1968 Paris Show Car Found?
January 1, 2026
Special Thank you to Joel in France, John and Wolfgang!
In the fall of 1967, a handful of "pre-production" Shelbys were built. One
of these cars, a fastback, was shipped to France for the annual Auto Show. Originally, Ford of France asked for a GT500,
but a GT350 was substituted at the last minute. We know the the car was Sunlit Gold. It had an automatic transmission and air conditioning.
One of the most noticeable additions to the car were the fender mounted turn signals.
Actual photograph from the October 1967 Paris Auto Show.
I recently received an email from Joel in France. Joel wanted to ask me the serial
number of the Paris Show Car. While that sounds like a straight forward question, there is a lot going on with these pre-production Shelbys.
Originally, this car was numbered by Shelby as 8X211F10A00001. We know this from the original Ford of France invoices. If you are familiar with 1967 Shelby serial numbers, this makes perfect sense.
At
the start of production, AO Smith
would start production using a "dual serial" numbering method. The 8X211F10A00001 would be accompanied by the Ford Serial number. In this case, that should be
8T02J110578. This dual serial number method was abandoned after the first few weeks of production. Too many numbers caused confusion for
motor vehicle departments, Ford dealers and insurance agents. AO Smith even made an effort to recover all the dual serial number plates and replace them with a single,
sixteen digit number. This new number would incorporate the Ford VIN with a Shelby suffix.
The original articles after the Paris Auto Show actually described the car as "serial number 1".
After an exhaustive study of the Ford database, Kevin Marti determined the Paris Show Car was actually assigned the serial number
8T02J110578-00339.
In response to Joel's question, there were now several possible "correct" answers . . .
The car he recognized in a French auto magazine "V8" shows the "8X211F10A00001"
serial number.
This number was not widely known, unless you had the car or a copy of the original Ford invoice.
The very unusual tag from the V8 magazine article. I believe this car never received a replacement with the corrected serial number.
This hastilty hand stamped tag maybe original to the car.
The fender mounted turn signal lights are still evident. Courtesy of V8 magazine.
The engine compartment is largely untouched. Courtesy of V8 magazine.
The interior shows a few changes like the addition of a stereo and a clock in the console. Courtesy of V8 magazine.
This magazine was from 1999. There's a high probability the car is still in France. We have made attempts to locate the owner, but so far have been unsucessful.
Our research team has located the photographer and the location of where the pictures were taken. Numerous French Mustang club contacts have
also been made.
When the owner is located we would like to share the unique history of the car and further verify its originality. The first cars built share some
very unique build characteristics that would be very difficult to replicate. We also want the new owner to know they can remain anonymous.
This article will be added to the original Paris Show Car page after April 1, 2026.
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