Was going thru some old magazines i try to use for reference material and was curious about something.The old motor trend from 67 where they roadtested the 67 gt 500 against the 67 stingray has a pic of underhood. The car has metal powered by ford valve covers. Did some of the early cars have metal powered by ford covers?
No they didn't use the sheet metal valve covers. I am not sure if it was the same picture because I don't have it in front of me but there was a pre production car engine bay used for photos that had the 427 style fuel filter canister. That was not used on the 428 equipped GT500's. Bob
I guess I am too much a Google head..here are a few photos from this site about this thread http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/classic/112_6704_shelbyvette/photo_01.html
I'm sure that this test car got a little more punch under the hood than the average GT500.[I wouldn't be surprised if it was really a 427mr] Its possible solid lifters needed adjustments and the steel covers would make that task a little easier. No smog is another sign it got tweeked if it were a CA. car "off the shelf".
Great link to view those old pics thanks! I cant tell very well from the engine pic but I think they removed the A/C compressor and goodies. One pic of the interior shows center vents for A/C But i dont see the compressor? Hmmmm... Jim
Hi: this is a great example of how the magazine folks were often times the wrong influence on what became "standard production "on cars.These look to be a combination of photos of different cars-one car for the under hood,and another for the interior.And not to dissapoint anyone-but neither of these bigblocks ran stellar for this article,nor did the road test in SCG reveal any great indicators of top speed or 1/4 mile times.A properly tuned car really helped lower the 1/4 mile E.T. and several people in the L.A. area were often contracted to do exactly this-Ak Miller,Bill Stroppe,and Mickey Thompson,to name a few.The questions I have are...has anyone contacted the magazine directly to ask about archive photos? could there be some pics that never got published?And on the simpler side do we know the date that these were taken?Any answers will help us to gain more knowledge about the history that surrounds our favorite cars. P.D.
it is most likely as PD discribes . The coil mount location would be on the intake on a A/C equipped engine . This is a tell tale sign that the engine in the picture never came equipped with A/C. Bob
In the magazine there are 2 different pics of interior. 1 of auto a/c and one 4spd. no air. I figured the underhood pics were from the 4spd.car.
Hello Everyone, If you read the Motor Trend article, it states they had two GT 500s made available to them for this comparison test. The first was a GT 500 equipped with A/C and an auto trans according to the interior photo. The second was the 4-speed car with no A/C and no radio according to the interior photo. They elected to test the 4-speed car against the Corvette. The engine compartment photo is of the 4-speed car. Not sure why it has the stamped steel valve covers rather than the cast aluminum ones. Perhaps a shortage of cast aluminum valve covers at the time of the magazine test? I do not know the serial number of the lime gold 4-speed car that was used in the comparison test. But given that it ran a rather unimpressive 14.52 second quarter mile, I seriously doubt that it was equipped with a 427 MR engine. A GT 500 with a properly tuned 427 MR should have been able to match and probably beat the Corvette's 13.8 second quarter mile time. Now, for the automatic trans and A/C GT 500. Based on the interior photo I believe that car is my car, serial number 67411F--0100-ENG. Here is why: 1. I think we have previously established that 0100 was the GT 500 that was road tested in the February 1967 issues of Car and Driver and Road and Track and also the March 1967 issue of Sports Car Graphic. 2. The first photo that appears in the Car and Driver article is an interior photo. Look at the steering column and note the piece of paper that is taped to the column. 3. The two interior photos of the GT 500 that appear in the Sports Car Graphic article also show this piece of paper taped to the steering column. 4. Now look closely at the interior photo of the A/C and auto trans car that appears in the Motor Trend article. It also has this piece of paper taped to the steering column. 5. So, based on this piece of paper taped to the steering column in all of the interior photos of the A/C and auto trans equipped GT 500; I conclude they are all of the same car. That car being number 0100, the first production GT 500 built by Shelby American. What do you think? Thanks, Eric
I don't have a copy of the artical in front of me, but if they were running with slicks BOTH cars should have run alot better. Big cubic inches+ bias ply tires= unimpresive times.
Tried to make it easier for you to read the article..guess you missed the link thats between the photos of cover and motor. There is a link to the whole article on the link I provided. 6 pages..