1967 Ford Mustang Shelby Group II Racecar

Vehicle Description 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby Group II Racecar Call 1967 Ford Mustang Group II For Sale - #24 Of 26 Cars By Shelby American, Monterey Historics 2023 LMC is very proud to offer for sale this 1967 Ford Mustang Notchback Group II Sedan The Trans-Am series, officially called the Trans-American Sedan Championship, in 1966 consisted of seven professionally recognized races at road courses throughout the United States. The accumulation of points, based on finishing position would determine the season manufacturer’s champion. Ford was keen to take part in the 1967 Trans-Am series and sell many additional cars with such positive publicity. The SCCA quickly realized they were on to something and they expanded the Trans-Am to twelve races. They saw manufacturer support as the key to the series' success and did everything they could to entice marques like Ford, Chevrolet and Mercury. The manufacturers, in turn, saw the Trans-Am as the perfect vehicle to market their new “Pony” cars. Group II rules specified that cars had to maintain their basic stock appearance, including all window glass. The job of coming up with specifications for the 1967 Group II cars landed on the desk of Shelby American GT 350 Project Engineer Chuck Cantwell. His experience with the GT 350 competition model and 1966 Group II cars made him the obvious choice. Fabricator Jerry Schwarz, who also had participated in the prior projects, did most of the hands-on work. They built a prototype and from it came the team and customer cars. Factory documents show that Shelby American built a total of 26 1967 Mustang Group II racers. One was a prototype which was never actually raced by the team. It was used for evaluation of components and then sold during the race season. Four were actual team cars and the remaining 21 cars were sold to independent racers who used them in Trans-Am and/or SCCA A/Sedan competition. The Group II Shelby Mustang that is being offered is Car #24 of the reported 26 prepared by Carroll Shelby for the SCCA Trans-Am Series and was originally sold to and raced by Fred Sutherland. After many years apart, the Shelby and Mr. Sutherland reunited and the car has been restored as closely to the original specifications that memories, documentation and vintage photos allowed, and to be able to run current historic racing events. Like the GT 350 Shelby built for the SCCA B/Production class, this version has all the Shelby details. These cars came heavily equipped. Among the many features are a race-prepped Hi-Po 289-cid engine mated to a Top-Loader four-speed transmission, relocated upper A-arm mounts, bigger disc brakes on the front, driveshaft retainer strap to keep it from falling if a U-joint should fail, nine-inch rear axle housing with the customer's choice of gear ratios, racing oversize wheel studs and nuts, an SCCA-approved rollbar, "Over-Rider" traction bars from the top of the axle into the interior, stripped interior with a single fiberglass racing bucket seat and competition harness, special racing gas tank with dual electric fuel pumps with the battery in the trunk, rear firewall, no heater or fan, American Racing magnesium Torque Thrust D Wheels, Goodyear racing tires, racing headers and straight dump pipes ending in front of the rear tires, front license plate recess cut out for an oil cooler, window retainer straps, hood pins, brake cooling ducts, racing springs, Koni double-adjustable racing shocks, fire extinguisher, aluminum plates where the headlights go, racing wire harness, tachometer and oil pressure gauges set in an aluminum dash insert, no speedometer, aluminum switch box on the center tunnel behind the shifter and more. The cars left Shelby's Culver City, California factory truly ready to race except for numbers and fuel. The engine was rebuilt by Dave Dralle, who successfully raced Cobras in the 1960s and is considered to still be one of the best in relation to Cobra and Mustang expertise. The car was originally ordered by Fred Sutherland who relates that he had bought it new from Shelby for approximately $4,000 and due to its delivery being tardy; he was offered a free paint job of his choice by Mr. Shelby. He conveys that he won some races and set some lap records with it. It is related that a race program from an SCCA race at Willow Springs in 1969 lists the lap records for the track. For the A/Sedan Class, which is the over two-liter class for Trans-Am cars, Fred held the lap record with this car at that time. Very impressive considering the Shelby team and many others used this track for practice. Just before ordering this car, Mr. Sutherland had won the regional Championship for A/Production with his 289 Cobra. Among the other track achievements for this well-documented car and Fred Sutherland are winning overall first time out at the 1967 Times Riverside Grand Prix for production sports cars. Following this success was second overall for A/Sedan at the 1967 Daytona American Road Race of Champions and first in A/Sedan at the 1968 Stardust International Raceway in Las Vegas. From here the car had numerous owners, as racecars are well-known for. Prior research by the SAAC shows that the Shelby was purchased by Jim Whelan of Minnesota and raced in the 1969 Brainerd Trans-Am race. Sam Miller purchased the car in late 1969 and it was raced in Midwest regional and national events. Norman Frame acquired the Shelby in early 1974 and the car was the 1976 Southeast Division regional champion and raced at Road Atlanta, Charlotte Motor Speedway and in the Camel GT series. In 1979 the car was purchased by Gordon Stennes in 1979, before changing hands three additional times without mention of the car being raced with this succession of owners. Mr. Sutherland reacquired the Shelby in 2009 and put into the capable hands of John Ryals for the restoration. Mr. Ryals worked for the aforementioned Jerry Schwarz (original Shelby American crew member/fabricator) when they were both on the Roy Woo