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Why buy a nice car for 140 today when you could buy this for 115, put 100 more into it, and then have the same car in 3 years?

Helluva deal

The old facebook

It's where all the real experts hang out, PETE 

[+1 ..... and Vern also. Fred]

Mr Gaines is special, do not question that 😉

Couldn't agree more!

Craig R.

+1 ..... and Vern also.

Fred

Finally... mom WAS right 

Great pieces and VERY rare.

I have a Universal Motor Inc example which is in extremely nice condition... ironically I found this thread while in the process of putting up a for sale ad on the ole Instagram and Facebook!

Kind regards
Vern

+1

A true ambassador of the hobby!

Better than all of the a$$holes holding stuff for ransom!!

Seems like the obvious and thing to do.. blows my mind that guys hold original owners manuals for ransom...I've seen people demand WAY above market value for manuals which are original to a specific car.

Truth be told, I have been accused of "holding for ransom" on two occasions in the past. I was accused by the owner of a 66 one time of holding a manual ransom when I wanted $300 bucks for it. At the time, 66 manuals were worth 500-650 and I paid $300 for it not even knowing that it had a serial number written in the inside cover at the time of purchase. Just wanted my money back. He paid the "ransom". I've never been made to feel more guilty for taking half price    For every bad experience there are many more good ones... it is fun to get these manuals back to the people who own the cars. I dont know how many I've helped get back to the original cars but its probably more than 10.  It is a fun challenge and I know id be over the moon if someone found an owners manual to one of my cars and got it back to me.

The most bewildering experience by far, though, is when you find an owner and they have absolutely no interest at any price in the manual. 

Kind regards,
Vern

Hi Vern, Wow, it was a Francis For Fords car, sold new here in Harrisburg. The address in the manual is only about a mile from me, a modest 1950's rancher with no garage.

The Beachley family is long gone, but there is an Eldon E Beachley shown as presently residing in Lebanon, PA which is about 20 miles away. His age indicates that he would have been 24 when #2096 was sold new, so he may be its original owner.

If you locate 2096's current owner, they may find this information interesting.

Thanks for the info Bill! Somehow I knew that the original selling dealer would excite you 

Kind regards,
Vern

Howdy folks!- I have been posting the below post on various social media platforms for the last week.. figured I should spread the word through the forum as well!

Does anyone out there know where 1968 Shelby GT350 #2096 is?

Two weeks ago I purchased the original owners manual for the car..it was listed on eBay for 49 bucks.
These manuals are worth in excess of $500 but I want to make sure it gets back to the car it belongs to. The owner of the car can have it for what I stole it for. 😂

From what I understand, the car is one of the finest unrestored 68 GT350s out there. Original Candy Apple paint still looking good and extremely low mileage. God only knows how the manual was separated from the car.

The car was last sold by BroadArrow Group from the Jim Taylor collection in 2022.
https://www.broadarrowauctions.com/vehicles/tj22_086/1968-shelby-gt350-convertible

I will only deal directly with the owner of the car in getting it back to the car. Please feel free to share this post with your Shelby friends in the hopes that we can find the owner!

If you know the owner- pass this post along and PM me. Thanks!

Still looking for these shocks but I can trade some original 1965 GT350 parts for them:
https://www.saac.com/forum/index.php?topic=29112.0

Tried to message you but your inbox is full... just fyi

I heard the new owner is a STUD!

A scholar, a gentleman, and a lover of the fine arts... just what I heard 

Great find Great car.
9 months sitting at the dealer is not unusual for a special car. The dealers order them as bait to draw foot traffic into their dealership. Sometime they also use them personal cars until the next special comes along - it would be interesting to see the mileage when the first owner bought it. I can't see the dealer installing the back seat to call it a 66. More than likely a subsequent owner had a kid or two and the wife demanded a back seat. Also I can't see the Doctor wanting a back seat - this was not intended to be his family car. They took his wife's Lincoln when they went out. The dealer would have tossed the rear shelf - or one of the mechanics would have snagged it for his car....

All good, logical points.. but the story of the car differs according to the long term owner and the paper trail.

The BoS an letter from the bank in December of 1966 refer to the car as a 66. The car would have been registered by the first owner after his 3/1/66 purchase date...it wasn't the "correct" thing to do in registering a car as the year in which it was sold... but it happened from time to time back then and in certain states. Looser times.

 First owner certainly could have installed the backseat or the air conditioning which was on it when I got it.... but both were on the car as of December of 66 when purchased from the original owner. Donald Dunford bought the car specifically for those features as it was for his wife to drive. He raced SCCA on the weekends.

To be clear.. I wouldn't be so brash as to come on here and claim that the AC and backseat WERE dealer installed... but I also have seen enough on these cars to know that dealers pretty commonly installed accessories and features on aging inventory to make them more sale-able. A 65 GT350 was a tough sale when you had a brand new, current 66 model sitting next to it... WITH A BACKSEAT, and the option for different colors, "more" visual features etc etc.  I owned a 65 a year or so ago which has had quarter windows on it since as early as could be determined with photographs to back it up. Car wasn't sold till January of 66.. could have been installed by the now deceased 1st owner (who also owned the car for less than a year) or could have been installed by the dealer. No proof either way. It is being restored with louvers now

As for the package tray- it stayed with the car since new (which, i agree, is unusual).. it did come with the car to Dunford. If you scroll on the below link... you'll see it resting (in mint condition) on the top of the old RV... was in this spot until the "barn" was cleaned out in April. https://www.vernonestesclassics.com/#/1965-shelby-gt350-335/

Kind regards,
Vern

Thanks for posting this, JP! And thanks for helping to tell the story of the car to the world.

Doubt I'll ever come up with a more original 65... but who knows.

Kind regards,
Vern

Ill take the valve covers..will PM you

If it has a VIN stamped in the side of it starting with 5R09K then it MIGHT be an engine which originally came in a GT350. The C5AE-6015 was a generic 289 engine block..used in everything from lower powered C code cars all the way up to K Code cars. Have you verified that it is, in fact, a HiPo block or are you just assuming that because of a C5AE casting number?

Regardless, I think it is unlikely to be a GT350 block with a 4H date code. JMHO

Kind regards,
Vern

Both gauges and the pod are original..nice score!

No kidding, crazy town on the price. Originals are getting tough to find though anymore. Sort of interesting since 66 ten spokes used to be much more easily obtained. Used to feel like there was always a set or two floating around for sale.

I have a nicer set than what is listed which I would sell for a more reasonable price if anyone out there is looking. It is a full set of 5, too.

Kind regards,
Vern