1967 Shelby GTs With Z-VINs

The observed pattern is that cars completed by Shelby American on or after April 27, 1967, had a Z stamp added to prefix their stamped VIN on the aluminum plate. Credit to Rich Plescia for being the first researcher to detect and publish his observation of this date-based pattern. There were 1,544 cars (47.88%) 'completed' between April 27, 1967 and the end of '67 Shelby GT production.

1967 Shelby GT VIN Plate with Z Prefix

1967 Shelby VIN plate with the large 'Z' prefix.

It is possible that the added Z prefix could also be linked to one of the other key Ford/Shelby dates, such as the Shelby invoice or shipped date(s) for the car. The SRG has published another query titled Z-VIN Transition Period, which offers different sorting methods for all cars completed, invoiced, or shipped within a few days of 4/27/1967 to allow you to analyze the data and share your observations and theories.

At the same time as this Z-VIN was implemented at Shelby American, a significant accounting change also took place at FoMoCo in Dearborn. The Ordering District (much like a top-level general ledger account number) for Shelby units was changed from '84' to '89' and remained that way for the duration of the '67 Shelby program. We've found this evidence on Ford door tags and SVO paperwork.

It remains the SRG's active theory that the parallel Shelby Z-VIN and Ford Ordering District changes signified a significant change in the Ford-Shelby relationship; likely a key event in the timeline of Ford's eventual takeover of Shelby American. It could be related to operations, accounting, and/or the complete acquisition of the California corporation. It's our opinion that a permanent modification to the car's VIN is just too significant to be anything less. If we're correct, this means that nearly half of all the '67 Shelby GTs were accountable to FoMoCo's revenue ledger.

Why was the letter 'Z' selected? Perhaps it has something to do with 'Z' being the code letter assigned to Ford's Mustang platform? Or perhaps just because it's the last letter of the alphabet.

The SRG doesn't believe that the 'Z' prefix should have been part of the car's VIN number. We've inspected a few of the original MCOs for cars that have Z-VINs and the 'Z' prefix is not found typed on the MCO.

The added 'Z' stamp appears to be borrowed from the stamp kit used for the secondary Shelby VIN. Greg Kolasa noticed that the 'Z' stamp is the same size as the stamp characters that were hammered into the passenger apron next to the shock tower. Having examined many cars with 'Z' stamps, we can conclude that the 'Z' was added to the car after the Shelby VIN plate was riveted to the left-hand apron.

Reviewing The Data

The data for this topic represents all cars reported to have a 'Z-VIN.' Cars with missing or reproduction Shelby VIN tags have been excluded.

Earliest 'Key' Dates Associated With Z-VIN Cars

04/16/1967 ... Production Order - Date (circled) in the upper-right corner.
04/27/1967 ... Production Order - 'Completed' (box).
04/28/1967 ... Invoiced.
05/02/1967 ... Released to shipper.

Z-VINs are owner-reported. It is important to note that there are 355 cars that, based on their Completion Date, we expect would have a Z-VIN. Unfortunately, these cars are 'unknown whereabouts' since they were new. Of them, 29 had warranty service and their Z-VINs were noted on the repair orders. For the remaining 'unknowns,' the odds are against their survival and therefore against us ever confirming whether or not they received the 'Z' prefix.

If you own or come across a Z-VIN car that is not itemized in this page's accompanying data table, kindly email us the car number (and ideally, a picture of the VIN tag).

Note: The Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) had published their own theories on what the Z-VIN signifies, including (a) the Z VIN prefix was added to cars that were 100% complete and served as a warning to assembly workers to not remove any parts from the car to complete a different car, and/or (b) the added 'Z' stamp signified 50-state compliant cars, and more specifically that they had the '67-1/2 style front end with high beams mounted in the the 'outboard' position in the grille opening. SAAC's explanations can be found in printings of the registry (prior to 2020), club magazines, and in books (dating back to at least 1981). Based on a different and more thorough method of analysis, the SRG came up with our own theory on what the Z signifies. It was first published on the Internet in May 2018, and now appears to be adopted, in part, by the 2020 printing of the '67 SAAC Registry.

See Also

Cars with Z-VINs