1967 GT350's & GT500's stamped with the "Z"

Hi folks! First a little thanks to snakepit for starting this thread..you are a mind reader.Secondly I did not say much prior to this because i did not think there would be much interest..now that we see such a response,I will share with you what is known.The rarest plate is the hand lettered type,and none to date have a Z stamping.My theory is simple.The Z means Zone.Daves comment "The 67 Z cars are still a mystery." the total back in 1996 was 390 cars reported by members.324 cars sold new outside california.66 cars sold in california..the list grows longer constantly,yet the bias still shows most Z cars were originally destined to be sold outside the golden state.The build sheet connection is mainly by date(s) so far the Z stamp appears to have been put to use after January 67 .As per normal procedure in Shelby land there are always exceptions...so far Z cars seem to be confusing to most people because the letter is not the same size as the shelby vin and many cars in the 97 registry may have the Z yet the owner did not list it,or think it was important.What we need to track is the paper work showing where the car was to be sold new, several were dealer traded and many sat in impound waiting to be shipped,some for several months...the Z as a final inspection stamp also makes sense,how can we prove it?A final comment from Dave he thinks most cars have a Z code.

 

Hi again,
Something just hit me. My car has the little Z shaped battery
hold down bracket. Could it be that simple? How about yours,
with the Z? Bracket still there or the little mounting hole still there?
/Texas Swede

 

#0036 - NO "Z", one piece grill, inboards.

 

#0187,NO Z,two piece(slanted)grill,inboards.Shipped to J D Ball Ford,Florida dec. 22 1966.

 

#910,No Z,has inboards and originally shipped to California.

I also looked at car #2148 at a show about a month ago.This was a factory Paxton car,it had the Z and it also had inboards.

 

#2532 Has A Z

Auto/Factory AC with outboards.

Mike

P.S. The exhaust under the drivers side came unattached last night one a little 2 mile cruise. The security guard in my neighborhood said he heard a mile a away and knew how it was. Wife has really happy when I rolled in and woke up the kids at 11pm with straight exhaust. Easy fix this AM.

 

Hi Jeff,
My car #1317 has the original tag. Have owned the car for 30 years.
SAAC sent me the Production Order which says that the car was
completed on 5/25, order received 10/13 and shipped 10/14.
Under other it says: PICO RIVERA INVENTORY.

As regards the battery hold down bracket, I have only seen it on a
few cars. How many 67's have this bracket from the factory?
/Texas Swede

 

Maybe we should be looking at completion and received dates. Mine #2100 was completed 5-13-67, recieved at Richardson Ford in Albuquerque, New Mexico on 5-31-67 and sold on 6-16-67. GT500 4 speed no a.c. no thermactor pump, inboards, non functional brake scoops.

 

my car is #2264 and it is a Z with outboards. first sold in Washington State. should be a picture of the tag in the Car of the Month section. I also am with John and TLEA on the concensus of a Quality issue etc.

 

Hi shelby fans! reading all this makes me wonder,could it be that a Z car was going to be shipped out of california by rail,as most cars were sent this way in groups.Maybe we should look at that info as well.Why else would so much of a puzzle still be with us after all these years?Once we find/solve this it will be amazing to see how it helps piece together the history of the only year shelby that has a vin tag that includes paint color as part of it.keep it real!

 

Snakepit - I am going with the explanation my friend, Dave Mathews, told me when i asked about the Z stamp. He told me they were having a problem of employees taking parts off of completed cars to finish cars on the assembly line. Then when these cars went to be shipped it was found they were missing parts. To fix the problem they began putting the Z stamp on completed cars signifying they were finished/ready for shipping and could not be pillaged for needed parts. If an employee was caught taking parts off a car stamped with a Z they were fired. If we found all the build dates and shipping dates of the Z stamped cars we could find out when the practice was put into place. Thanks.

 

This is why I think this list should be done completion date and received dated. So we could determine the date they started using the Z, for whatever reason it turns up to be. Car #1317 (Texas Swede) seems to be too early a number to have a Z by the vin number, but when you go by the completion date, it was actually completed after my car #2100 which is why #1317, a relatively early car, has a Z. I am just curious if we could nail down the exact day they started using the Z. Larry

 

If you read any of the warranty records of the 67s there were a lot of dealer complaints of quality control issues, especially fiberglass fit on early cars (and they never really got that one fixed even into 69 ). I suspect they took some measures to correct this (not saying this is the Z but lends to reasonable deduction)
Tim

 

I own #130...does not have the "Z",,,slanted one piece grill, inboards, running lights...factory black, extra roll bar brace, etc...

 

Tim i agree with you...the fiberglass hood on my 67 still doesnt fit and it is 40 years old. I can only imagine the complaints that were made when these cars were new and the things didnt fit and parts were found to be missing.