BOGGUS FORD
July 4, 2020
Lewis Boggus Ford was located at 340 South Water Street in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The dealership only sold 12 Shelbys. Eight of those were 1968 models. This Lime Green one is 68 # 126.
I did quite a bit of research on Boggus Ford. This advertisement is for a 1968 Shelby.
Car # 418 originally came from Boggus Ford. In this photo it is in need of a little attention.
This vintage photo of Boggus was on the back of a Ford merchandising magazine. It describes the dealership as one of the largest in south Texas.
Car # 937 a red, fastback originally came from the dealership. It has spent a considerable amount of time overseas.
A while back, a friend, sent me some interesting pictures of a "Ford drag car" he found in a junkyard. I was very interested because he said the car had Ford fiberglass doors and an "AFX" style hood.
Well, this got interesting really fast. Original, period Ford fiberglass is extremely rare. Vintage race cars are very popular.
He asked me to do some research based on the clues present on the car. The writing on the side of the car led to several discoveries. Let's just say, I spent way too much time on this project. The items uncovered on this car were fascinating. The car was the terror of south Texas. It raced against and beat, some of the biggest names in drag racing.
This photograph showed the Mustang extensivley modified. It also indicates the car was originally black in color. What I found is the dealership campaigned this car for several years. Each year it was modified a little more.
I found this picture online and I am throughly convinced this is the same car that currently sits in the now closed, wrecking yard. You will also see it says "AHRA world record holder" on the front fender. That is cool!
I was also able to track down a rather extensive race history of the car. I can tell you it was not a Shelby. Unfortunately, because it evolved into a "rail car", the Ford VIN numbers are lost. In this photo, the writing on the rear quarters matches the junkyard pictures.
Today, Boggus Ford is still in business. They have moved to McAllen, Texas.
I found this metal script from the dealership, but I am not sure of when it was used.
According to Mr. Google, this is 401 South Water Street, but there is little doubt it's the old Boggus building. Today it is occupied by a brewing company. The redevelopment in this area may account for the discrepency in the street address.
This what I love about the hobby. You never know what you will find, if you do a little research. Even if it's not Shelby, it might be truly awesome.