purchased SFM5S508 with 36,249 miles on it. (Enclosed is
the registration title.) Dave Carbonneau did a complete ground
up restoration and brought SFM5S508 to a Concours level. Dave
then was trying to sell the car for $19,500. Mileage at this
point was 40,450 miles. (Enclosed are notes from Dave
Carbonneau.) In August 1986, Al Tallakson a United States
attorney of Pleasant Valley, NY purchased SFM5S508 with 40,345
miles on it. (Enclosed is the registration title.) In
September 1987, Former Owner of Wintersprings, FL purchased
SFM5S508 with 41,361 miles on it. (Enclosed is the
registration title.) Glen lived in sunny Wintersprings,
Florida and spent the next 2 years documenting the history of
SFM5S508 in the detail that we have today. Glen was also known
to take his vehicle to a Concours Judging Event and then
remove key components and update them with today's technology.
Glen then proceeded to drive SFM5S508 on the racetrack. (This
notoriety was what promoted SFM5S508 to be written up in
various magazines as enclosed.) As word spread of his
enthusiasm he eventually became a Florida SAAC representative
and hosting a number of Shelby events, including Shelby's 25th
anniversary event at Daytona, Florida. SFM5S508 was the
feature vehicle on the cover of Mustang Monthly's Special 25th
Anniversary issue of January 1990. It was also the lead car
running in a pack of five 1965 GT350 on the Daytona Track.
Glen drove SFM5S508 only on clear sunny days. Glen stated that
his vehicle has never seen a garden hose wash down all the
time he owned it. He only wiped it down with a wet rag. In
December 2001 Peter Rasmussen of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
purchased SFM5S508 with 45,552 miles on it and currently only
drives it on sunny, clear days. SPECIFICS Exterior: All Body
parts (sheetrnetal) and frame appear to be original Ford
components. There is simply no (zero) rust as the frame-up
restorations cured any issues with corrosion. The pain is
about 12 years old with some items, like the hood, being
newer. The paint work was done with Concours in mind to
replicate paint jobs of that era... very minor traces of
orange peel and only in small areas. It's still possess a
shinny, show quality exterior paint job with no apparent
scratch marks. The underside is spotless and this vehicle
often was displayed at car shows with the rear axle propped up
on "Guardsman Blue" jack stands for viewers to see the
extraordinarily clean underside. This was a key contributor to
its many 1st place awards in local Shelby/Mustang shows. All
glass is original clear except one minor scratch on the rear
windshield. This car was most likely shipped with steel wheels
and currently has Craig Conley's great looking 15" X 16"
Crager wheels that some GT350's had. All tires are like new.
Exhaust system is an exact duplication of the factory setup
with glass packs and exiting in front of the rear tires, but
only with slightly larger 2.5" pipes. Interior: All original
upholstery, S/ A racing style seat belts (dated 1965),
carpeting, fiberglass rear deck and all interior and door
panels. No tears in carpets or seats - perfect 10's. Has all
the original instrumentation, with a trio of new Ford
Motorsport water temp, oil temp and fuel pressure gauges
mounted in the center, under the dash. They're all black and
look great! The original pod mounted tachometer is tied into
the Ford Motorsport tachometer that's merely clamped to the
steering column, which is protected with a rubber grommet,
which is made from a tire inner tube. Both tachometers work,
as does all other instrumentation. Bottom line, everything on
this car works there isn't even so much a bulb needing to be
replaced. The car comes with one original "Blue Dot" Goodyear
tire (they're priceless) mounted on an original steel wheel.
The dash, CS instrument pod, CS tachometer, CS oil pressure
gauges and radio block-off plate all are original and in
perfect working condition. The steering wheel is 100% original
wood-aluminum type with slotted-spokes. Engine: Less than
5,000 miles on a fresh rebuild. It's estimated the output is
in the 350-360 H.P. range. The intake manifold, valve covers
and oil pan, headers are genuine S/A parts. The original
Holley 735cfrn, with Lernans bowls has been restored to
original specifications and refinished to original color by
Holley's restoration shop. It's sealed, brand new, in their
original box ready to install. The newer Holley Model 4010
HiPo 750 cfrn, vacuum 4-BBL is installed today and performs
exceptionally well. The transmission is a close ratio
Toploader custom built by Dan Williams (Mr. Toploader) and the
shift lever is the original one which means the setup looks
original, except it's connected to a Toploader (a superior
choice). I could never get away from point-float with the
original duel-point Ford distributor, so it has a neatly
packaged and installed MSD electronic ignition, coupled with
Ford Motorsport's electronic distributor (has MSD guts), so it
looks original. At 7,000 R.P .M's (this engine's cam redline)
you'll never desire anything but an electronic ignition system
and I do have the 7K limiter chip installed. I had the
original dual-point rebuilt, so it looks new and it's
included. There's two (2) in-line fuel pumps, one NASCAR Ford
Motorsport high volume mechanical (primary) and one electrical
(secondary). There's a switch under the dash to turn on the
electrical pump when it's get serious "Con Brio" time!!
SPECIAL HISTORY 1. Shelby American Factory Invoice: held at
SAAC headquarters. 2. Shelby American - Volume 5, #6, Page 59
"SFM5S508...a Factory Drag car???" 3. Shelby American #54,
Page 39. 4. Mustang Monthly Article: "Return ToThe Fold" page
38 (3/88). 5. Hot Rod Magazines Mustang "Mustangs 25d1
Anniversary Spectacular" Article: X-Ray Vision (5/89). Note:
31 photos of this car appear in this one issue. 6. Mustang
Monthly's Cover Car "SpeciaI25d1 Anniversary" Issue (1/90). 7.
Mustang Monthly Article: '65 Times 5, page 48 (1/90). 8. Walt
Hane - 1966 SCCA-B Class-National Champion leads Shelby Parade
at Daytona Speedways 24 hour Endurance Race driving SFM5S508
(2/90). 9. SVRA Registered - (Previously). 10. SAAC
Registered. 11. Shelby American Automobile Club National
Convention (SAAC-I0) 263 points out of a possible 300 in a
concours event. (4d1 place, 1/2 point behind 3rd place.) 12.
SAAC - 14 National Convention at Pennsylvania's Pocono
Speedway, 30 high speed laps were driven. 13. Florida Car
Shows: Usually 1st place, never more than 2nd. 14.
Documentation, photos and important papers going back to first
owner (took 2 years to track this information back through
nine owners) will accompany the car. HISTORY OF SFM5S508
Purchase Price 1. Factory Demonstrator July 1965 - Feb. 1966
Los Angeles, CA N/A assigned to Shelby executive Robert Copher
2. Burns Ford Shelby Feb. 1966 - 1966 Louisville, KY $3,049
Dealership 3. William Girder 1966 - 1966 Louisville, KY
Unknown 4. Albert Tinnel 1966 - 1972
Shepherdville, KY $2,700 5. Dave Walker 1972 -
Nov. 1974 Louisville, KY $300 6. Dave Trimby
Nov. 1974 - Nov. 1974 Decator, IL $2,000 7. Ron
Davis Nov. 1974 - 1981 Souder, MO $2,500 8.
Wayne Conover 1981 - 1981 Hanover, PA $8,700 9.
Dave Lipscombe 1981 - Aug. 1982 Mechanicsville, PA $9,500 10. Dave Carbonneau Aug. 1982 - Aug. 1986
Somers, CT Unknown 11. Al Tallakson Aug. 1986 -
Sept. 1987 Pleasant Valley, NY Unknown 12. Former Owner Sept. 1987 - Dec. 2001 Wintersprings, FL 13. Peter Rasmussen Dec. 2001 - Present
Edmonton, Alberta, Unknown Canada
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