Rear GT-350 badge

Since you mentioned "Branda". Look in the back of his catalog, it has sketches of the stripes and such. It might be there.

 

There may not have been an "exact" location being a Shelby. But mine is about 2 inches to the left of the tail light bezel.

 

I've been told there was no template for placement of the rear GT350 badge. The exact location can vary - even between sequentially produced cars - because it was just whatever "looked right" to the guy that was installing them when your car came through. A few cars didn't even get a badge.

Maybe one of our concours judges will chime in and either confirm or correct this information.

Until then, I suggest looking at other cars (in person &/or photos) and then pick the spot that looks best to you.

Steve

 

+1 for Steves statements. Because there are many slight variations it would be reasonable to conclude that a template wasn't used . They are all in the same area it is just that the they may be slightly off from each other as Steve mentioned . Something radically off the mentioned norm would of course need documentation.Bob

 

May I direct your attention to The Shelby American, issue #58, page 19.

The Cobrasations interview of Bob Wyatt, Shelby American truck driver,
and production supervisor.

On page 19, there is a picture of Bob, pointing to the rear GT350 badge,
and the remark is: "Wyatt recalls the problems he had in making sure the
employee who installed them had the TEMPLATE right
side up!"

 

Doug, you are so cool! That looks like the smoking gun that shoots down the myth about no template. That also may explain why some were in a different position than others - a (sometimes) upside-down template.

Thanks for setting the record straight.

Steve

 

Don't feel too comfortable. There are also a variety of examples where workers of every level of importance at the plant back in the day have made mistakes in their recollection of mundane seemingly unimportant things at the time 40 + years ago . The questions only surfaces because the statements contradict the facts or evidence to the contrary. There are so many examples of original emblems that are off from each other slightly . If a template was used logically they would all be in exactly the same position. Just take a look down the row of any a SAAC convention and see if that ever happens. Based on this evidence as I said before it is reasonable to conclude that a template wasn't used . In light of what a ex factory worker stated it would be also reasonable to conclude that if a template was employed the workers as a matter of practice didn't know how to use it otherwise he wouldn't have stated the problem with positioning it upside down as well as the evidence on many cars. The end result is absolutely the same . From historical standpoint the emblems were placed in a variety of positions. Any reasonable enthusiast or concours judge would have to take that into consideration before making a judgement one way or the other. I would get a kick of watching the commotion if a concours judge was crazy enough to take the position that the emblem was only positioned one way to the numerous owners of original cars with the GT350 emblem in different spots. Bob

 

Point well made, Bob. We may never know the whole story with absolute certainty, and I believe that’s one reason these cars maintain their fascination over time – there’s always something new to research and learn.

Thanks for your thoughtful and knowledgeable input.

Steve

 

In reference to the Bob Wyatt remark in issue #58 Of The Shelby American;
I would tend to believe there was a template to be used, but when dealing
with people to accomplish tasks, sometimes the result is not as desired.

Since there is inconsistency in their ( GT350 badges ) placement, I would
suggest that some SA employees perhaps used a template, while others
simply ignored it.

And then, we have the cars that never got one...........

 

Regardless if one was used, not used ,or used sporadically the end result is absolutely the same. Placement of the emblem is the point of this thread and to that end was the point of my reply's

 

Can't remember if it was here or the SAAC Forum (too lazy to search right now), but there was a long thread on the size inconsistancy of original emblems which could also add to placement issues even if a template was used.

 

Suffice to say then, placement of the GT350 badge is an approximation
of observed positioning. The variances are neither right, nor wrong. Only
accepted.

 

I hear what you are saying and I am sure we are on the same page but just to clarify for those that may be reading but not be sure- the emblem position is accepted as long as positioned is within the normal range of area the emblem was normally seen positioned. Any radical placement would need some reasonable documentation. example- radical placement several inches left of passenger tail light , inches far up towards the trunk lip,or far down towards the bumper. Examples are not the normal variations. Just don't want to give the impression that any old position was good. Good examples can be unrestored cars (baring damage),restored cars that have not had a tail panel replaced ,original tail panels that have been replaced but still retain the holes for thpins,vintage magazine articles from back in the day just to name a few. Bob

 

Aren't there two questions, was a template used and the location.
It would, in my humble opinion, be very difficult to make sure you drill
the holes for the pins in the correct location and a template make sense.
Did the template show exactly where on rear panel, I don't believe so.
Just my two cents,
Texas Swede

 

This is an unrestored 65. Like most, it has no LeMans stripes. It does however, have the rear badge, and if you look closely you'll see it's not quite straight, either.

http://mustangmonthly.automotive.com/103389/mump-0903-1965-shelby-gt350/index.html

 

Good point Bo . That sounds like a very logical and reasonable idea that needs to be considered as part of this whole discussion. Pin location yes. As Bo brought up because of the difficulty in getting the emblem pin spacing correct it is more reasonable to assume that there was a template for the pins then there was not. Tailpanel placement of emblem no or at least very questionable based on the evidence IMHO. My whole resistance to the template idea was as it related to the exact location of the emblem on all of the tailpanels which was the initial question posed. I have enjoyed this friendly discussion and hopefully it will add some clarity to the issue. Bob

 

The rear emblem on my car is located about 3/4 inch too high. The following story is true.
Shortly after I bought my car in 1979, I was working at the tech director at the local NASCAR track. One Saturday night I parked my car on the infield. (After what I saw later, I never got my car within miles of the place again). I had a number of people looking at it. One older guy in particular checked the car out, walked up to me and said "This must be a really early car" I asked him how he knew, he said because of the rear emblem, it's located too high.

He told me he was working for Shelby American in '65. They assigned the job of mounting the rear badges on some of the cars to a kid who screwed it up. They gave him a template, a drill and some badges. Apparently, he didn't pay any attention to what he was doing and located the rear badge on some cars noticeably too high. The guy who told me the story said couldn't remember if the kid assigned to install the emblems had the template upside down or not but Shelby management was very upset about it. Since it would have been very expensive to fix, they sent the cars out that way. The kid got fired over it. I managed to make contact with him last year. He is in his '80's now but he remembered our conversation and confirmed this story.