former Velo Museum's 1967 Shelby GT500 convertible--which previous owner lucked out?

bitzman · May 7, 2013

On an excellently laid out site it has the complete story of the car that the Volo Museum had, a 1967 Shelby GT500 convertible prototype. They even have a list of previous owners though they have a ten year gap (Sept '67 and Jan. '77) in owners. My question is: what's the lowest this car ever went for when it might have been thought to be just a "Kustom" by some owner who, inspired by the '68 , built a '67 style one.
By the way I went to the Velo Museum website and now they have a replica of the car for sale--that struck me as kind of funny--they sold the real one but if you come there to see it you can see a replica of it. I didn't look at the replica closely enough to see if it had painted on items like the originals (the original in some early publicity photos with the babe at the beach).
:
Here's the list of past owners on the website called http://www.1967shelbyconvertible.com. One of them prior to Volo must have gotten one heckuva deal if it's history wasn't widely known back then... (I think there was a story circulating once that the Museum bought it just because it was interesting and only began to research it after they bought it and realized that it was the prototype and that began its escalation in value)

The list of owners from the website, accessed May 7, 2013:

November 1966 - Shelby American

September 1967 - Ford Motor Company

January 8, 1977 - Neil Osbjornson - titled in his parent's names (Donald & Grethel)

August 1978 - James Ventrella

December 1985 - Richard Kot

2000 - Brian Grams / Volo Auto Museum

March 27, 2007 - Dana Mecum / Mecum Collection

May 17, 2009 - Samantha Styles / Styles Collection

bitzman · Sep 19, 2013

former Velo Museum's 1967 Shelby GT500 convertible--did Volo Museum get it at a g

I saw this car at the SAAC convention, where it was incredibly well done. I forgot --did Volo Museum buy it thinking it was a '67 Shelby convertible though it was titled as a '68? Did they display it with signage saying it was a '67 or a '68?
I gather Shelby experts later educated them and they later realized it really was a '67. Was it ever published what Volo paid when they bought it? I would surmise they couldn't pay too much in case it was a '68 and not a '67 and the documentation wasn't unearthed yet to prove it was a '67 prototype.

Confused in Cleveland

Coralsnake · Sep 19, 2013

Re: former Velo Museum's 1967 Shelby GT500 convertible--which previous owner lucked o

The current owner has throughly researched the car and its history. I know he still uncovering information on the history to this day. Why dont you just email him if you have questions? He is a swell guy and always willing to talk about the car.

Volo always contended the car was built as a 1967 Shelby. It has a 1967 production serial number and Shelby assigned VIN. The history of the car, as a 1968, was known before Volo bought it. They based their restoration on very little research or historical records. They never represented the car as a 1968 or called it a 1968, to the best of my knowledge, even though they knew of its 1968 history. I dont think anyone really made a killing on it. The car has no comparables, so the price is a function of its uniqueness and the appreciation other long time owners have realized. I can recall when Kot owned the car, he was asking about three times the going rate for a 1968 convertible.

I believe that the current owner believes the car was in 1967 trim at one time. That is based on research he has conducted after Volo's ownership. In reality, Volo may have been correct in their guess the car was once in 1967 Shelby trim.

There is no doubt, the car was the 1968 convertible prototype and built to look like it does now (1968 Shelby trim). I think the decision to restore the car as it was known to exist was the correct one. To me, the 64 dollar question has been, was it ever built as a 1967 Shelby? The owner has done phenomenal work, I have just chosen to be hold out.

Personally, I will believe it was in 1967 Shelby trim, when (if) they find the pictures.

roddster · Sep 25, 2013

Re: former Velo Museum's 1967 Shelby GT500 convertible--which previous owner lucked o

I believe it was R Kot who owned it at the time of the Indianapolis SAAC convention where it was in the For Sale area. It need a resto then and Mr Kot was asking 65 R-model money for it at the time ($100,000 to $125,000) I don't recall where I heard Volo bought it, but it was for about $52,000. And they had some place "down the street" "restore it". Then all the stories started. They "found it in a barn" stuff. Yeah, right.

I'm with Coralsnake on this about it one time it had to have been assembled as a 67, but, as of yet
(9/26/2013) no known photos of it like that.

Coralsnake · Sep 25, 2013

Re: former Velo Museum's 1967 Shelby GT500 convertible--which previous owner lucked o

I think you are right. I saw the car in Indy and again at Elkhart Lake. I also attended the "unveiling" at Volo. I was with a buddy and we asked about the restoration. I wondered why they used so many 1968 production parts on a 1967? The also picked the number $3,000,000 for the value. I always found that amusing. It makes Craig Jack's estimate for the Green Hornet look reasonable.

In my opinion the restoration done by the current was done to the highest level. It is much more historically accurate.