1967 Shelby GTs With 6A Trim (Ford Substitutions)

Based on the SRG's analysis of how cars were ordered (DSO microfiche), it appears that it was Shelby's intention for all 1967 GTs to have the performance-oriented, breathable, 'Luxury Knitted Vinyl' trim (5A-Black or 5U-Parchment). Even the first convertible, #0139, was ordered with the knitted trim (and that wasn't thought-out). However, due to different issues (material availability at the start of production and and human errors at the very end), not all cars received the knitted trim they were intended to have.

Trim Types

5A - Luxury Bucket Seats with Black Knitted Vinyl. The knitted vinyl (a/k/a/ 'Comfort Weave') seating surface were breathable. ideal for a performance car application.

6A - Luxury Bucket Seats with Black Vinyl. For lack of a better term this would be a 'smooth' seating surface material.

5U - Luxury Bucket Seats with Parchment Knitted Vinyl. According to a SAI memo dated 9/28/1966, a light color interior was requested by many dealers in hotter climates. The Parchment (off white color) trim was chosen to satisfy that request.

5a photo

6a photo

5u photo

DSO Analysis

Looking at the DSOs obtained from microfilm. The following observations have been organized by date:

Aug. 1966 - DSOs 2501-2512 were ordered with 5A trim.

Sep. 1966 - DSOs 2513-2517 were ordered with 5A trim.

Sep. 27, 1966 - DSOs 2519, 2520, 2522 and 2523 were canceled (these were mostly GT500s with air conditioning).

Sep. 28, 1966 - Change Notices for DSOs 2513-2516, 2518, and 2521 noted switching trim from 5A to 6A by the assembly plant.

Oct. 13, 1966 - DSOs 2524-2527 specifically requested for 6A trim. Prior to these DSOs being typed, it became evident that the 5A trim was still not going to be available anytime soon. These three DSOs were the only DSOs that actually requested the 6A 'smooth' trim.

Oct. 17, 1966 - The DSOs received in September that hadn't been canceled (2513, 2514, 2518, and 2521) now were canceled. This resulted in all the September orders being canceled.

Oct. 23, 1966 - With DSO 2528, the specification of the 5A trim resumed and continued through to the end of the fulfilled orders (DSO 2614).

Ford Computer Record (FCR) Analysis

All cars on DSOs 2501-2527 received 6A trim, regardless of what trim was specified on the DSO order.

Some cars built in the 4th week of Jan, 1967 (ordered on DSO 2536) specified 5U Parchment trim, however, post-built data indicates some of the cars on this DSO received 5A Black trim. This is likley due to the 428 Thermactor engine omissions/make-up operaton that affected 66x G.T. 500 units.

Based on the SRG's calculations, 111 late-built cars received 6A trim. We've discovered 6A on cars scattered across multiple DSOs. Other cars on these same DSOs have also been found with 5A trim. Thus, the late 6A trim substitutions do not appear to be DSO-based, but rather date-based.

Our theory is the 6A trim on the very late built cars is due to 'human errors' on the assembly line. The senior workers would have likely been taking their family summer vacations during this time and the substitute workers may not have been educated on the differences between the 5A Black and 6A Black Luxury seats. We've also found numerous misstamped Ford VINs during the same time periods...

Car #0176, the Lime Gold advertising car, is excluded from our calculations. This car was born in Clear Water Aqua paint with a 6K Luxury Aqua trim (the '6' indicates the 'smooth' seating surface). Shelby American repainted the car and changed the color to Lime Gold. They also painted/dyed the interior black, effectively making it look like 6A. The paint and trim color changes are represented in the Shelby VIN (67211F7A00176) later assigned to the car. This query relies on the Ford records, which is why #0176 is not calculated in the results.

Paint-wise, the colors we expect to find the substituted 6A trim on late-built cars include: Nightmist Blue, White, Dark Green, Lime Gold, and Brittany Blue.

Reviewing The Data

Cells in the "FCR?" column will indicate a "Y" if we have verified the Ford Computer Record that can be found on a Deluxe Marti Report. If the cell is blank, it means the trim type was owner-reported or gleaned from a photograph (non-authoritative).

6A Trim Trivia

All Charcoal Grey paint cars have 6A trim
All Acapulco Blue paint cars have 5A trim
All bronze GT 350 cars have 6A trim (the one bronze GT 500 has 5A trim)
All black GT 350 cars have 6A trim (the black GT 500 cars have 5A trim)

See Also

5A -> 6A Trim Substitutions (San Jose)