67 Shelby’s with Door Tags; Observations
Rich Plescia
While not specific to just the 1967 Shelby, the
topic of the Ford stamped door tags has come up in some recent conversations.
These aluminum tags were added at the Ford San Jose factory by two rivets. They
were typically removed by Shelby American during the completion of the build at
LAX. Shelby added their VIN on an aluminum plate under the hood. Having the
Ford VIN on the door tags would only add confusion during the registration
process. Once removed the two holes on the door were left open.
Though rare, there are cases where the Ford door
tags were not removed by SAI. According to the 2011 SAAC registry,
approximately 40 cars left LAX with their door tags in place, presumably by
mistake.
Door tags list specific details about the base unit car. The stamped Ford VIN is the first item listed, but can be found in other places on the car. Most of the other stamped codes can’t be found anywhere else. Those stamps include the Body, Color, Trim, Date, D.S.O., Axle, and Trans. Code. Occasionally we will find the Axle and Trans codes were not stamped. Sometimes the Trans. stamp is partially hidden behind the right side rivet. Since The door tags were typically removed by SAI, a Marti Reports is the only other source for this specific info.
Some Shelby owners thought the line “Special
Performance Vehicle” was only found on the Shelby models. This line can be
found on other non-Shelby cars too such as the ’69 Boss 429 models. It appears to
be on cars that were shipped out of Ford for completion at a non-Ford location (i.e.;
Shelby American, A.O. Smith, and Kar Kraft).
The line does not appear to be on Ford
performance models completed in house by Ford employees, such as on the ‘67 K
or S code Mustangs, the ’68 Mustang CJ series 135 or regular production CJ’s,
and the ’69 Boss 302 / ’69 Mach I’s.
In 1970 the aluminum tag changed to an adhesive applied
label used across the board on all Ford models.
The “Special Performance Vehicle” line disappears on both the 1970 Shelby and the 1970 Mustang Boss 429.
If you have a 1967 Shelby with a door tag still
in place please let us know. Knowing the Shelby VIN number, we can look for any
patterns such as by dates or by VIN number order. It is very likely they were
simply overlooked for removal, but maybe there something else we have not
considered.
The following cars are known or believed to have door tags;
#0010, #0407, #0576, #1079, #1209, #1260, #1325, #1326, #1547, #1877, #2032, #2214, #2240, #2377, #3189, #3196, #3206, & #3222
