It seems that the story of the Mustang nameplate, in relation to Carroll Shelby, will always unveil interesting chapters that unfold, as enthusiasts like us probe the Internet in search of answers to questions about motorsport history that could have never even been suggested were it not for the Web.
It’s no secret that Shelby was Texas’ most influential performance builder and tuner during the ’60s, but the history of the Terlingua Race Team and the Terlingua logo itself is one that started when Shelby, Bill Neale and a few others frequented the 200,000 acre Terlingua Ranch during what Neale himself once described as a down-to-earth array of “hunting deer, riding motorcycles” and “having some drinks and eating really well.”
This '67 Terlingua was the only car to be authorized for reproduction by Shelby American in '07 and built to historical accuracy by Keith Craft.
Located in Texas’ Brewster County near the Rio Grande, Terlingua Ranch eventually became the sight of a tech training school started by Shelby and Dave Witts, but the all-male student school was an effort that was short-lived at best. Regardless, the yellow-and-black Terlingua decal designed by Neale and former Ford public relations man, Tom Tierney, was one that would become synonymous with ‘Stang performance and with Ford’s racetrack legacy.
Going up for auction on Barrett-Jackson’s lot number 1019 is this one and only ’67 Terlingua continuation, the only car of which was approved in 2007 by Shelby Incorporated, to be reproduced and the only unit actually built by Keith Craft Performance Engines. The replica is a faithful one that copies the yellow-and-black color scheme of the original Trans-Am car driven by Jerry Titus and Ken Miles, though under the hood is a 408 cube motor producing 525 horses.
Original cars with a rich history like our featured Terlingua ‘Stang are hard to come by, but this Keith Craft remake, titled as a ’68, cuts it close enough to be recognized as a true piece of Trans-Am racing history!