1967 Shelby GTs Sold Through Ford to NSF Dealers (X99 code)

Over the weeks leading up to Ford Motor Company taking over Shelby American, Ford wasted no time in expunging nearly 450 completed and unsold Shelby GT cars from inventory. The initial steps taken by Ford happened quickly and focused on the weak sales volume realized by Shelby American's network of only ~98 Shelby-franchised dealers.

(1) Between April 6th and April 20th, 37x G.T. 500 district demonstrator units were shipped out to Ford sales districts located throughout the USA.

(2) 'Open up the flood gates!' A press release, dated April 26, 1967, proclaimed that Shelby GT cars could now be purchased through any Ford dealership, not just Shelby-Franchised dealers as was previously the case.

Note: The large "Z" prefix started appearing on the Shelby VIN tags of cars completed on and after April 27, 1967, the day following the Ford press release.

At the same time the "Z" began appearing on cars completed in California, the Ford home office in Dearborn changed the ordering district code from 84 to 89 for the remainder of the '67 Shelby GT production run. This is evidenced by the door tags and SVOs we've discovered.

Non-Shelby franchised Ford dealers interested in purchasing a Shelby GT unit would place orders through FoMoCo (not directly with Shelby American).

'X99' is the circled code found to the left of Non-Shelby-Franchised dealer names on Shelby Production Orders. It is our belief that the "X99" code was assigned to FoMoCo. It's worth mentioning that FoMoCo's dealer code for Shelby American was "X999" (columns 72-75 of the Ford 80-column computer record).

As it relates to '67 Shelby GT units being sold to Ford for non-Shelby-franchised dealers, both the purchase orders from FoMoCo to Shelby American and the Continuation invoices had an "F" prefix, which we assume stood for [F]ord.

The type of invoice generated for units sold through Ford for non-franchised Shelby dealers was different than the invoice used when cars were sold to Shelby-franchised dealers.

When Shelby sold a car to one of their franchised dealers, the invoice was hand-typed and titled "Vehicle Invoice."

When Ford sold a '67 Shelby GT to one of their dealer (non-Shelby-franchised), the invoice was pre-printed and titled "Continuation Invoice."

Interesting choice in words. Continuation of what, the Shelby Program?

Each Continuation Invoice itemized a $100 "Special Handling Charge." Perhaps this amount was negotiated to protect the Shelby franchised dealers with a small competitive edge. Shelby franchised dealers had previously purchased a Shelby franchise, which was being 'watered down' greatly by these changes to the program. Or, maybe the $100 was all the profit that Carroll was going to get paid for the cars that sold through Ford?

From the information gathered so far, most units sold to NSF Ford dealers were outfitted with deluxe wheels (Shelby 10-spoke or KH Mag Star). We expect to find most to have been equipped with an AM radio as well. Because the Continuation Invoices were pre-printed, on the rare occasions when the car wasn't fitted with deluxe wheels and/or an AM radio, a deduction (or 'deletion') was added by typewriter.

1967 Shelby GT 500 Continuation Invoice F-0427

Analyzing the data collected by this query (to date), we find 535 cars, however, only 20 (3.7%) are recorded as having the standard KH steel wheels, and only 3 have been discovered that were not outfitted with an AM radio.

In cases where we have not inspected the Production Order or the Continuation invoice, this query makes the assumption that dealers who only sold one or two units after 4/5/67, are non-Shelby-franchised. In these cases, the "X99" text of the cell is colored in purple.

We would expect to find that all Ford Sales District Demonstrators to have 'Continuation' Invoices, and since they were sold to FoMoCo, they should have a circled "X99" customer code on their Production Orders.

See Also

Cars Sold Through Ford (X99) to NSF Dealers