Most Historically Significant 2nd Generation Shelby GT350/R?

[The Road Well Heeled]

Harry the Oracle, Thank you as always for sharing your insight and perspective. Any thoughts on where the two factory known 'bastardized' R's with incorrect dash plaques sit within this continuum?

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[PP0001]

Harry the Oracle, Thank you as always for sharing your insight and perspective. Any thoughts on where the two factory known 'bastardized' R's with incorrect dash plaques sit within this continuum?

Todd, that is a great question as to the best of my knowledge the FRAP chassis plate assignor only messed on on 2 of the 280 HEP R's namely your car namely "LR021" and one other car "LR003".

For those not in the know all 280 HEP R's were to come with a Blue background behind the Cobra emblem on the chassis plate when in fact there were 2 cars that came with a Black background in error.

Just the fact that you have a very early production HEP R is outstanding but to also have just 1 of 2 cars with the incorrect chassis plate makes it that much more interesting and special.

It is very difficult to speculate what this error/mistake will equate to regarding the future value of your car but if I had a choice between a Blue and Black chassis plate I would take the latter due to the fact how unique and rare it is.

 

[IPOGT]

Todd, that is a great question as to the best of my knowledge the FRAP chassis plate assignor only messed on on 2 of the 280 HEP R's namely your car namely "LR021" and one other car "LR003".

For those not in the know all 280 HEP R's were to come with a Blue background behind the Cobra emblem on the chassis plate when in fact there were 2 cars that came with a Black background in error.

Just the fact that you have a very early production HEP R is outstanding but to also have just 1 of 2 cars with the incorrect chassis plate makes it that much more interesting and special.

It is very difficult to speculate what this error/mistake will equate to regarding the future value of your car but if I had a choice between a Blue and Black chassis plate I would take the latter due to the fact how unique and rare it is.

Someone at Ford is reading this and thinking to themselves....

 

[dpAtlanta]

I Googled “The complete history of second generation GT350’s”, and this is all it gave me:

See: PP0001 and/or Wildcardfox

What does that mean?




SARCASM DISCLAIMER
You two are a wealth of knowledge… thanks for sharing…!

 

[Johnnydarkgt350]

Like you and if I could choose just one R model to own it would come down to either PP001 or LR280 and would probably choose PP001 just because it was the first 2nd generation R model produced and for me to say that I owned the very first 2nd generation R model would be absolutely outstanding.

On a completely different note I found it very interesting that for the 2016 MY that Ford decided to build 95 Pre-Production GT350/R's and to my surprize I was able to determine that ~50% of those 2016 Pre-Production examples were built days and in many cases months before the 2015 GT350R's that were assembled starting on Monday, July 13th, 2015.

Not sure what prompted Ford to build ~50 Pre-Production 2016 GT350/R's prior to building the 2015 50th Anniversary GT350R's (37) but that is what took place and how often do you ever see that take place in the automotive industry?

One other interesting fact that I came across during the 6 year production span was that for the first 3 model years (2015-2017) it was very easy to determine an R model versus a non R model based on the first 4 digits of the VIN and then for some reason that all changed with the launch of the 2018 GT350/R cars whereby all 2 seat and 4 seat VIN's where all lumped together.

From my standpoint it would have been great to keep a unique VIN series for the 2 seat cars separate from the 4 seat cars for the entire 6 years but unfortunately that did not happen and not sure why Dearborn and/or the FRAP did not continue on with a unique VIN series for the 2 seat R models?

Harry, bringing up unique history on the 95 pre production cars , Ford is very tight lipped on those I’ve found . Only on our forum have we found three that were sold to the public, one track, one tech package and one R” , as of interest my “R” PP011 was delivered to DST , Diversified system technologies for paint and panel and interior corrections for car shows which Ford paid large monies to this company to correct them for show. So as we are talking history does anyone know of more than these three? Ford said they destroyed/ fire department training etc . The rest . Mine was built may24th 2015 . All the vins started with 200……., mine is 200144.

 

[Tomster]

I would go along with most of that but probably make an addition and a deletion. I would add the last GT350R base model as well as the first, but delete LR001. But I guess it depends upon what anyone would feel was "historically significant".

And don't forget those '20 TT cars that got out. They were the predecessors for the changes and refinments found on the '20 R models.

 

[anacar312]

How about LR268 as likely the last HEP R built sans Tech Package? Sure to command a premium!

just kidding. Seriously tough, I’m so happy just to be in the club… and not loosing my ass (as far as the value).

and thank you @PP0001 for your sharing your insights and knowledge.

 

[PP0001]

Harry, bringing up unique history on the 95 pre production cars , Ford is very tight lipped on those I’ve found . Only on our forum have we found three that were sold to the public, one track, one tech package and one R” , as of interest my “R” PP011 was delivered to DST , Diversified system technologies for paint and panel and interior corrections for car shows which Ford paid large monies to this company to correct them for show. So as we are talking history does anyone know of more than these three? Ford said they destroyed/ fire department training etc . The rest . Mine was built may24th 2015 . All the vins started with 200……., mine is 200144.

All the Pre-Production Mustangs for each model year have a specific VIN series for the TT, PP and MP cars and in this case the VIN series started with 200XXX for the 2016 Pre-Producition GT350/R's as was the case for PP001 which ended with 200165 and PP038 which ended with 200137.

For the 2018 MY the Pre-Production VIN series started with 550XXX with "PP001" being a 4 seat GT350 coming with an Orange Fury Metallic paint job and had a VIN of 500015 with that example being built on June 23rd, 2017.

Fast forward to the 2020 MY with the PP VIN series changing to 549XXX and the earliest GT350/R example that I came across was "TT005" and it had a VIN ending in 549988 and was a 2 seat GT350 that was built in Grabber Lime and had a painted Black roof and was built on May 23, 2019.

Another cool car for the 2020 MY was "PPR001" as had never seen that type of chassis plate designation before and it was a Kona Blue 2 seat car and it's VIN ended in 549995 and was built on August 1st, 2019.

Getting back to the 95 PP GT350/R 2016 cars, I had a conversation some time ago with a tow truck driver who was involved with destroying process of a PP 2012 Boss 302 and there is quite the scenario surrounding that process.

It involves the local EMT and fire departments along with strict supervision from an onsite manager from Ford as they are very protective as to how this all goes and where all the numbered powertrain ends up along with simple parts such as wire harnesses, VIN plates, etc. end up and go to great lengths to totally destroy and dismantle these volunteered cars.

Based on my conversations with Ford I am not convinced that anywhere near the 95 cars were destroyed during the above process as a great deal of these cars ended up at the Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah before it closed in October 2015 and then subsequently moved to other locations as well as many of these 95 cars being part of the North American Track Tour during the Fall of 2015 which I attended.

I remember driving 2 Pre-Production 2016 GT350/R's in October 2015 at Sebring and also recall seeing many 2016 PP GT350/Rs at that same event and suggest that it is just a matter of time before some of these 2016 PP cars begin to surface but also agree that some of them are long gone.

 

[PP0001]

I would go along with most of that but probably make an addition and a deletion. I would add the last GT350R base model as well as the first, but delete LR001. But I guess it depends upon what anyone would feel was "historically significant".

And don't forget those '20 TT cars that got out. They were the predecessors for the changes and refinments found on the '20 R models.

Very good points and agree with your comments especially when it comes to the Base R models.

As many of you know the very first Base R model was chassis "F0001" and was built on July 13th, 2015.

The very last Base R model was chassis "JR394" and was assembled on April 19th, 2018.

MSRP for a 2015 Base R was $63,495 and moved up to $65,640 for a 2018 Base R.

With 3,647 R's built over the 6 model years of which only 135 of those examples were Base R's these rare vehicles only represents only 3.7% of total R model production therefore puts these vehicles in a category of their own.

 

[Wildcardfox]

I Googled “The complete history of second generation GT350’s”, and this is all it gave me:

See: PP0001 and/or Wildcardfox

What does that mean?




SARCASM DISCLAIMER
You two are a wealth of knowledge… thanks for sharing…!

honored to be mentioned.

 

[PP0001]

honored to be mentioned.

I would like to second your motion!!

 

[DrumReaper]

Do any of the early R models have an actual race history getting the snot beat out of them like 5R002?

@Epiphany may be able to shed some light on this as he was very intimate with the knowledge of the Multimatic team running the race-ready 350R’s.

 

[Epiphany]

Billy would be a great resource for the skinny on the GT350R-C. I was more in tune with the current GT4 car coming from Multimatic.

What interests me most is development hardware. Not the prettiest to look at but the stories are legendary. There is quite a bit about the '15+ GT350 that we will never hear publicly (same goes for the S550 version of the GT500). Jamal had some interesting items on his own GT350R, including some crazy full length headers (I can't believe they seriously thought they had a chance of making production) and an exposed weave wing from Multimatic. I'd like to hear more about the carbon rotors that Ford tested but decided against using as well.

 

[PP0001]

Billy would be a great resource for the skinny on the GT350R-C. I was more in tune with the current GT4 car coming from Multimatic.

What interests me most is development hardware. Not the prettiest to look at but the stories are legendary. There is quite a bit about the '15+ GT350 that we will never hear publicly (same goes for the S550 version of the GT500). Jamal had some interesting items on his own GT350R, including some crazy full length headers (I can't believe they seriously thought they had a chance of making production) and an exposed weave wing from Multimatic. I'd like to hear more about the carbon rotors that Ford tested but decided against using as well.

Great point with respect to Jamal's R model which was a very interesting car to say the least.

Jamal was a hero of mine during his 27 year career with Ford during which time he oversaw the development of the GT350 and Ford GT cars and I was very sorry to see him leave Ford.

When first seeing the launch pictures of the new 3 colors for the 2017 R MY in April 2016, I immediately new that I had to order a 2017 R in Ruby Red and Black roof.

Little did I know at the time that the pictured vehicle that I was looking at was Jamal Hameedi's 2017 Rudy Red R which was built 2 months earlier in February 2016 and well before production of the many 2016 R models that still needed to be built later that Spring.

In the Spring of 2018 I received a tip that Jamal's 2017 R was going to auction at Manheim in Detroit after which time it was anyones guess as to where his car would end up but if I was interested in his car I should keep my eyes and ears open over the next while.

Weeks went by and I could not locate Jamal's Ruby Red R model then one day I got a call from a terrific friend of mine @zzrat who came across this car and provided me with the dealerships name in Indiana that purchased this very cool R model.

I immediately contacted the dealership and asked them some simple questions about the car after which time they stated that this car was the 3rd 2017 GT350R built based on the VIN of the vehicle.

Based on my understanding I was lead to believe that this car was in fact chassis #1 (HR001) but did not want to ask the dealership to confirm which would mean asking them to view the chassis plate after which time that might change a few things including their pricing.

After a great deal of thought I could not pull the trigger on this car based on their exorbitant asking price and then quickly called a very close friend of mine to see if he was interested?

He jumped all over this opportunity and even though he was told numerous times by the dealership that this R was chassis #3 and not #1 R chassis he purchased the car anyways based on what I was lead to believe.

It was a weeks long wait before this 2017 Ruby Red R model arrived at his home in order to confirm exactly what the chassis number that my good friend had purchased?

Long story short it all worked out as chassis "HR001" and of course Jamal spec'd his new 2017 GT350 as a Base R model in Ruby Red and this particular example came with a Black painted CF wing and 4427 miles on the odometer.

An historic GT350R indeed and appreciate you mentioned this great car!

 

[Champale]

Great story, Harry! And yeah Ruby Red is stunning!

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