When Ford began to get more involved in Shelby American’s affairs in 1966, it at least picked the right man to send to Shelby as that company’s new chief engineer, Fred Goodell. A hot rodder at heart, Goodell built many a souped-up Mustang for the Shelby works, including the fuel-injected and independent rear suspension-equipped one-off Green Hornet, which Barrett-Jackson recently announced will cross the block at its Scottsdale auction.
Officially known as the EXP 500, the Green Hornet’s genesis began with another Goodell-built car, a 1967 Mustang hardtop that he called Li’l Red. Fitted with Shelby decor and a Paxton-supercharged 428, Li’l Red eventually served as the template for the Mustang GT/California Special and very nearly became the template for a similar national version of the California Special. Ford in fact built two prototypes for a national version, including a Lime Gold 1968 Mustang hardtop with Deluxe interior and a 390/C6 drivetrain (VIN 8F01S104288), before round-filing the idea.
That Lime Gold hardtop then made its way to Shelby’s facility – at the time located in Ionia, Michigan – after Ford canceled its program. Goodell likely had a hand in the transfer, and once it arrived in Shelby’s shops, he tore into it. He replaced the 390 with a 428 Cobra Jet V-8 topped with a Conelec electronic fuel-injection system – Ford was already testing the systems to see how they would meet upcoming emissions regulations, so it was little trouble for Goodell to secure a system – and replaced the stock C6 with a C6 built to F350 specifications. He then swapped out the live rear axle for an independent rear suspension based around a Ford 9-inch center section and a cradle that bolted into the rear leaf spring mounts. Rear disc brakes and a full Shelby front suspension rounded out Goodell’s mechanical modifications, while darker gold-flecked green paint and a black vinyl top gave it some visual pop.
Goodell’s modifications reportedly endowed the Green Hornet with a 5.7-second 0-60 time and 157 MPH top speed, but yet again the ideas embodied in the prototype didn’t reach production. Unlike most prototype and experimental cars, however, the Green Hornet survived the scrapper: A Ford employee named Robert Zdanowski bought the Green Hornet – sans its EFI and IRS – but sold it six months later to Don Darrow, a Ford dealer in Cheboygan, Michigan. Darrow and his son Randy would later confirm the Green Hornet’s identity with Fred Goodell and restore it using a scratch-built IRS built to Goodell’s specifications along with a Holley ProJection EFI system (Goodell rounded up some components of another Conelec EFI system for the Darrows). It then passed through the hands of Steve Davis, president of Barrett-Jackson, before it made its way into the collection of Craig Jackson, who owned it at the time Jeff Koch photographed it for an article that appeared in Hemmings Muscle Machines #36, September 2006.
Jackson will run the Greet Hornet across the Barrett-Jackson block as part of the auction’s Salon Collection, which means that it will run with a reserve. Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction will take place January 13-20. For more information, visit Barrett-Jackson.com.
UPDATE: Barrett-Jackson sent over these two additional photos of the Green Hornet.
Such awesome foresight by Goodell. Sad that those in power @ Ford didn’t build these for the public. One off cars are nice…now for “collectors”, but imagine seeing some of these scooting around town or at the drags.
I saw this car several years ago at a Shelby National Convention, it was very nice. It has also been featured in “The Shelby American,” the SAAC club magazine.
This car spent time in Elmira, NY on Gould St. At the home of my childhood friend Chris Long. His father was the President of Conelec Fuel Injection. This car had a distinct note that we could tell from blocks away. I never personally drooled on this car but the sweat from my tongue can probably still be found on there! BTW we didn’t know that the Ford Factory codenamed this as the Green Hornet; we the neighborhood kids thought we were clever giving it that name! I had numerous pictures of this car, all we’re lost in the flood of 72!
The dash looks like it has/had air conditioning but there is nothing under the hood. . . . ?
I guess just another mark of a heavily modified car.
Besides the VIN and history, it doesnt seem like there are many special changes that any restorer could not build the same thing in their own garage.
Nice, but it is not the same as a motorama show car!
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I noticed that part too..I also noticed that the Barret Jackson fees have been creeping back also…at one point they were 14% charged to the seller plus 14% added to the buyers bill…before this madness the standard commission was 6% to each end…I predicted that these insane prices have to come down sooner or later…..can’t wait for the prices to match the 1983 numbers when you could buy a 428 Mach 1 for 3 paychecks…..I can dream can’t I…
It is really a sad indictment how so many are so impressed by people with ore money than brains and are proud they paid more than anyone else. In the “old” days collectors marveled and laughed about the inflated “Hershey” prices, referring to the prices at the fall Hershey Swap meet. Times change, but egos don’t!
Never warmed to Shelby “styling”. They look like pieces that were glued on that were laying around the shop. They quit when they had nothing left to glue on or ran out of glue.
Nothing wrong with what’s underneath, but that is a homely car. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Knowing what the car is worth doesn’t make it prettier.
Shelby did the same thing with that Aurora engine joke Series 1. Didn’t know when to quit.
Why does the rear sidelight on the passenger side appear to point down? The drivers side is straight.
I’ve always wondered why the muscle cars of this era were jacked up and not lowered, compared to the more sedate versions of the same car. This car would look spectacular(er) if it were lowered about 2 inches.
The Tail Lights are a Bit Gaudy , and if they are sequential like the Cougars it might lessen the situation . On Performance tough I’d like to see this go out and Blow Off some Rice Burners etc. ..
I’ll bet it goes for a high premium price, would not even guess how much! I have never owned a Mustang but working in that. Fastest ride I ever had in one was many years ago when a mechanic friend of mine came by to show what he had just “built”. It was a simple ’66 coupe, all stock looking. But, he had put a lot of hot stuff in it, big cam, special heads, headers, dual glass packs, big 4 barrel, custom intake and more plus a 4 speed. It had a nasty lope at idle and took off like a dragster!! He went through the gears and let off at almost a 100mph. [I was sorta’ glad of that!!] Oh, the road was out in the country but really smooth, it was his drag strip along with many others, there were big and some were long burn out strips all over the place. What fun!.
My car came with the standard AM radio, but around here, there aren’t any music stations on AM, just talk shows, so I needed to upgrade.
I wanted a 70s look and feel, so I bought a working 8-track AM/FM from another Mustang II owner. I also bought a new antenna off eBay because the one I had was all rusty.
My dad and brother weren’t available to help on this project and back then I wasn’t confident enough to attempt it myself, so I took everything to Best Buy and asked if they could do it. You can imagine their reaction when I showed up with a 77 Mustang and an 8-track player and one in-dash speaker! But they were up to the challenge (and promised to be careful) and they did an awesome job. Looking back, I can’t believe I want to BEST BUY, but it all turned out OK. Whew!
Eventually I was able to track down on eBay a sealed Ford demo 8-track from 1977 that came with the new models for that year that showed people how 8-tracks worked. It’s a neat piece to have with the radio.
Update: The one speaker in the dash has started to go out on me, so I’m hoping to replace it this summer (2010). I’ll try this project myself, so if you have any tips for me, let me know!
I decided the time had come to get the front clip taken off the Wagon. I wanted to get the front frame cleaned up, and do the front end by the end of summer. I am shocked at how few bolts actually hold the whole front clip onto the ’58. 11 bolts, disconnect some wiring, and you can lift the whole front Clip (Dog house) off in one piece. It’s taken me longer to change the oil on a car than to remove the front clip on this car!
First I had to remove the front bumper with brackets attached. That was fine, except for the one chrome bumper bolt on each end of the bumper. They fought back pretty good. I had to sawzall them off.
I was without any help to lift the front clip off, so I had to tilt the front forward onto some large Foam cushions I had saved out of an old travel trailer I had gotten rid of years ago. They are a perfect for laying under vehicles to work on, and for cushioning large loads like this.
Next I will be removing the wiring from the front clip and saving it for future use. This front clip needs work. The front fender bottoms are rusty, and the hood is so badly rusted it is of no use. So either I will sell this old clip to someone who has nothing, or dismantle it, save parts and scrap it.
Richard Cleer stumbled onto the 1946 Ford coupe his uncle built in the 1950s while searching for a flathead engine. He had to trade this tractor to bring the Ford back in the family.
By Angelo Van Bogart
Richard Cleer of Ipava, Ill., considers himself a Ford man and an International Harvester man, and he probably never thought he would have to betray his allegiance for one to get the other. However, that was the price Cleer had to pay when he retrieved a family heirloom earlier this year.
When Cleer found the 1946 Ford five-passenger coupe his uncle had hot-rodded in the 1950s just 25 miles from his home, he was actually following a lead to a 1939 flathead engine for another car.
“A guy said he had a 1939 Mercury flathead in the weeds,” said Cleer. “The engine in the weeds wasn’t right, so he said, ‘Maybe I have one in the barn.’”
The barn Cleer was taken to last fall was so overgrown with vines, trees and tall grass, it would have taken Indiana Jones to find it. When the owner cracked open the weathered red barn doors, Cleer saw the unmistakable shape of 1940s American iron.
Had he not been led to this overgrown barn, Cleer had little hope of ever stumbling onto the Ford his uncle built. Note the postwar Chrysler lurking in the barn; it was parked in front of the Ford.
“When he opened it up, I said, ‘That looks like my uncle’s old 1946 Ford,’” Cleer said. But he was mistaken. The car at the front of the barn was a 1946-’48 Chrysler. His uncle’s 1946 Ford was actually parked behind the Chrysler.
Cleer asked where the seller had bought the Ford coupe, and the man repeated the name of Cleer’s uncle. It had been parked since the early 1960s, not long after Cleer’s uncle sold it to the man. Cleer was able to further verify it was his uncle’s car, because all of the tell-tale modifications he remembered from his uncle’s Ford were still present. Blue paint still covered the Ford’s body, the push buttons were still in place to open the doors and the hood and deck lid had been de-chromed just the way Cleer remembered his uncle’s car.
Since the doors opened electrically and the long-parked Ford’s battery was dead, Cleer couldn’t determine whether the knob his uncle installed to open the deck lid from behind the seat was still there. Undeterred, he crawled in the side windows for a better look inside. Sure enough, that old knob was right where it should have been.
Despite Cleer’s excitement, he was told the Ford wasn’t for sale. Two months later, Cleer had worn down the Ford’s owner, although the Ford still wasn’t exactly for sale.
“He said, ‘If you want that car, you have to trade me for a John Deere tractor,’” Cleer said. “Well, I’m an International-Harvester man — I worked for International Harvester.”
Despite his allegiance, Cleer began searching for a John Deere tractor of the same value as the Ford, and one that would also satisfy the seller, to complete the trade.
“It took until May or June to find a tractor, because I didn’t want to get one he didn’t want and be stuck with it,” Cleer said.
Eventually, a John Deere was located at a dealership in Missouri, so Cleer called the Ford’s owner and asked him to call the dealership to make sure the tractor met his approval.
“He had the dealer run it for a half-hour, and he said it would be fine,” Cleer said.
After Cleer purchased the John Deere, the next challenge was retrieving the Ford from its approximately 50 years of storage. Although the brakes weren’t stuck, the Ford had been parked on a sandy floor, which helped preserve the sheet metal, but also caused the car to sink into the ground.
“It took four people five hours to get it loaded on the trailer,” Cleer said. “It had two flat tires, so we loaded it with used tires.”
After five hours of work, Cleer was finally able to retrieve the Ford from hiding. It was in remarkably good condition and exactly how his uncle had built it.
Once it was in the daylight, he finally had a good idea whether all of his efforts had been worthwhile.
“When I looked at it the first time, I didn’t have a flashlight and I didn’t know what it looked like,” he said. “It’s in really good shape — it’s really unbelievable. There’s just a little rust in the driver’s floor.
“It still has the same paint, and the interior my aunt put in it,” he added. “It looks like the seats and door panels are drape material.”
The Ford is still powered by the 1950 Mercury flathead with a 4-inch stroke that Cleer’s uncle installed with high-compression Edelbrock heads and dual 94 carburetors on an Edmunds intake. Cleer has already begun rebuilding the setup to make the Ford roadworthy again.
The 1950 Mercury flathead in the Ford still has its Edelbrock heads and Edmunds intake.
“I’m going to leave it that way,” Cleer said. “I had to pull the heads because it wouldn’t turn. I do all my own engine work but the machine work, and the machinist said [the engine] is in pretty good shape and the heads have never been ground.”
“It’s a good hot rod,” Cleer said, and one worth temporarily forsaking one tractor allegiance for another, even if the John Deere had the last jab.
“We had to use the tractor I traded to pull the cars out of the barn, and after we got the car loaded, I had to load the tractor and deliver it to his farm.”
I cleaned and painted the rear booster bracket. After rebuilding the booster, I have decided to bolt the booster to the Brake pedal assembly. It fit just as it should, and can now box, and store this assembly. One more part of the restoration done! 7,329 more to go!
That thing rocks; beautiful. Should go for a good buck.
In today,s market a one off car with bulletproof provenance will undoubtably sell over 1 million.
Anyone know what happened to “Little Red?”
Reportedly it’s been crushed.
I predict that by the year 2000, all Mustangs will have independent rear suspension.
Such awesome foresight by Goodell. Sad that those in power @ Ford didn’t build these for the public. One off cars are nice…now for “collectors”, but imagine seeing some of these scooting around town or at the drags.
Rear suspension looks fresh out of high school metal shop!
I saw this car several years ago at a Shelby National Convention, it was very nice. It has also been featured in “The Shelby American,” the SAAC club magazine.
I suspect it’ll end up in Ron Prattes garage.
He’ll just keep his hand in the air til Spanky says,
“Sold”!
I guess what really stands out in the article is that when it comes to his own vehicle, Craig Jackson is selling his car WITH A RESERVE!
This car spent time in Elmira, NY on Gould St. At the home of my childhood friend Chris Long. His father was the President of Conelec Fuel Injection. This car had a distinct note that we could tell from blocks away. I never personally drooled on this car but the sweat from my tongue can probably still be found on there! BTW we didn’t know that the Ford Factory codenamed this as the Green Hornet; we the neighborhood kids thought we were clever giving it that name! I had numerous pictures of this car, all we’re lost in the flood of 72!
The dash looks like it has/had air conditioning but there is nothing under the hood. . . . ?
I guess just another mark of a heavily modified car.
Besides the VIN and history, it doesnt seem like there are many special changes that any restorer could not build the same thing in their own garage.
Nice, but it is not the same as a motorama show car!
[…] Green Hornet: Shelby’s one-off experimental Mustang heads to auction From Hemmings blog http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2…ds-to-auction/ Reply With […]
I noticed that part too..I also noticed that the Barret Jackson fees have been creeping back also…at one point they were 14% charged to the seller plus 14% added to the buyers bill…before this madness the standard commission was 6% to each end…I predicted that these insane prices have to come down sooner or later…..can’t wait for the prices to match the 1983 numbers when you could buy a 428 Mach 1 for 3 paychecks…..I can dream can’t I…
I meant the part about the reserve at the auction…I’m sure “you get me”….
It is really a sad indictment how so many are so impressed by people with ore money than brains and are proud they paid more than anyone else. In the “old” days collectors marveled and laughed about the inflated “Hershey” prices, referring to the prices at the fall Hershey Swap meet. Times change, but egos don’t!
Never warmed to Shelby “styling”. They look like pieces that were glued on that were laying around the shop. They quit when they had nothing left to glue on or ran out of glue.
Nothing wrong with what’s underneath, but that is a homely car. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Knowing what the car is worth doesn’t make it prettier.
Shelby did the same thing with that Aurora engine joke Series 1. Didn’t know when to quit.
Why does the rear sidelight on the passenger side appear to point down? The drivers side is straight.
I’ve always wondered why the muscle cars of this era were jacked up and not lowered, compared to the more sedate versions of the same car. This car would look spectacular(er) if it were lowered about 2 inches.
Not a bad looking car, but I’m torn……….A Shelby is either ‘vert’, or fastback.
The Tail Lights are a Bit Gaudy , and if they are sequential like the Cougars it might lessen the situation . On Performance tough I’d like to see this go out and Blow Off some Rice Burners etc. ..
Thye taillights are sequential and just like all ’68-’70 Shelbys they are ’65 T-bird units.
I’ll bet it goes for a high premium price, would not even guess how much! I have never owned a Mustang but working in that. Fastest ride I ever had in one was many years ago when a mechanic friend of mine came by to show what he had just “built”. It was a simple ’66 coupe, all stock looking. But, he had put a lot of hot stuff in it, big cam, special heads, headers, dual glass packs, big 4 barrel, custom intake and more plus a 4 speed. It had a nasty lope at idle and took off like a dragster!! He went through the gears and let off at almost a 100mph. [I was sorta’ glad of that!!] Oh, the road was out in the country but really smooth, it was his drag strip along with many others, there were big and some were long burn out strips all over the place. What fun!.