Limited-Edition Shelby GT350, GT350R Heritage Edition Package

[Frado]

Just saw this on cars.com. Listed at $63,610. Norfolk Ford in Norfolk, NE. Just putting it out there if anyone is out there looking for one

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/802145192/overview/

$3,235 below MSRP Get down the road in this marvelous Shelby GT350, and fall in love with driving all over again.. A real head turner!! Just Arrived!!! Optional equipment includes: Technology Package, GT350 Heritage Edition Package,

Went to their website car is not even listed on it. Was hoping they maybe had a few pictures. But no luck .

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[slingblade]

Went to their website car is not even listed on it. Was hoping they maybe had a few pictures. But no luck .

Same here. First time I have ordered or bought a car when I really don't know what it will look like in real life. Haha. Honestly though even pictures don't do the GT350 justice. Every time I see one in person, I find myself saying "man that car looks good."

 

[TYAO=RH]

Same here. First time I have ordered or bought a car when I really don't know what it will look like in real life. Haha. Honestly though even pictures don't do the GT350 justice. Every time I see one in person, I find myself saying "man that car looks good."

Haha same boat here man, hell this is my first ever "car"...

 

[PP0001]

I would love to have you part of the Fathouse team! I'm with you guys on the heritage edition, the best S550 GT350 yet. I honestly can't believe this wasn't an option from day one.

Sometimes it just takes a little time and a great deal of hard work and continued engineering development for these cool and outstanding options in order to all come together over the last 6 years.

You can thank Bill Ford and Jim Owens for their intuitive collaboration with respect to putting the HEP option out there for the rest of us enthusiasts to have access to!

 

[km1075]

Don Meyer Ford in Greensberg, Indiana has their Heritage Edition. Don't think it's sold yet. Looks great!

 

[TYAO=RH]

Don Meyer Ford in Greensberg, Indiana has their Heritage Edition. Don't think it's sold yet. Looks great!

Good looking car! Any more photos you can share with us? Their website does not have any up yet

 

[km1075]

Good looking car! Any more photos you can share with us? Their website does not have any up yet

I don't. They were sent to me by Brian Meyer of Don Meyer Ford. Think he's willing to sell at MSRP. Call him at the dealer. I had been negotiating with him on his allocation, but just couldn't come to agreement quick enough before I cut a deal with someone else. He's a nice guy.

 

[Wildcardfox]

Don Meyer Ford in Greensberg, Indiana has their Heritage Edition. Don't think it's sold yet. Looks great!

cool!

Some good information there. The Heritage cars will have a different chassis plate with the blue cobra, but they still will be intermixed within the overall 2020 chassis numbers so they will still have LXXXX and LRXXX chassis numbers.

 

[PP0001]

cool!

Some good information there. The Heritage cars will have a different chassis plate with the blue cobra, but they still will be intermixed within the overall 2020 chassis numbers so they will still have LXXXX and LRXXX chassis numbers.

Outstanding looking GT350 and really like the looks of this color combination.

With respect to 2020 GT350/R chassis numbers I am not convinced that the HEP optioned GT350/R's with be intermixed with all of the non HEP GT350/R's but I could be totally wrong.

I have a difficult time understanding that only 8 GT350's were built before this car (has a Blend Date of February 19th) that either came with or without the HEP option and that the FRAP has only assembled 8 cars from last September until February 19th some 5 months later but maybe that is indeed the case!

 

[Wildcardfox]

Outstanding looking GT350 and really like the looks of this color combination.

With respect to 2020 GT350/R chassis numbers I am not convinced that the HEP optioned GT350/R's with be intermixed with all of the non HEP GT350/R's but I could be totally wrong.

I have a difficult time understanding that only 8 GT350's were built before this car (has a Blend Date of February 19th) that either came with or without the HEP option and that the FRAP has only assembled 8 cars from last September until February 19th some 5 months later but maybe that is indeed the case!

I am a little surprised as well since the public was not told about the HEP until late in the game of the production model year, but knowing Ford and Jim, they do not want to diminish any precious GT350 owners, they want to offer something special that enhances the brand. Based on the fact that this is a Heritage and that this car at the dealership is not a pre-production car, and the fact that the badge does not have a special HE number or anything other than the standard chassis code for 2020 (L) minus the blue cobra, I think it is safe to say that there is not a special chassis number badge.

It may be that there is a separate badging somewhere else, but like I mentioned before, I don’t think this package is meant to be the special exclusive brand of GT350. It is a celebration version that enhances the overall brand, while also celebrating the history and by offering like color codes to the original B-Production Champion, 5R002 and the original 37 1965 GT350 Competition Models that became know as the GT350R.

I would also think that although the public was told later that there would be this series, Ford has been planning it for over a year so it makes sense that they would be spread out throughout the chassis numbers of the 2020 fleet. Which makes sense why this one would be car number 9 of all 2020 base models.

Also if this was the Uber special—separate model, what would the 2015 37 GT350R owners think. Yes they were mainly all VIPs, but they’d be sour.

 

[PP0001]

I am a little surprised as well since the public was not told about the HEP until late in the game of the production model year, but knowing Ford and Jim, they do not want to diminish any precious GT350 owners, they want to offer something special that enhances the brand. Based on the fact that this is a Heritage and that this car at the dealership is not a pre-production car, and the fact that the badge does not have a special HE number or anything other than the standard chassis code for 2020 (L) minus the blue cobra, I think it is safe to say that there is not a special chassis number badge.

It may be that there is a separate badging somewhere else, but like I mentioned before, I don’t think this package is meant to be the special exclusive brand of GT350. It is a celebration version that enhances the overall brand, while also celebrating the history and by offering like color codes to the original B-Production Champion, 5R002 and the original 37 1965 GT350 Competition Models that became know as the GT350R.

I would also think that although the public was told later that there would be this series, Ford has been planning it for over a year so it makes sense that they would be spread out throughout the chassis numbers of the 2020 fleet. Which makes sense why this one would be car number 9 of all 2020 base models.

Also if this was the Uber special—separate model, what would the 2015 37 GT350R owners think. Yes they were mainly all VIPs, but they’d be sour.

The part that I am having a difficulty understanding is how a chassis number namely "L0009" can be assigned to a GT350 that was built during the last half of February, 2020 unless this chassis number was set aside for this particular vehicle for some reason.

It is my understanding that the FRAP has been producing 2020 GT350's since last September and if that is indeed the case it is hard to comprehend that only 8 other GT350's have been produced prior to the February 19th production date for VIN "0853" and chassis number "L0009" therefore something is not adding up.

At the end of the day all of this will come out in the wash and it will be interesting to watch it all unfold.

After discussions with Jim with respect to the HEP option and how it all unfolded it is not surprising that the launch for this option came late in the game based on those discussions.

If Ford had been planning this option for over a year that was certainly not the impression that I got from Jim and also when he also went into the details as to how many HEP optioned cars that he suggested that Ford produce for the 2020 MY the story even got more interesting.

With respect to the 36 Competition Models (2 prototypes and 34 customer cars) produced back in 1965 the first race car assembled was "5R002" with the second race car completed being "5R001" which is somewhat confusing unless a person really gets into some of the very early history on these cars.

Of course John Atzbach owns "5R002" and it is my understanding that John was allocated "F0037" which was the very last 2015 R model assembled and my understanding is that Jay Leno was allocated "F0036" which was the second last 2015 R model assembled based on him wanting chassis #36 which mirrors the total number of original competition cars built from back in the day.

 

[Wildcardfox]

The part that I am having a difficulty understanding is how a chassis number namely "L0009" can be assigned to a GT350 that was built during the last half of February, 2020 unless this chassis number was set aside for this particular vehicle for some reason.

It is my understanding that the FRAP has been producing 2020 GT350's since last September and if that is indeed the case it is hard to comprehend that only 8 other GT350's have been produced prior to the February 19th production date for VIN "0853" and chassis number "L0009" therefore something is not adding up.

At the end of the day all of this will come out in the wash and it will be interesting to watch it all unfold.

After discussions with Jim with respect to the HEP option and how it all unfolded it is not surprising that the launch for this option came late in the game based on those discussions.

If Ford had been planning this option for over a year that was certainly not the impression that I got from Jim and also when he also went into the details as to how many HEP optioned cars that he suggested that Ford produce for the 2020 MY the story even got more interesting.

With respect to the 36 Competition Models (2 prototypes and 34 customer cars) produced back in 1965 the first race car assembled was "5R002" with the second race car completed being "5R001" which is somewhat confusing unless a person really gets into some of the very early history on these cars.

Of course John Atzbach owns "5R002" and it is my understanding that John was allocated "F0037" which was the very last 2015 R model assembled and my understanding is that Jay Leno was allocated "F0036" which was the second last 2015 R model assembled based on him wanting chassis #36 which mirrors the total number of original competition cars built from back in the day.

There is always a contention over whether there were 36 or 37 original GT350 Competition models. Some say 36, others 37 and this goes all the way up to Chuck Cantwell and Peter Brock. The 37 is said to have been given to the parts department and unsold, which according to my sources is what Jim Owens did with the 2015 GT350R number 37, the one after Leno. It could have also been the car that was turned into the GT500 test mule, 5R537, which received the 427 race motor for testing.

This was mentioned in my article on the designer of the GT500. Me and Cantwell spoke about this crossover GT350R/GT500 prototype car. https://autologicmagazine.com/2020/01/13/a-legend-the-designer-behind-the-1967-g-t-500/

"Chuck Cantwell was the Project Engineer of both the 1965 GT350 and the 1967 GT500 programs. He recalls the monumental task of modifying a Mustang to fit Ford’s broader engine. Ford knew that the Mustang’s body needed to grow to accommodate the bigger engine’s size, but before they finalized the 1967 body, they tasked Shelby American with building a prototype out of an older, smaller-bodied unsold 1965 GT350 Competition model (aka the GT350R), chassis number 5R537, that would be heavily modified to cradle the large 427 engine. "

"The car was tested only once at Willow Springs before being shipped off to Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford ran it on their test track, “and it turned times only bettered by Dan Gurney in a GT40,” says Shelby American Auto Club Historian, Greg Kolasa. This converted 1965 GT350 R was the first GT500 prototype, although when it was built it, the GT500 moniker had not been created, so it was known as only as 428 GT350, says Kolasa. After this successful test, Ford set about styling their new car."

Here's a picture of that car from the 2012 Shelby American Winter 2012 issue https://issuu.com/computerworks/docs/issue0112-2/46

This is why Ford, from my sources, why Ford choose the number 37 in the 2015 GT350R production run.

 

[Mikefd]

All this is good info.... BUT.... more pics! More!

 

[Frado]

All this is good info.... BUT.... more pics! More!

X2

 

[PP0001]

There is always a contention over whether there were 36 or 37 original GT350 Competition models. Some say 36, others 37 and this goes all the way up to Chuck Cantwell and Peter Brock. The 37 is said to have been given to the parts department and unsold, which according to my sources is what Jim Owens did with the 2015 GT350R number 37, the one after Leno. It could have also been the car that was turned into the GT500 test mule, 5R537, which received the 427 race motor for testing.

This was mentioned in my article on the designer of the GT500. Me and Cantwell spoke about this crossover GT350R/GT500 prototype car. https://autologicmagazine.com/2020/01/13/a-legend-the-designer-behind-the-1967-g-t-500/

"Chuck Cantwell was the Project Engineer of both the 1965 GT350 and the 1967 GT500 programs. He recalls the monumental task of modifying a Mustang to fit Ford’s broader engine. Ford knew that the Mustang’s body needed to grow to accommodate the bigger engine’s size, but before they finalized the 1967 body, they tasked Shelby American with building a prototype out of an older, smaller-bodied unsold 1965 GT350 Competition model (aka the GT350R), chassis number 5R537, that would be heavily modified to cradle the large 427 engine. "

"The car was tested only once at Willow Springs before being shipped off to Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford ran it on their test track, “and it turned times only bettered by Dan Gurney in a GT40,” says Shelby American Auto Club Historian, Greg Kolasa. This converted 1965 GT350 R was the first GT500 prototype, although when it was built it, the GT500 moniker had not been created, so it was known as only as 428 GT350, says Kolasa. After this successful test, Ford set about styling their new car."

Here's a picture of that car from the 2012 Shelby American Winter 2012 issue https://issuu.com/computerworks/docs/issue0112-2/46

This is why Ford, from my sources, why Ford choose the number 37 in the 2015 GT350R production run.

It is my understanding that SA only built 2 prototype Competition Cars and 34 customer Competition Cars (including chassis #5R537) for a grand total of 36 Competition or R model cars.

Based on the above scenario there were only 2 prototype Competition Cars namely "5R002" and "5R001" with the one of the very last unsold customer Competition Race Cars (+10 still available at that time) being "5R537" which ultimately was chosen to have a full race 427 side oiler engine installed for further testing at Willow Springs.

Subject to the above I am really not sure how chassis number "5R537" adds another car to the list of 36 cars already in question and with that being the case what is the chassis number for car #37?

Some time ago I read Chuck Cantwell's "Shelby Mustang GT350" publication and he made it very clear that SA hand built only 34 customer race cars including chassis number "5R537" and of course we only know of 2 prototype Competition Cars therefore how does that now add up to 37 Competition Cars assembled?

With respect to 2020 HEP chassis numbers being integrated into the regular 2020 GT350 chassis number series hopefully we can get a better understanding of where this issue sits in the very near future.

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