He claims he bought one new

[Frank Messina]

When I got out of the Army in February 1967 there was a Ford dealer on Transit Road in Buffalo that had a white 427 Cobra parked out front with a $7495 sign in the window.
Frank

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by Frank Messina

When I got out of the Army in February 1967 there was a Ford dealer on Transit Road in Buffalo that had a white 427 Cobra parked out front with a $7495 sign in the window.
Frank

Transit Road dealer was Al Maroone Ford (now in Florida and part of Autonation) and they never had a 427.

Buffalo was a tough sell for Shelby. Ford first sent a 260/289 Cobra to Kenmore Motors on Delaware Ave in Kenmore, at that time the biggest Ford dealer around. They held it for a short tie and passed on the product. Ford then sent two 289s to Al Maroone Ford (a red car and a white car) to test the waters. The white car was given to Cookie Gilchrest the Buffalo Bills star in hopes he would purchase it. Cookie rode it hard and returned it as it really didn't fit an NFL player well and it didn't even have roll-up windows!

Eventually Frontier Ford took the franchise and Jerry Hamam worked as the "Hi Performance manager" selling the Shelby products. he eventually became the Datsun dealer in Niagara Falls and I have receipts for work they did on CSX3327.

[Nedsel]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

Transit Road dealer was Al Maroone Ford (now in Florida and part of Autonation) and they never had a 427.

Buffalo was a tough sell for Shelby. Ford first sent a 260/289 Cobra to Kenmore Motors on Delaware Ave in Kenmore, at that time the biggest Ford dealer around. They held it for a short tie and passed on the product. Ford then sent two 289s to Al Maroone Ford (a red car and a white car) to test the waters. The white car was given to Cookie Gilchrest the Buffalo Bills star in hopes he would purchase it. Cookie rode it hard and returned it as it really didn't fit an NFL player well and it didn't even have roll-up windows!

Shelby American records show that Al Maroone was shipped the two cars you mention, but neither was white. They got a red one and a Princess Blue one. They had a third on order, also red, but cancelled the order before it arrived.

[Buzz]

Trying to give the benefit of the doubt - since the car was allegedly bought in '69 with a thousand miles on it, could it be possible that it was a pre-owned street car trade-in with original owner added pipes and scoop? That may explain some of the discrepancies. Then again, the claim that it only came with a tonneau (as opposed to a top and curtains) would seem to imply that it was an SC. Did any 427 roadsters come with the big gas tank?

[Mark IV]

Ned,

I am senile but my neurons really remember one being white. I will ask one of the guys who worked there at the time and see if he concurs or confirms the princess blue unit. As I recall they never did sell one and the cars were passed on to another dealer.

[Nedsel]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

Ned,

I am senile but my neurons really remember one being white. I will ask one of the guys who worked there at the time and see if he concurs or confirms the princess blue unit. As I recall they never did sell one and the cars were passed on to another dealer.

Correct. Both cars were returned to Shelby American.

[Nedsel]

Originally Posted by Buzz

Trying to give the benefit of the doubt - since the car was allegedly bought in '69 with a thousand miles on it, could it be possible that it was a pre-owned street car trade-in with original owner added pipes and scoop? That may explain some of the discrepancies. Then again, the claim that it only came with a tonneau (as opposed to a top and curtains) would seem to imply that it was an SC. Did any 427 roadsters come with the big gas tank?

Buzz, yes, anything is possible. It seems odd that someone would add side pipes and a hood scoop, enjoy the car for just 1,000 miles, and trade it, but many Cobras were traded in early with few miles on them. My thinking is that we would have heard of a dealer sales rep fatality and the white car, whichever one it might have been, would be missing from the data base or would be known as a rebuild from a total wreck.