{"id":5,"date":"2011-11-08T22:00:13","date_gmt":"2011-11-08T22:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ltdev2.net\/?page_id=5"},"modified":"2026-07-20T15:54:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T15:54:06","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carryovergt350.com\/","title":{"rendered":"1966 GT350 Carryover Cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carryover History<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>
A truck load of Carryover ’66 GT350’s leaving Shelby American, Inc. for delivery to dealers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As production of the 1965 Shelby GT-350s wound down, Shelby American began work on the 1966 version.\u00a0In order for them\u00a0to continue their operations during the Ford Assembly plant shutdown, Shelby American ordered 250 “K” Code 1965 Mustangs toward the end of the 1965 Mustang production run\u00a0from San Jose.\u00a0This ensured that\u00a0they would have cars\u00a0available\u00a0to “carry-over” the Shelby American plant\u00a0until they received their initial shipment of 1966 Mustangs. Those 250 cars, plus the two 1966 prototypes, make a total of 252 cars that started life as 1965 Mustangs, but were converted into 1966 GT-350s. These cars are sometimes referred to as \u201ccarryover cars\u201d, \u201ccrossover cars\u201d, \u201cchange-over cars\u201d, \u201cearly \u201866 cars\u201d, \u201cleftover \u201865’s\u201d or \u201c65\u00bd cars\u201d and had a\u00a0distinctive combination of 1965 and 1966\u00a0GT-350 features.<\/p>\n

These cars provided Shelby with enough inventory to start production of the 1966 GT-350s during the July\/August Ford factory shut down to re-tool for the upcoming 1966 models.\u00a0Without these early cars from Ford, Shelby American would have had to shut down their assembly line for about a month and a half until the new 1966 Mustangs arrived in October.<\/p>\n

These cars are sometimes referred to as \u201ccarryover cars\u201d, \u201ccrossover cars\u201d, \u201cchange-over cars\u201d, \u201cearly \u201866 cars\u201d, \u201cleftover \u201865\u2032s\u201d or \u201c65\u00bd cars\u201d and had a combination of 1965 and 1966 GT-350 features.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A Group Of Carryover cars beginning their Transformation to 1966 GT-350s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Specific characteristics of the 1966 Carryover cars can be found on the “Unique Features”<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

In the picture above, a group of 1965 Mustangs begin their transformation into 1966 GT-350s. On the windshield of each car, pieces of paper were attached that identified what Shelby VIN each car would carry, as well as showing the original Ford assigned VIN. Above, the paper taped on the windshield of the first car identifies it as 6s10x. (Further research narrows that down to one of these six cars: 6S100, 6S102, 6S106, 6S107, 6S108 or 6S109.) While it is more difficult to see, the papers in the other windshields may identify the cars directly behind that car as 6s09x and 6s08x. Notice the Steel Wheels and the back seats laid on top of the roofs of the closest cars.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
6s117<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why Do We Call Them “Carryovers”?<\/h2>\n

Many terms have been used over the years when referring to the first 252 cars that became 1966 GT350s. We chose \u201ccarryover\u201d because it\u2019s short and it conveys something about the history of the cars \u2013 to \u201ccarry over\u201d the Shelby American production line during Ford\u2019s retooling shutdown. And combining the two words into one represents the combining of 1965 and 1966 features into one car.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re fully aware that these cars were never called \u201ccarryovers\u201d at the factory. But over the years there are many examples of enthusiasts coining a distinctive name for cars they love. For example, Ford never built a \u201cdeuce coupe,\u201d but this has become a common name for 1932 Ford coupes. Likewise, Shelby didn\u2019t call their racing GT350s \u201cR-models\u201d at the factory. That term was coined years after production ceased by enthusiasts who appreciated the cars for what they were. So, in choosing a short descriptive term to use for these cars, we are simply following a time honored American automotive tradition by providing a special name for a car we are passionate about.<\/p>\n

If you prefer some other term, or nothing at all, then go for it. After all, \u201ca rose by any other name\u2026\u201d.<\/p>\n

If you have questions about carryover cars send us a note!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carryover History As production of the 1965 Shelby GT-350s wound down, Shelby American began work on the 1966 version.\u00a0In order for them\u00a0to continue their operations during the Ford Assembly plant shutdown, Shelby American ordered 250 “K” Code 1965 Mustangs toward the end of the 1965 Mustang production run\u00a0from San Jose.\u00a0This ensured that\u00a0they would have cars\u00a0available\u00a0to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carryovergt350.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carryovergt350.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carryovergt350.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carryovergt350.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carryovergt350.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/carryovergt350.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6734,"href":"https:\/\/carryovergt350.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions\/6734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carryovergt350.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}