How many of you guys got to see this car? I looked beautiful, but almost too new. I realized it was restored but the EXP 500 on the side instead of the GT500 made it look kind of cheesey. I would like some other opinions, I am trying to convince myself it was not that bad. I don't have any pictures but I'm sure one will surface eventually.
'67-'68 Shelby prototype at Volo Auto Museum in IL
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I have see the 68 Shelby EXP-500 up close and in person since the person Marty Mazeman lives in Fresno CA. It's a very cool car with independant suspension and fuel injection. sadly these options did not make it to production. the hunter green metallic paint is cool as well.
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Then its a a replica because there was only one built, anbd amazingly survived the crusher.
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I went to see the car yesterday as well. I first saw the car last year before it was auctioned off by Midwest Car in Alsip IL. Had I known what it was I might have at least attended the auction. The story I was told, is that the car (and a ratted out 66 FB) were part of a court ordered divorce sale.
The restoration looked pretty much on par with all of the cars Volo does, paint em and move em. The bottom of the car was untouched, the doors looked like they were fit by Maaco and you could surf the waves in the rear quarters.
My guess is that the car will appear at the next Barret Jackson and go for $$$ to someone with more money than brains. It's too bad the car was not done the justice it deserves if it truely is the real thing
The restoration looked pretty much on par with all of the cars Volo does, paint em and move em. The bottom of the car was untouched, the doors looked like they were fit by Maaco and you could surf the waves in the rear quarters.
My guess is that the car will appear at the next Barret Jackson and go for $$$ to someone with more money than brains. It's too bad the car was not done the justice it deserves if it truely is the real thing
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You guys are talking about two different cars. The IRS car was not the 67/68 convertible at VOLO. The car at Volo is a one of one car. The Shelby Club says the car was never built as a 1967 Shelby convertible, but rather a test mule for the 1968 production year. Previously, the car was restored with the 1968 fiberglass installed. Currently the car is dressed as the one and only 1967 GT500 convertible. This was done by the Gram Brothers (the current owners) based on their research, independent of the Shelby Club. According to them they have offered the Carroll Shelby Heart Fund a donation of $15000 to dig up a photo of the car in 1967 trim. Either way the car is unique.
I did have some personal issues with the car, as a judge. First let me say it is beautiful as a 67 convertible Shelby. As a judge, I see some "fit and finish" issues. The rear quarters did not look stock and in their defense it is work "in progress". The side stripes were copied from "Little Red". The other 1967 prototype car. Strictly a guess. I would have went with the GT500. The wheel lip moldings from the 68 convertible were retained, as was the 68 rear fiberglass. It seems to me they used somewhat of a shopping cart approach in the restoration. Picking and choosing what they liked between the two years. This in no way diminishes the uniqueness of the car. If and when pictures of the car do get made public, I wonder if either side will admit they were wrong and respond in kind. Will they re-restore the car if it was never a 1967 Shelby? Will the club admit it is the one and only 1967 big block convertible? Would they do something like change the roll bar if it is found to be incorrect? Time will tell, hey, maybe Ol' Shelby will find a big box of pictures, that has to be easier than finding a wharehouse full of Cobra chassis...
I did have some personal issues with the car, as a judge. First let me say it is beautiful as a 67 convertible Shelby. As a judge, I see some "fit and finish" issues. The rear quarters did not look stock and in their defense it is work "in progress". The side stripes were copied from "Little Red". The other 1967 prototype car. Strictly a guess. I would have went with the GT500. The wheel lip moldings from the 68 convertible were retained, as was the 68 rear fiberglass. It seems to me they used somewhat of a shopping cart approach in the restoration. Picking and choosing what they liked between the two years. This in no way diminishes the uniqueness of the car. If and when pictures of the car do get made public, I wonder if either side will admit they were wrong and respond in kind. Will they re-restore the car if it was never a 1967 Shelby? Will the club admit it is the one and only 1967 big block convertible? Would they do something like change the roll bar if it is found to be incorrect? Time will tell, hey, maybe Ol' Shelby will find a big box of pictures, that has to be easier than finding a wharehouse full of Cobra chassis...
Shelby visited Volo several years back and authenticated the car as the mule he car he used to prototype the '68. You guys are the experts but that was good enough for me. I made several trips from Dallas to Volo, crawled around the car for part numbers, snapped many photos and then built an exact duplicate of the car as it existed when it was at Volo. I intend mine to be exactly like the Volo car as I could make it. (However, the drivers seat of the Volo EXP has a rip in the seat cover from where Shelby's suspender caught and tore the cover. I do not intend to duplicate the tear).
The car at Volo may have been a hodge podge of varying parts but it made sense to me because they were trying different things to see what would work. Since I am a novice I consulted with people who were known in the community to be experts. For example I worked with an A/C guy that kept saying stuff like "well this pulley is not correct for a 67, to which I always responded that I wanted the exact part shown in the photo I had sent." I believe I could put mine next to the original 1967 Shelby EXP Convertible and there would be almost no difference (tear in seat, I have not found a red surf board yet, I have 10 spokes on mine (Kelsey Magstar's were on original car....I have the Magstar's in attic but like the 10 spoke better.) I also have not yet installed the original 67 Comfort Weave seat covers.
The car at Volo may have been a hodge podge of varying parts but it made sense to me because they were trying different things to see what would work. Since I am a novice I consulted with people who were known in the community to be experts. For example I worked with an A/C guy that kept saying stuff like "well this pulley is not correct for a 67, to which I always responded that I wanted the exact part shown in the photo I had sent." I believe I could put mine next to the original 1967 Shelby EXP Convertible and there would be almost no difference (tear in seat, I have not found a red surf board yet, I have 10 spokes on mine (Kelsey Magstar's were on original car....I have the Magstar's in attic but like the 10 spoke better.) I also have not yet installed the original 67 Comfort Weave seat covers.
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The picture of this car was on the Volo museum website for years.
Here is a link:
Google Image Result for http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Ford/67-Shelby_GT500_Prototype_DV-07_Volo-03.jpg
I have an original red '67 vert. and would someday love to upgrade it to a clone of this car.
Here is a link:
Google Image Result for http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Ford/67-Shelby_GT500_Prototype_DV-07_Volo-03.jpg
I have an original red '67 vert. and would someday love to upgrade it to a clone of this car.
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It looks like 20 of the original 5 or so Shelby prototypes have been found.
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The volo car was pretty well documented, and verified by CS to be the '67 test mule that he drove. The only reason it was not destroyed, was that it got stolen and was reskined to look like a '68. Its real identity did not surface until much later when a new owner was having trouble verifying its authenticity as a '68 shelby with a '67 vin.
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:roflao:
Warning: Check the dates on these posts.
The update for November 2012;
Volo didn't do a very good restoration on it. (by more than one persons opinion) I mean back to it's once 67 GT 500 configuration. A lengthy thread ran at SAACforum about this. The fellow who bought the car wanted to return it to it's once 68 Prototype configuration. That's right, the car was used in the early 68 Shelby brochures.
There seems to be no evidence the car was ever built as a 67 GT 500 as there are no photos of it. OK. But in my view, I don't buy that. But, I'm not any kind of noted restorer so my view doesn't count I guess.
Anyway, the car was correctly reconfigured into the 68 Prototype you see today. And, it has been in a magazine article as such, and, last year at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals at the Stevens Convention Center in Rosemont IL it was unveiled in it's 68 Prototype look. An excellent restoration and a historic car.
The update for November 2012;
Volo didn't do a very good restoration on it. (by more than one persons opinion) I mean back to it's once 67 GT 500 configuration. A lengthy thread ran at SAACforum about this. The fellow who bought the car wanted to return it to it's once 68 Prototype configuration. That's right, the car was used in the early 68 Shelby brochures.
There seems to be no evidence the car was ever built as a 67 GT 500 as there are no photos of it. OK. But in my view, I don't buy that. But, I'm not any kind of noted restorer so my view doesn't count I guess.
Anyway, the car was correctly reconfigured into the 68 Prototype you see today. And, it has been in a magazine article as such, and, last year at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals at the Stevens Convention Center in Rosemont IL it was unveiled in it's 68 Prototype look. An excellent restoration and a historic car.
Kind of a strange first post Mr. 67 EXP!
A ton of research has been done and new information has been found on both the 67 Shelby convertible and the green hornet otherwise known as "EXP500" since this topic was first started.
The car that Volo had is the 67 Shelby convertible. This car was and still is as it always has been a 67 Shelby even though it was used as a prototype for the 68 model year which included the addition of 68 body parts. When Volo got the car they restored it and did a pathetic job of getting any of it's details correct. The link posted above shows the car as restored by Volo. Thankfully the car was sold by Volo and has been restored to historically correct and accurate details. It was completed a little over a year ago. Here is a link that you can read all about this car: 1967 Shelby GT-500 Convertible Prototype - Home
The Green Hornet or EXP500 was a 68 Mustang built by Ford in Dearborn (all 68 Shelby's were built in Metuchen) and used as a California Special prototype. As everyone here hopefully knows California Specials borrowed Shelby body parts, so this lends to some of the confusion on this car. It does not carry a Shelby serial number. When Ford was done with the car they gave it to Shelby engineering and Shelby used the car as a test mule. Craig Jackson (of Barrett-Jackson) currently owns the car and it will be up for auction in January in Scottsdale. Here is a link you can read all about this car: http://www.saloncollection.com/2013/1968-shelby-green-hornet/theGreenHornet-article.pdf
A ton of research has been done and new information has been found on both the 67 Shelby convertible and the green hornet otherwise known as "EXP500" since this topic was first started.
The car that Volo had is the 67 Shelby convertible. This car was and still is as it always has been a 67 Shelby even though it was used as a prototype for the 68 model year which included the addition of 68 body parts. When Volo got the car they restored it and did a pathetic job of getting any of it's details correct. The link posted above shows the car as restored by Volo. Thankfully the car was sold by Volo and has been restored to historically correct and accurate details. It was completed a little over a year ago. Here is a link that you can read all about this car: 1967 Shelby GT-500 Convertible Prototype - Home
The Green Hornet or EXP500 was a 68 Mustang built by Ford in Dearborn (all 68 Shelby's were built in Metuchen) and used as a California Special prototype. As everyone here hopefully knows California Specials borrowed Shelby body parts, so this lends to some of the confusion on this car. It does not carry a Shelby serial number. When Ford was done with the car they gave it to Shelby engineering and Shelby used the car as a test mule. Craig Jackson (of Barrett-Jackson) currently owns the car and it will be up for auction in January in Scottsdale. Here is a link you can read all about this car: http://www.saloncollection.com/2013/1968-shelby-green-hornet/theGreenHornet-article.pdf
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