Author Topic: Dana Chevrolet  (Read 80941 times)

Jon Mello

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Re: Dana Chevrolet
« Reply #90 on: December 09, 2018, 02:26:42 AM »
Thank you both.  Looks like "Mustang Video Magazine" has two parts, Vol 1 and Vol 2.

Here's a look inside the Dana Hi-Performance showroom.
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J_Speegle

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Re: Dana Chevrolet
« Reply #91 on: April 27, 2019, 02:14:19 AM »
To add to the Peyton Cramer/Dana/Shelby connection in this long running thread I thought I would add a couple more cars and some additional information.

From interviews it seems that Peyton asked for a Ford dealership in 66 (he later owned about a dozen dealers for all makes of cars it seems) and Ford turned him down based on his lack of experience/history. So instead or in addition he bought in to Dana. I'm guessing he was banking on an approval from Ford which would have made the group of Shelby's make allot more sense but they instead ended up at Dana. Front the records he took 2 (if I recall at this moment correctly) of what we call carry over 66 Shelby's Brant's 6S033 being one of them, an early white automatic car and one of each "new" color a green, red and blue example. All had been company cars fro someone it seems and invoiced typically as demonstrators to Dana. The blue car which had been Shelby's public relations director Don Rabbitt but is unclear how much  or how long he he made have used the car. In any case the invoice below shows the blue and the green 66's.  So six cars in total.




First road in the blue car in 1974 and purchased it about 10 years later. Had a couple of 66 period modifications we've never been able to confirm where they were done. By Dana or the first private owner. Did as much research on this group of cars back when I first got a copy of the Dana invoice back in the early 90's Not many of the Shelby friends recognized Dana or the significance ..... as well as the confusion of why a Chevy dealership would be getting Shelby's but growing up in California in a drag racing family during the 50-70's I immediately knew the dealership and the rich history. Just needed to figure out the story


Just thought I would share 
« Last Edit: April 27, 2019, 04:01:20 AM by J_Speegle »

Jon Mello

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Re: Dana Chevrolet
« Reply #92 on: April 27, 2019, 03:33:28 AM »
Welcome to the forum. I greatly appreciate you adding to the thread.  So cool that you have a Shelby from Dana Chevrolet. The Dana dealership has a unique story and history due to Peyton Cramer being so closely associated with Ford and Shelby.  I wasn't aware of these three other Shelby's that you mentioned being sold through Dana. Do you happen to know the serial number of the red one and, to your knowledge, does the red or green one still exist?

In the description on the invoice it seems to say "RS" for each car. What is that referring to?  Is the "Spec/Whl" the 10-spoke aluminum wheel and the "Chrom/Whl" the Magnum 500?  Sorry for all the questions.
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J_Speegle

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Re: Dana Chevrolet
« Reply #93 on: April 27, 2019, 04:22:40 AM »
Had to refresh my memory so made a couple of correction above.

Welcome to the forum. I greatly appreciate you adding to the thread.  So cool that you have a Shelby from Dana Chevrolet. The Dana dealership has a unique story and history due to Peyton Cramer being so closely associated with Ford and Shelby.  I wasn't aware of these three other Shelby's that you mentioned being sold through Dana. Do you happen to know the serial number of the red one and, to your knowledge, does the red or green one still exist?

Got to find the number of the red car. The other five I have VINs for and believe they are all around (they have lists of owners in the registry. Many since 2000)


In the description on the invoice it seems to say "RS" for each car. What is that referring to?  Is the "Spec/Whl" the 10-spoke aluminum wheel and the "Chrom/Whl" the Magnum 500?  Sorry for all the questions.

Yes Spec/Whl at the time these two cars were built would ahve been the aluminum 10 spokes and the Chrm/Whl would be the wheel used on the Hertz (GT350H) cars. Pretty odd to have them on a non-Hertz but that car was built in the middle of a bunch of Hertz cars. Non-Hertz more often got the painted (gray) magnums 

RS stood for rear seat. Even back then they were charging "extra" for some things. Not much, like getting a radio, but it all added up.

Thanks for the welcome

Jon Mello

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Re: Dana Chevrolet
« Reply #94 on: April 27, 2019, 02:58:08 PM »
Thanks for the further info.  The dealership had only been open a week when the blue and the green GT350s were invoiced to Dana. It would have been an odd sight to see the Mustangs on the lot next to the new Chevrolets and Dana's Hi-Performance Center which was down the street a good 10 blocks was not open for another several months.

What were the period modifications that were done to your car and have any of the other Shelbys sold through Dana exhibited the same modifications? Did your car have the optional stripes on the hood, etc?
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Jon Mello

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Re: Dana Chevrolet
« Reply #95 on: December 01, 2019, 04:23:45 PM »
Here's a photo of a '68 Dana 427 with a dealer plate on it.  Looks like it may have Cragar G/T or G/T Plus wheels on it.
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