Eye-Level Brake and Turn Signal Lights

Eye-Level Brake and Turn Signal Lights, often referred to as 'scoop lights' or 'upper scoop lights' (USLs) by today's enthusiasts, were factory-installed to approximately 160 of the earliest '67 Shelby GT units 'completed' by Shelby American.

They're a rare and sought-after feature with lineage to Shelby's racing involvement in the Daytona Coupe and Ford GT40 programs.

The two most common questions regarding these lights are how did they function and which cars received them?

Early sales literature referred to these as "Eye-Level Brake and Turn Signal Lights." Other documents confirm their application and clarify when and how the mandate came down to deprecate them. Some folks have misunderstood the purpose of the lights, how they were wired, and as a result, mistakenly called them 'running lights.'

The lights were present on the two pre-production advertising cars (Red 'GT 500' #V738-2 and Lime 'GT 350' #0176) and on regular production units from the launch.

The light assemblies pictured on the two advertising cars were different from the regular production cars. The lights seen on the advertising cars appear to be made by Lucas with a chrome bezel at the base. The Lucas version could also be found on the Cobra Daytona Coupes and Allard automobiles.

The regular production cars received Dietz lights (no chrome bezel at the base), which were also commonly found on trailers.

Like most running changes (RCs), it has been tough to pinpoint exactly when these lights were discontinued.

Luckily, through decades of data-gathering by Dave Matthews, JD, Rich Plescia, and others, we have been able to organize and summarize this data. As with all research, and especially when it comes to '67 Shelby GT cars, there are always exceptions.

The document titled "Product Letter 67-1," subject "Eye-Level Brake and Turn Signal Lights - 1967 Model GT 350/500," was drafted by Frank Martin on December 2, 1966, and sent to department managers. It read:

Because of problems associated with certifying the eye-level brake and turn signal light, it has been decided to delete the light from the GT 350 and 500. Accordingly, all units presently in the system which have the light installed should be completed as is and shipped to dealers with the light.

Our vendors should be notified immediately of this change and a running change should be made as soon as possible; that is, completed assemblies at the vendor ready for shipment to SAI should be shipped and other parts in the system should be modified to delete the light assembly.

Engineering should issue appropriate paperwork to insure that this is handled promptly.

It's important to remind everyone that when tracking this and other RCs, that we must look at the vehicle's SAI completion date and not simply at the VIN sequence that it was assigned when first delivered to LAX from San Jose.

Most RCs weren't what you'd call a 'clean break.' For example, tail light assemblies were made and wired in batches, by one team. The assemblies were racked and stacked on shelves ahead of the cars being run through the shop, a FIFO methodology was not important.

These early tail light assemblies had a pigtail with automotive quick-disconnect pre-wired to them. In cars built after the approximate mid-December 1966 cut-off, we have documented at least one car (#0200) as having the pigtails on the rear light assemblies, however, the pigtails were not connected to any additional wiring and the lights were not present in the air extractors. It's likely there are quite a few other cars completed with pigtails only.
 

Reviewing The Data

The filters for this query include cars assembled (built) by Ford's San Jose plant on or before November 30, 1966, and Cars that are recorded as being 'completed' by Shelby American on or before December 9, 1966. -or- cars reported to have the lights by an owner, and/or cars discovered from in-period photographs or videos. View the data
 

Exclusions

V738-2, the red advertising 'GT 500' car, is not reflected in the attached queries because it was not assigned a Shelby VIN, and is therefore not in the database that the query is based on.

Cars #0131 (Coupe) and #0139 (Convertible) would likely have received scoop lights based on their recorded 12/7/66 completion dates, however, the coupe and convertible body styles didn't have the cabin air extractors and therefore could not be fitted with the lights. These two cars have also been excluded from this query.

The SRG is not convinced that the last cars on this list (sorted by completion date) were factory-equipped with the 'scoop lights', however, we recognize this as owner-reported information and are attempting to keep our active research synchronized with the data published in SAAC '67 Registry.
 

Statistics

• Cars cataloged as having the ELBTSLs (owner-reported & date-based): 158
• Cars built by Ford San Jose up through 11/30/66: 145
• Cars completed by Shelby American up through 12/23/66: 140
   
  

See Also

• First Cars Built, Serialized, Completed