Invoice Types (Vehicle & Continuation)

[Brian S]

Most ‘67 Shelby G.T. owners are usually only exposed to the factory paperwork (Production Order and Invoice) that belong to their specific car. Unless you own multiple cars or regularly attend events where documentation is on display with other cars, it’s unlikely that you’d know that there were actually two different types of invoices used for 1967 Shelby G.T. units, titled “Vehicle” and “Continuation”.

From the beginning of the Shelby Program, dealerships (almost all of the Ford dealers) paid a franchise fee to Shelby American, Inc (SAI) to become a “Shelby Dealer.” On April 26, 1967, a letter stated there were “90 specially-franchised Ford dealerships,” and an August 4, 1967 letter stated there were “104 Shelby dealers.” For simplicity, it’s safe to say there were “about a hundred” dealers that sold ‘67 Shelby G.T. units.

From the beginning, Shelby American invoices were all titled “Vehicle Invoice.”  

However, in April 1967, as Ford was on the cusp of taking over the struggling Shelby American, Inc., a plan was hatched to help offload the built-up inventory of unsold G.T. units. This included opening up the sales channel and offering G.T. cars to non-Shelby-franchised Ford dealerships. A press release from Ford Motor Company, dated April 26, 1967, read:

The Shelby GT350 and GT500  -- two of America's bona fide production sports cars -- will appear in hundreds of Ford dealer showrooms across the country during the next few months.
 
Normally the Mustang-based Shelby cars are sold only through 90 specially-franchised Ford dealerships. This new promotion will introduce the GT35() and GT500 into l,000 additional Ford dealerships.
 
"While these 1,000 sports cars eventually will be sold, they will be used primarily to highlight the regular lineup of high-performance cars available at Ford dealers,” said William P. Benton, manager of Ford Division's merchandising office. "The franchised dealers will continue to be the normal source for Shelby cars.”

Though the SRG doesn’t have the full details of the plan, we do know that a second type of invoice was introduced to differentiate G.T. sales to non-Shelby-franchised Ford dealers. This new invoice type was titled “Continuation Invoice.”  

In addition to the name itself (“Continuation” vs “Vehicle”), you’ll notice a few other differences between the two invoice types:

The number on a Vehicle Invoice was 6 numeric digits, padded with zeroes. Examples include “001221” and “003981.” Continuation Invoice numbers were technically also numeric, however, the number was prefixed with the letter “F.” Sometimes a hyphen or space separated the “F” from the numbers. Examples include “F047,” “F0075,” and “F-143,” and “F 349.”  It’s also worth noting that the dealer’s purchase order number, found on each Continuation Invoice, is also prefixed with an “F”. At this time, our guess would be that the “F” stands for “Ford.”  

Continuation Invoices (line item #2) itemize $100 for “Special Handling Charge.” It’s our belief that this fee was assessed to the non-Shelby-franchised Ford dealers to offset and help Shelby-franchised dealers keep a slight competitive edge.

The line items of a Vehicle Invoice were typed on-the-fly. If a car wasn’t equipped with a particular option, the line item for that option didn’t get printed. To streamline the process, Continuation Invoices were pre-printed (notice the proportional sans-serif font used) with the itemization line items for all equipment, and included the wholesale prices.
 
On a Vehicle Invoice, if a car received a radio there would be a line item that reads “1 … RADIO  …  $47.17.” If the car didn’t receive a radio, there would NOT be a line item for the radio listed. Continuation Invoices have a pre-printed line item for the “AM-Radio Push Button,” and so far, all Continuation Invoices we’ve found, include the AM radio.

On a Vehicle Invoice, if a car received either the Deluxe (KH Mag Star) or Shelby (aluminum 10-spoke) wheels, there would be a line item that reads “1 … DELUXE WHEELS  …  $151.74” or “1 … SHELBY WHEELS  …  $151.74”, respectively. If the car was fitted with the standard steel wheels and wheel covers, no line item for the wheels would have been typed on a Vehicle invoice because there was no upcharge. Continuation Invoices (like Window Stickers) simply list “Deluxe Wheels” and do not make any differentiation between the Mag Star and Shelby wheel types. Because of this, the only way to know which type of wheels would be factory-correct for a car sold on a Continuation Invoice would be to refer to the car’s Production Order. So far, all Continuation Invoices we’ve found include the Deluxe Wheels upcharge.

Note: Though the SRG hasn’t gathered very many Continuation-type invoices, every one that we’ve found so far includes a charge for both an “AM-Radio Push Button” and “Deluxe Wheels.” The only additional options that would have their prices hand-typed along with a revised total include: Automatic Transmission, Air Conditioning, and Tinted Glass. We’d also expect to see “Exhaust Emissions Control System” for cars sold in California, and an “Oil Cooler” itemized if the car was a G.T. 500 with air-conditioning.

Correlation to Production Orders
Production Orders for cars sold to non-Shelby-franchised dealers will have the “F” prefixed purchase order number circled in the upper left corner of the page, and a handwritten and circled “X99” to the left of the dealer’s name. If you have one document but not the other, knowing how to decode them can help fill in the pieces...