Another '65 GT350 Heading to Auction

[Grumpy]

It said original paint. Isn't the rear 1/4 radius higher than the other car ?

[gt350hr]

    There were two tire sizes used . The 750/850  Casler on the steel wheel fit the stock wheel opening and the larger 8.90-15 Casler capped Goodyear needed the reworked wheel opening like on Jerry's car because of it's larger diameter and width. I don't know who did the work on his car.
"I" ran ( on 6S240) an M&H that was wide but didn't need wheel well rework "in the day" . 6S477 has mildly reworked wheel openings now for modern Goodyear 10x28 tires

[98SVT - was 06GT]

    There were two tire sizes used . The 750/850  Casler on the steel wheel fit the stock wheel opening and the larger 8.90-15 Casler capped Goodyear needed the reworked wheel opening ..... I don't know who did the work on his car.

The description says "converted to a drag racer for NHRA Sport Stock competition". Did that class allow for wheel well mods?

The invoice from Performance Associates only notes Casler slicks not the size - there are no additional wheels listed. Did both size slicks use the same width wheel? There is no notation for body work and I don't know if "build car to Shelby specs" included wheel well mods. This car seems to have gone to Perf Assoc directly from Mel Burns - but did SA do the wheel well mods on the factory drag cars before they went to Perf Assoc? It would make sense to do it inhouse to keep the costs down. Next time I see Jim Murietta I'll check and see if he did the drag cars. He did the R Model wheel wells and is still doing them on the continuation cars.

[TLea]

If you want to see two "concours" drag unit restorations check out the ones at the Segerstrom Museum. THEY are correct in every detail including genuine Casler recap slicks like they were sold with.

Here is their 66 - is the other a 65?

That is 6S018. Was an AHRA record holder for a short time. The other is 5S327 which was shipped from Shelby directly to Honolulu and stayed there until entire life until it came back to us to restore about five years ago. 018 had the optional traction bars and cam as well as the 890 Casler's. 327 did not have traction bars or the cam and have 750 Caslers. Both cars have heavy beat marks in the wheel wells for tire clearance.  I also talk to Jerry Mendes (original owner) about the car going to auction and he said the first time they ran it down the dragstrip rubber was peeling off the slicks from hitting the wheel wells. It is a fantastic well documented car but with all due respect it is not a Shelby factory drag car. They were only eight produced. The Mendes brothers wanted one but weren't available so they bought this car directly from Shelby and then took it to Les Ritchie for the conversion. It was sold as a street car not a factory drag car

[deathsled]

    There were two tire sizes used . The 750/850  Casler on the steel wheel fit the stock wheel opening and the larger 8.90-15 Casler capped Goodyear needed the reworked wheel opening ..... I don't know who did the work on his car.

The description says "converted to a drag racer for NHRA Sport Stock competition". Did that class allow for wheel well mods?

The invoice from Performance Associates only notes Casler slicks not the size - there are no additional wheels listed. Did both size slicks use the same width wheel? There is no notation for body work and I don't know if "build car to Shelby specs" included wheel well mods. This car seems to have gone to Perf Assoc directly from Mel Burns - but did SA do the wheel well mods on the factory drag cars before they went to Perf Assoc? It would make sense to do it inhouse to keep the costs down. Next time I see Jim Murietta I'll check and see if he did the drag cars. He did the R Model wheel wells and is still doing them on the continuation cars.

That is so great that Jim is around in 2022 doing work on the continuation R models

[gt350hr]

   Yes 15x6 was used on all slicks , steel or Cragar , I saw both. The cars were usually tested at Irwindale or Lions before actual delivery. Whenever they showed up people took notice. I saw 5S360 through it's many changes too. I race against it one time only .
     Delete 4.86 ? for what? The GT350 ran in "sports" class where "stock" didn't matter so wheel wells could be modified. This was a short lived NHRA class and the "performer" didn't fare well performance wise with it's 306 HP rating. It did better in AHRA classes but still not well enough to catch on and sell enough to be legal in NHRA "stock" or Super Stock where Don McCain thought it would do well. The AHRA class was Formula 1 Sports /X and there were 6 subclasses A through F. I held the F1S/XE class record for about 20 minutes (LOL) back in the early '70s with 6S240 when it was Paxton supercharged @ 11.41 and 124 mph . After my "celebration" a Corvette in the class ran 11.35 and took it away from me 20 minutes later. Celebration over.
    Yes I was a drag race "junkie".

[mark p]

   ...    Yes I was a drag race "junkie".

"Was"?   

[gt350hr]

   Yes I guess I'm a life timer. Drag strips can't open soon enough for me. 55 years of doing and haven't missed one yet

[69mach351w]

    There were two tire sizes used . The 750/850  Casler on the steel wheel fit the stock wheel opening and the larger 8.90-15 Casler capped Goodyear needed the reworked wheel opening like on Jerry's car because of it's larger diameter and width. I don't know who did the work on his car.
"I" ran ( on 6S240) an M&H that was wide but didn't need wheel well rework "in the day" . 6S477 has mildly reworked wheel openings now for modern Goodyear 10x28 tires

You mean Lewayne's car. But what I'm trying to wrap my mind around is why would Lewayne Musselwhite buy the car just to turn around and sell it?  Is he hoping that the auction will net him a huge profit? Did he buy the car from Jerry Mendez at a very low price and Mendez knows that Musselwhite is trying to make a huge profit?  Hmmmm.

[Bob Gaines]

    There were two tire sizes used . The 750/850  Casler on the steel wheel fit the stock wheel opening and the larger 8.90-15 Casler capped Goodyear needed the reworked wheel opening like on Jerry's car because of it's larger diameter and width. I don't know who did the work on his car.
"I" ran ( on 6S240) an M&H that was wide but didn't need wheel well rework "in the day" . 6S477 has mildly reworked wheel openings now for modern Goodyear 10x28 tires

You mean Lewayne's car. But what I'm trying to wrap my mind around is why would Lewayne Musselwhite buy the car just to turn around and sell it?  Is he hoping that the auction will net him a huge profit? Did he buy the car from Jerry Mendez at a very low price and Mendez knows that Musselwhite is trying to make a huge profit?  Hmmmm.

Lewayne has owned that car for more then a few years so it is not any kind of a quick flip.

[69mach351w]

    There were two tire sizes used . The 750/850  Casler on the steel wheel fit the stock wheel opening and the larger 8.90-15 Casler capped Goodyear needed the reworked wheel opening like on Jerry's car because of it's larger diameter and width. I don't know who did the work on his car.
"I" ran ( on 6S240) an M&H that was wide but didn't need wheel well rework "in the day" . 6S477 has mildly reworked wheel openings now for modern Goodyear 10x28 tires

You mean Lewayne's car. But what I'm trying to wrap my mind around is why would Lewayne Musselwhite buy the car just to turn around and sell it?  Is he hoping that the auction will net him a huge profit? Did he buy the car from Jerry Mendez at a very low price and Mendez knows that Musselwhite is trying to make a huge profit?  Hmmmm.

Lewayne has owned that car for more then a few years so it is not any kind of a quick flip.

Thanks for clarification.  I was just going by the title of the YT video with the year 2022 in the title.

[shelbydreamer]

I've seen this car in his shop up here in Edmonton along with his (now sold) double digit 65 GT 350. He has a shop called Shelby Canada West and is quite the car guy. He is also a very nice guy and takes time to chat with all the people that come to his shop when he around.

Philip

[gt350hr]

    It sure changed since he bought it years ago.

[Bob Gaines]

    It sure changed since he bought it years ago.

Do you mean the lightening holes that the first owner put in many brackets etc?

[gt350hr]

   No I mean the Cragar Super Trick wheels came of and the large aluminum carb plenum came off. The hood scoop looks a little different than when I raced against it at Sonoma in 2001 or so. Some other under the hood stuff is different. All the changes are obviously meant to make it more period and I appreciate that . It seems to be represented as a "time capsule" , and "I"  feel differently.  I have done some similar modifications to my Hertz car because I like the look , but it is not a time capsule ''before 1974'' when I bought it from the owner after Hertz. This will be the 48th year of me racing the hell out of it.
     Best of luck on the sale.