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Document: |
Invoice 5040 |
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Source: |
Shelby
American, Inc. |
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Date: |
June 20,
1967 |
This invoice from Shelby American
to Zurich American Insurance, for the convertible that was
"Stolen and Returned, April 1967," is, to say the least ... suspicious. Carroll
Shelby, in his
2003
interview regarding #0139, stated that this convertible wasn't actually
"stolen."
When analyzing this invoice, we quickly see that the
list of itemized parts looks a whole lot
like a 'shopping list' of the pieces parts that would be required to
aesthetically update/modify a '67 to disguise it as a '68.
You'll notice
that no fiberglass components are itemized, and that's because
those components were fabricated and provided by A.O. Smith
Plastics based on Ford's updated design. According to the
Van
Akin letter, A.O. Smith supplied two sets of the
front-ends, hoods, rear valences and center consoles for the purpose of
modifying two cars, a fastback (#0463) and a convertible (#0139), for
"photographic purposes."
About the only
items on this invoice that don't make a lot of sense are:
In March 1967, a month before
the alleged theft, Shelby American placed the last known orders with Ford.
It appears that in March/April 1967, Ford made the decision to terminate the
California-based Shelby Program and acquire the assets/liabilities of
Shelby American, Inc., on or around May 1, 1967. There was a whole of of
invoiced done by Shelby American in the last days of April.
When you
populate a
timeline
of the documents and related research, it's
amazing how and when the pieces fit together. There were certainly "shenanigans,"
though perhaps
Carroll Shelby summarized it best in his interview about #0139 when he stated "it's better to let a
sleeping dog lie."
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