Hi Eric and Brian, you both have shared some insightful comments here. Thank you.
We know the 2 brochure cars were photographed by Sid Avery prior to September 30, 1966. There are at least 170 photos with only 1 GT500 engine picture. That engine photo shows the red painted cowl. There are zero photos of the Lime Gold GT350 engine. There is only 1 interior photo from the Lime Gold GT350. It shows A/C vents, a brushed aluminum dashboard, and a standard black door panel. There are about 12 interior photos of the Red GT500. It shows a standard black case dash, brushed aluminum door panels. The doors panels were likely swapped for the photo shoot. Most of us believe the Lime Gold GT350 is #0176 and the Candy Apple Red GT500 is “V-738-2”.
The December 1966 issue of “Popular Mechanics” shows a light color painted GT500. This same car appears on the cover of the January Road & Track issue in color Lime Gold. I am 100% certain this is the same car from the brochure. Not only does it wear the same unique upper scoop light with chrome trim ring, but it also has the same flat chrome exhaust trim. As Brian mentions there is no antenna on either car. The front fiberglass nose and hood fitment have the same exact unique details not found on production cars. Also as Brian points out both cars have steel rims with hubcaps. There were no other known Shelby’s built with hubcaps until Mid January 1967. We know #0176 was completed by SA sometime in September ’66. The next Lime Gold car was not completed by SA until December 5, 1966. Based on the above it is hard to argue it could be any other car, except for #0176.
Both the Dec ‘66 and Jan ‘67 magazines show different engine views of the engine compartment with the two piece brace typically only found on Mustangs. Photos of the first few production GT350s show the single piece brace. We can’t see the brace behind the air cleaner in the Sid Avery September photo, but we can see other details. Those details don’t appear to be a match. In the magazine photos the power steering pump disappears. The valve covers are not painted black with polished fins. Now they are unpainted with polished fins. The red wires that run over the intake in the Avery photo disappear in the Magazine photos. In the Avery photo there is a part on the firewall behind the passenger side valve cover that leans toward the left. In the R&T photos it leans to the right. I’m not saying this still isn’t the same red GT500 engine compartment as Eric noted, but it has certainly been messed with, which raises questions. Perhaps there are photo outtakes from these issues in color.