THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE

J. Michael Hemsley . June 08, 2022 . All Feature Vehicles

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This 1967 Ford GT 500 is unique in all the world

When you have the only one ever built, it’s hard to convince people that it is real. That’s what Brian and Samantha Styles face every time they show their 1967 GT 500 convertible. From 10 feet away it looks like a 1968 Shelby GT convertible. Lift the hood or look at the interior and it’s all 1967. However, a closer inspection of the Shelby fiberglass shows handbuilt prototype components foreign to both model years. Confused? Even well-informed Shelby enthusiasts do a double take. When Brian Styles, who refers to himself as the car’s caretaker and historian, tells them that Samantha’s car is actually a 1967, they immediately reject his claim. Everyone knows there are no 1967 Shelby GT 500 convertibles. Well, there is one, and this is its story.

The effort Brian Styles put into determining what this car actually looked like during its life was considerable. When they acquired the car in May 2009, he undertook an investigation involving a “dream team” including Shelby experts and former Shelby and Ford employees. They had to determine what was true and what was rumor about the car’s history and styling. There was plenty of discussion and even occasional disagreements, but in the end, everyone on the team endorsed the result—it was the car shown at the 2013 Concours d’Elegance of Texas.

In every way, this is a classic muscle car—it sounds like one, it accelerates like one and it handles like one.

Brian Styles has been a “car guy” for as long as he can remember. His first car was the “Dude Wagon” pedal car.

The documented history of this car begins with an August 9 dated “Special Order” placed with Ford. Shelby American ordered three 1967 cars—a coupe, a fastback and a convertible—all Candyapple Red. All three were to be identically equipped with a 428-cu.-in. (7.0-liter) “Police Interceptor” V-8 engine with dual 4-barrel carburetors, a C-6 automatic transmission, air conditioning, power steering, power brakes, closed crankcase emissions system, AM pushbutton radio, tinted glass and black décor interior. All three were completed in November 1966 and became the first three big-block Shelby cars ordered and built. The convertible was finished two weeks after the fastback and coupe, and wears Shelby sequence No. 0139. “Company Car—Engineering Proto” was handwritten on the Shelby American Production Order. Other factory notes referenced the car as 062, its California inventory number.

Carroll Shelby wanted very much to include a convertible in his 1967 offering; however, Ford decided to shelve the convertible until the following model year. The one convertible that had been ordered was still delivered and, upon arrival at Shelby American, was promptly designated as Carroll Shelby’s “personal driver” and sometimes enjoyed by friends, employees, visiting Ford executives and celebrities.

Best of the Shelby’s Automobiles class at the Concours d’Elegance of Texas was this 1967 GT 500 owned by Samantha Styles. It was the styling prototype for the 1968 GT 500 convertible.

The dual-quad topped 428-cu.-in. Police Interceptor engine had full emissions equipment, air conditioning and power steering, which resulted in having three belts wrapped around eight pulleys.

When it was time to prepare for the 1968 model year, Ford’s go-to “skunk works” shop, Dearborn Steel Tubing (DST), was given artist renderings and tasked with fabricating two sets of redesigned fiberglass hoods, front-ends, taillight panels and interior center consoles. These components would be the most visible differences over the 1967 styling.

With DST’s 1968-styled fiberglass on its way to California, Shelby American would need to allocate a fastback and a convertible so they could be repurposed as “1968 styling prototypes,” or “1968 photographic cars.” Plenty of fastbacks were on hand, but there was only one convertible, and that was No. 0139. About April 1967, both cars were updated (disguised) with the handcrafted proto-type fiberglass received from Dearborn, Michigan.

During the spring and early summer of 1967, both styling prototypes were extensively photographed. These photos would be used for print advertisements, press releases and dealer literature. Based on subtle clues found in the vintage photos, it is believed that the first professional shoot of the convertible took place on Malibu Beach and another at the Hollywood Park Race Track. For years, these photos suggested there were two convertibles—one red and the other white; it was one of the mysteries that Styles and his team had to resolve. The first print ad—titled “Carroll Shelby has gone and done it!”—appeared in November 1967 issues of Road & Track, Car Life and Playboy. In some of the test reports, Styles mentioned, journalists appear to have been the first to be deceived by this car, since they praised its performance and handling as being better than the 1967 Shelby cars. As Styles says, “This car was intended to fool people, and it has been successfully doing so for the last 46 years.”

Once transformed into the “1968 Styling Prototype,” the convertible was first photographed at Malibu Beach in April 1967. Photos taken during this iconic shoot were eventually given to the press and a modified photo from the shoot would later appear on the cover of the 1968 tri-fold brochure handed out by dealerships. Interesting clues that this car is not a true 1968 can be seen in some of the photographs. For example, side marker lights on the rear quarter panels, which were new for 1968 and did not appear on the 1967 cars, were most likely cardboard mock-ups. If you look closely, the one in the vintage photo appears to be lifting up.

During the restoration, a number of telltale signs were discovered which indicated that this was originally outfitted with 1967 Shelby GT styling, including these holes for the 1967 badge found hidden in the dash.

By November 1967, the Shelby American operation facility in Los Angeles had closed, a small staff was relocated to Ionia, Michigan, and the GT convertible was returned to Dearborn. Because the convertible was a regular production car, Ford made the decision to sell it through their employee purchase and auction program. It is most likely that an employee of the Ford Motor Company acquired the car, but Styles has only been able to trace its ownership back to January 1977. Those owners thought it was a 1968, until sometime after James Ventrella acquired it in August 1978. This wasn’t his first Shelby and he began to notice things about the interior and engine compartment that were clearly from 1967. Frustrated by denunciations by experts, Ventrella sold the car to his friend Richard Kot in December 1985. During Kot’s ownership, the Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) obtained original factory records, but it wasn’t until August 1989 that the club registrar for the 1967 Shelby cars authenticated it as a 1967 after finding the convertible’s hidden Ford VIN. In 2000, it was acquired by the Volo Auto Museum where it was further verified with information provided by the Carroll Shelby Foundation. An authentication letter signed in 2003 by Shelby confirmed that it was originally styled as a 1967, and the Volo Museum restored it to that specification. In March 2007, Dana Mecum added it to his personal collection and subsequently put it up for auction in May 2009. Samantha Styles purchased the car on May 17 of that year.

The car had the large cutouts to accommodate the 1965 Cougar taillights that were used on the 1967 Shelby GT cars.

Holes found in the floorpans line up perfectly with the mounting pattern of a 1965 Shelby R-model roll bar. Clearly a roll bar mounted to the floorpans would have been there purely for aesthetics.

Now the hard work began. There were questions to be answered about the car before restoration could begin, such as whether to restore it as a 1967 or a 1968 and whether it have two 4-barrel carburetors like all 1967 big-blocks or a single 4-barrel like all 1968 Shelbys?

With the “dream team” in place, Styles began the search for documentation on the car. He researched paperwork obtained from Ford and Shelby American; reviewed press materials, advertisements, magazine articles, press kits, dealer literature and vintage photographs; and even uncovered a June 1967 Shelby American invoice referencing the insurance claim that indicated that the car had two 4-barrel carbs. Styles also contacted former Shelby employees and conducted many interviews.

In February 2010, Jeff Yergovich of R&A Motorsports began the historically correct restoration to concours level. The physical restoration took nearly two years, as the research effort continued in parallel. Some discoveries were minor; some were major. As Styles recounts, “Each time the team would reach a conclusion on one theory, we came up with two new theories.”

A 2003 restoration by a previous owner returned the car to its original 1967 styling. This is how it would have looked prior to being repurposed as the “1968 Styling Prototype.”

It was a tight fit to get the fully assembled big-block into the engine bay, but R&A Motorsports did it—just like Ford’s San Jose plant did 46 years ago.

Details that might seem trivial today were completely the opposite when Styles did his research. He and his team had only a few low-resolution photographs to reference. Some of the interesting facts learned included that the convertible was outfitted with the very first Ford C-6 Automatic transmission built, No. 000001. It was also the first Shelby GT500 to receive emissions control equipment. Ford and Shelby experimented with different emblem and stripe treatments before deciding on the final product. When the convertible was first transformed, there was one emblem/stripe treatment on the passenger side and a different one on the driver’s side. The white and red convertibles in vintage marketing photographs were the same car. This was confirmed when paint removal revealed that it was originally Candyapple Red, then Wimbledon White and Acapulco Blue, before being painted Candyapple Red again circa 1980. A letter from A.O. Smith to Ford’s Ken VanAkin identified Dearborn Steel Tubing as the source for the handcrafted components. Interior woodgrain appliqué, blacked-out brightwork on the seats and faux reflectors on the quarter panels were other aesthetic changes to the car that helped to make it look more like a 1968 in the marketing photos. Side marker lights were not required in 1967 but were mandated for 1968, so lights were cut into the sides ahead of the front wheels, but the rear lights were a photograph outlined with metal tape. In the Malibu beach photos, they appear to be peeling away from the fender. Styles did an inkjet version of the lights, stuck them to a metal plate, and glued them to the car to replicate the ones on the car in 1967. Interviews with former Shelby employees verify that the convertible did receive 1967 fiberglass. Other telltale signs included 1967-only headlight wiring, holes for a 1967 emblem, large cutouts in the rear valance to accept 1967 Cougar taillights and holes in the rear floor for a cosmetic roll bar. Photos of the convertible between April and June were “retouched.” Rocker stripes, fender emblems and fuel filler cap were hand painted on the color negatives. The Malibu beach photo used for the dealer brochure is a perfect example.

I was the first journalist to drive this car since July 1967. It brought back a lot of memories of cars you could steer with your right foot. Turn the key to start it and ooohhh the sound.

The chrome letters on the nose that spelled “Shelby” were closer together than on the production 1968 cars, so the spacing had to be determined by scaling the spacing using known dimensions in the photographs. DST built the front of the car as a single piece of hand-laid fiberglass. The 1968 production cars would have a 4-piece nose. It required close study of the factory photos that were eventually found to verify these details.

Photos from the April Malibu Beach photo shoot were retouched to change the appearance of the gas cap, rocker stripes and fender emblems, the design for which was finalized in July, before they were put in the dealer brochures produced in September.

Styles and crew had some other details to resolve. Letters in the word “Shelby” on the nose of the car were closer together than on production 1968s, so they had to scale the spacing between the letters to get it correct. The license plate in the photos has no mounting holes, so a new one was made and magnets were used to attach it to the car. The 1967 had a convex gas filler cap, but the photos showed a flat one. Styles had a flat aluminum plate made so the insignia could be put on it. Different photos showed different badges on the car’s flank and a variety of striping on the rocker panel. Malibu beach photos show striping that includes “GT 500” in the stripe and a cobra on the side of the car. Other photos show a badge in the striping and no words. And still others had just a stripe, sometimes with chrome letters on the flank. Because a variety of insignia and stripings were used, Styles settled on the simple stripe on the driver’s side and the unique emblem in the stripe on the passenger’s side. The passenger side emblem appeared the same as the one on the woodgrain above the glovebox. But they had no badge, so it was scaled using the known dimensions of the stripes. Initially, they guessed that the emblem was the same as the one on the gas cap. In April 2012, Styles met stylist John Chun and his son at a Shelby employee reunion. When Styles showed them the photographs, Chun’s son said he had one of the prototype emblems. Two weeks later, Styles flew to Detroit where Chun produced an original rectangular emblem. It was Lucite and hand painted on the reverse side. Finally, Styles had an emblem to copy. Valued at $4249.76, it was the most expensive GT 500 in Shelby American’s company car inventory.

Styles and Yergovich settled on using an inkjet printed image of a reflector atop a precisely cut thin piece of aluminum, which is slightly more appealing than what Shelby did in the spring of 1967.

Various badging and striping were used on the car for the photo shoots. This photo helped determine how an emblem was placed on the passenger side of the car.

Maybe because my first new car was a 1966 Shelby GT 350, I was the first journalist to drive this car since July 1967. It brought back a lot of memories of cars you could steer with your right foot. Turn the key to start it and ooohhh the sound. The rumble of the big-block just makes you smile. Pull the lever into “D,” and the car lunges forward against the brake. This car wants to go, and I’m happy to let it. This is a one-of-one car, so no joy riding—joyful, yes; but no antics. As I pull out, it is obvious that this car wants to go fast, even with light throttle pressure. Onto a tree-lined road, I’m able to open up the throttle a bit—the car nearly jumps forward. It’s anxious to be released, and it demonstrates that desire by accelerating with considerable verve. We quickly triple the posted speed limit, so I back off and experiment with the handling by taking a few curves quickly—nice. Shelby understood handling better than most muscle car builders. This car goes and turns. There’s a little lean, but much less than its competitors. This car stays nearly flat through the U-turns. Eventually, I get out with a broad smile on my face, and return the keys to Brian Styles whereupon he took it through its paces with a bit more “enthusiasm” than I used. It’s Samantha’s car, and I’d rather he answer to her if something happened.

Photos taught the researchers that the stripe and emblem treatments used on the passenger side of the car and on the dashboard evolved through at least two iterations between April and July 1967.

The gas filler cap on the 1967 GT 500 was convex, but photos showed that the one on this car was flat. An adapter piece was fabricated from aluminum to site between the convex fuel filler cap and the flat emblem—just like the other “early” built 1967 Shelby GT cars.

As reported originally in Vintage Roadcar, the car won best in its class—The Automobiles of Carroll Shelby—at the Concours d’Elegance of Texas in May 2013. A significant achievement—one of several it has won since it was first shown in November 2011. It was awarded 768.25 out of a possible 783 points by the SAAC in June 2012, qualifying for Gold in SAAC Division II judging.

Brian Styles is a true car enthusiast and remembers his first car, a metallic blue Murray pedal car called “Dude Wagon.” His collection includes both full-size automobiles and a die-cast model collection numbering about 2000. For even more detailed information about this car, please visit www.1967shelbyconvertible.com.