Shelby Mustangs have a number stamped into the frame under a fender and
under the shelby nametag so they really have two numbers, Shelby's # and
the original Ford VIN. The national club (SAAC) has documents (that they
will not share with anyone else) that designate whether or not the two
numbers match up to the production records, they, and no one else has.
That does not gurantee authenticity but it does discourage the amateur
at this. Ifyou were looking at a Shelby and want to assure that it is
real you should get both numbers and submit them to the national club
and they will tell you yes or no. Typically when they find a fake they
print the fact that it does not match up against the production records
in order to protect members. Cobras have the numbers stamped into
various places (such as the trunk lock and the hood locks) as well as
the name tag. Cobras are veryhard to trace as to re-bodies as are most
other cars. The fact is there is little a non-pro can do to gurantee
that he is buying the real thing. Being careful becomes more important
usually when the dollars go up. I once bought what I thought was a 66'
Shelby Hertz car and every time I talked to the out-of-state seller he
would chant off the Shelby VIN # to me. It didn't mean anything to the
dummy here until I got it home. Then I figured out why he kept chanting
off thef-digit # to me. Shelby's of that vintage only have four digits
in the VIN #. I believe that car was a salvaged title but I got rid of
it, telling the buyer that not only did it have five digits but that it
should only have four. Got out of that whole. Be careful is the
watchwords.
>----------
>From: nicholsj@oakwood.org[SMTP:nicholsj@oakwood.org]
>Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 1997 4:04 PM
>To: tigers@autox.team.net
>Subject: Authentic or not?
>
>
> All this talk about original/authentic/rebody/etc. Tigers got me
> curious about Shelby Mustangs. If fake Tigers are apparently easy to
> make, what about fake Shelby Mustangs? I would think a forger can make
> more money on this chicanery making fake Shelby Mustangs than Tigers.
> My question is, does the Shelby American club have a TAC (maybe a
> SMAC?) group that gives a thumb up or down on Shelby Mustangs? I
> pulled out my trusty Hemmings and looked for Shelby Mustangs for sale
> with an equivalent TAC (SMAC) designation and didn't fine one. Same
> goes for the Cobras. What gives?
>
>
> Jeff
>
>
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