SAAC Forum

Hi Rail fans,
A quick note 2621 also had body damage which was evident when you looked inside the trunk,right 1/4 panel was replaced-it was bought at a deep discount, which we assume was due to this
repair,and first registered as a 1967 Chevy G.T. 350  in California. So far that is 3 cars all with damage on the right side. Now you know what I know. Thanks to all who continue to attempt to
figure out a 51 year old case.
Regards R.R.

Hi all in SAAC land,
Just to answer a few questions.This was a low speed derailment most likely caused by a wheel bearing failure on the right side of the freight car. Both Shelby's I have seen had right rear damage...indicating the load shifted and caused the damage. The heavy equipment operator said he only buried 1 car in the sand and never said
a location....we were in California when he told me this...also makes sense it was in Ca. because the salvage company was in L.A. and most cars were repaired and then
sold in the L.A. area later in 1967. What is amazing is no one seems to know the process that S.A.I. went through to load cars on to trains for out of state shipment. It
makes sense that they used Fords existing system which we think was from Pico Rivera, yet we can find no proof of this and to date no former S.A.I. employees have remembered much of anything to do with trains, or who did this- so think about this--in the first few months of 67 production more than 90 of the 100 cars finished were sent out of Ca. by rail. Somebody must know the way it was accomplished. I think S.A.I. Simply called the car carrier (Hadley transport) and they trucked the cars to the
rail yard, from that point they linked into Fords distribution system and they were sent to the various out of state dealers....now we just need to prove which yard or
to ask even more questions like who figured out how to direct the shipments.
  Regards R.R.

Hi all,
This is a longtime unsolved cold case..we need several key pieces of info to solve this and I would really like to know exactly when and where it happened...
I met the heavy equipment operator in 1985 that claimed he did the site cleanup of this derailment...he has since passed away. We have seen the rail industry bought/sold/merged so many times
over 50 years that we may not get any more answers to our questions. I have asked if anyone knows who was responsible for car shipment by rail-Shelby had cars shipped this way for years,as well
as by Hadley Transport truck...At this point we only know most of the damaged cars were repaired and later sold. I would be happy to know the process of how a completed car was shipped out of
Shelby American. I think someone at Ford may help and will chase that lead as a next step.
R.R.

Hi,
A HUGE THANKS !!!
After years of hearing about these cars we finally see a real 1968 example!! as several have mentioned 1969 examples seem to be the most popular,and so far no real 1967 cars--maybe there
is still a chance we will find at least one 1967 . Again Thanks for sharing all of this with us.

R.R.

Hi All,
Just a quick note to add 0017 to the list also.After looking at this list maybe someone should ask if anyone has seen or got pictures of a G.T.500 with a flat cap that was built prior to Jan 1967.
We know of only 2 well documented ones to this point.....any others known   Still looks like they made less than 90 as a total.Cut off date seems to be early January 1967 for all cars.
Regards R.R.

Hi to all in SAAC land,
Would really like to know if anyone out there has pictures from the auto show in 1966  even if they are black and white.... Where were you in the last week of Oct. or first week of Nov. 1966??
if you ever went to the Pan Pacific it would be awesome to see photos...Thanks in advance
R.R.