Jerry Heasley May 26, 2017

How could this be? Jeff Krueger could hardly believe his luck. About seven months earlier, he had located one of the G.T. 350 carryover Shelbys of 1966 in Lubbock, Texas, near his home, and now he had found another one?

When Jeff sent us a photo of this second rare Shelby on June 29, 2016, the sight a Mustang shell, sitting on jackstands with no wheels, was incredible. However, we thought this image showed the first 1966 Shelby he had found and tried to buy nine months earlier. Wasn’t this Marilyn Garrett’s 1966 G.T. 350 carryover Shelby that we had written up for the May 2016 issue? Had she now consented to sell her 1966 model? We never thought for a moment he had discovered another 1966 G.T. 350.

Over the phone, Jeff had to explain two or three times that this G.T. 350 was a different Shelby. It was also a carryover and also a widow’s car, but this one he might really be able to buy. Apparently, this owner, Janet Tisdale, wanted to sell.

But how had he found this second carryover Shelby? Was this one also near Lubbock? It turns out it was close—a three-hour drive away in Brownwood, smack dab in the middle of Texas. Karma may have been at work here. Jeff had not pushed Marilyn, who owned the previous Shelby we had written about, for a sale during those vulnerable months after her husband had died. He did let her know her car was more than “just” a 1966 G.T. 350, and with input from her son and daughter, Marilyn decided to keep it.

The 1966 G.T. 350 sat outside under a pecan tree from the late ’70s until 2004, when Herb Tisdale surprised everyone by parking the car right here in his shop.

What’s a carryover car? Carryover refers to the first 252 of the 1,966 G.T. 350s. At this early stage, Shelby American built the 1966 model with many of the same mechanical features as the 1965, including over-ride traction bars and lowered front suspension. So, these carryover cars are worth more than a regular 1966 G.T. 350.

We couldn’t resist riding with Jeff on his second trip to Herb Tisdale’s shop in Brownwood to met Janet, her son Matt, and Brian Sanderson, a car enthusiast who had known and worked with Herb Tisdale, Janet’s deceased husband, for the last 32 years. Right away, Matt told us he wasn’t a car enthusiast and that’s where Brian’s expertise came in. But, they both trusted Jeff, who was helping appraise Herb’s 100 or so Mustangs and Fords (including 26 complete engines stored in one shed). There were N.O.S. parts, stacks of vintage Mustang carburetors, cranks, consoles, and on and on, but of primary interest was the 1966 G.T. 350. The original Shelby VIN plate was gone, but the Ford VIN, according to SAAC (Shelby American Automobile Club) records, corresponded to SFM6S131. In fact, SAAC’s own Registry listed Herb Tisdale of Texas as the owner of this early 1966 G.T. 350.

After Herb Tisdale died on June 13, 2016, his son Matt started investigating the car and ran across the “Rare Finds” article that I wrote for Mustang Monthly on Jeff’s finding Marilyn Garrett’s 1966 carryover Shelby. “I searched for Jeff Krueger’s name, and I think I sent him a Facebook message,” Matt says.

“I gave Matt a call, and he started texting pictures. All the sudden, a light bulb went on,” Jeff says. “I know your father!” Herb and Jeff both attended SCAT (Shelby Cobra Association of Texas) shows in the ’90s. There they would gather with other people in the show parking lot at night and talk cars into the wee hours of the morning. “Your father was quite a character,” Jeff says.

Herb had bought the Shelby in Houston, Texas, probably in the late ’70s. He parked the Mustang in the pasture until around 2004, according to Brian. “I was just kind of blown away, to be honest with you, when the car showed up in Herb’s shop,” Brian says. At the time, the body was covered with moss from its 25-year slumber under a pecan tree. Apparently, Herb had pretty much kept this rare Shelby a secret. Of course, he knew the G.T. 350 was one of the first 252 Shelby Mustangs built for the 1966 model year, and thus, highly desirable. Herb was a real Ford enthusiast “In this town, he was known as the Mustang Man,” Matt says. “At all the parts stores, if you wanted to know something about a Mustang or a Ford, you came to him.”

“He got his first Mustang as a graduation gift from high school, a [brand-new] 1965 model, and he still has it,” Janet says. “He had wanted a big engine, but his dad wouldn’t let him.”

Herb got his masters in agriculture, or in pecans and such as Janet says, from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. And then went to work for the government. “But, he wanted to do what he wanted to do,” Janet says. What did Herb want to do? He mostly wanted to fool with Mustangs and Fords. So in the early ’70s, he quit the federal government job and turned his Mustang and Ford hobby into his business. “He started out very small. He had one of those little tiny shops over there, where his big shops are now,” Janet says pointing. “And he started working on cars and restoring and such, and made enough money where he could enlarge,” she says.

Matt Tisdale (on the right) admits he is not a car person. However, with help from Brian, and now from Jeff (on the left), he has learned a great deal about Mustangs and Fords. He is helping his Mom, Janet, sell Herb’s estate.

Now, with Herb gone, Janet had been faced with the daunting task of selling off a mountain of cars and parts. Jeff Krueger appeared at just the right time to help appraise and sell off the collection. Jeff was transitioning from his Carpet Solutions business in Lubbock to a Mustang restoration business when Matt had called him about the Shelby. Jeff started out trying to make a deal for the 1966 carryover Shelby, just like the car he almost got in December 2015. Coincidentally, Jeff was working on Marilyn Garrett’s 1966 carryover G.T. 350 in his restoration shop at the time. Now, by some fortuitous act of Mustang Karma, he had actually stumbled onto another carryover 1966 G.T. 350. This time, one he could buy. After collecting and building Mustangs for close to 30 years, Jeff was ecstatic to finally acquire his first early Shelby.

Meanwhile, Janet thought Jeff getting the car fit what her husband would want her to do. Put the car in the possession of somebody who would love, cherish, and take good care of a Mustang—not unlike wedding vows. “Jeff was probably the perfect person for the 1966 G.T. 350 because he just loves it,” Janet says. They made a deal for Jeff to buy the car. Jeff will also fully restore a 1965 Mustang convertible and build Herb’s high-school graduation gift, a 1965 fastback with that 289 two-barrel C-code engine, into a roller.

Jeff will restore and drive the 1966 G.T. 350 and has no plans to sell. One day, he plans to give Janet Tisdale a rip-roaring ride in Herb’s Shelby, probably at a show like the one where Jeff met Herb. Maybe at this show, Jeff will have finished all three Mustangs—the Shelby, Janet’s 1965 convertible, and Herb’s first car, the 1965 fastback. Is this Mustang Karma or what? How could this be? Jeff Krueger could hardly believe his luck. About seven months earlier, he had located one of the G.T. 350 carryover Shelbys of 1966 in Lubbock, Texas, near his home, and now he had found another one?

When Jeff sent us a photo of this second rare Shelby on June 29, 2016, the sight a Mustang shell, sitting on jackstands with no wheels, was incredible. However, we thought this image showed the first 1966 Shelby he had found and tried to buy nine months earlier. Wasn’t this Marilyn Garrett’s 1966 G.T. 350 carryover Shelby that we had written up for the May 2016 issue? Had she now consented to sell her 1966 model? We never thought for a moment he had discovered another 1966 G.T. 350.

Over the phone, Jeff had to explain two or three times that this G.T. 350 was a different Shelby. It was also a carryover and also a widow’s car, but this one he might really be able to buy. Apparently, this owner, Janet Tisdale, wanted to sell.

But how had he found this second carryover Shelby? Was this one also near Lubbock? It turns out it was close—a three-hour drive away in Brownwood, smack dab in the middle of Texas. Karma may have been at work here. Jeff had not pushed Marilyn, who owned the previous Shelby we had written about, for a sale during those vulnerable months after her husband had died. He did let her know her car was more than “just” a 1966 G.T. 350, and with input from her son and daughter, Marilyn decided to keep it.

What’s a carryover car? Carryover refers to the first 252 of the 1,966 G.T. 350s. At this early stage, Shelby American built the 1966 model with many of the same mechanical features as the 1965, including over-ride traction bars and lowered front suspension. So, these carryover cars are worth more than a regular 1966 G.T. 350.

We couldn’t resist riding with Jeff on his second trip to Herb Tisdale’s shop in Brownwood to met Janet, her son Matt, and Brian Sanderson, a car enthusiast who had known and worked with Herb Tisdale, Janet’s deceased husband, for the last 32 years. Right away, Matt told us he wasn’t a car enthusiast and that’s where Brian’s expertise came in. But, they both trusted Jeff, who was helping appraise Herb’s 100 or so Mustangs and Fords (including 26 complete engines stored in one shed). There were N.O.S. parts, stacks of vintage Mustang carburetors, cranks, consoles, and on and on, but of primary interest was the 1966 G.T. 350. The original Shelby VIN plate was gone, but the Ford VIN, according to SAAC (Shelby American Automobile Club) records, corresponded to SFM6S131. In fact, SAAC’s own Registry listed Herb Tisdale of Texas as the owner of this early 1966 G.T. 350.

According to Matt, Brian Sanderson is like a brother to him and has been a huge help handling the Ford and Mustang cars and parts his father left behind.

After Herb Tisdale died on June 13, 2016, his son Matt started investigating the car and ran across the “Rare Finds” article that I wrote for Mustang Monthly on Jeff’s finding Marilyn Garrett’s 1966 carryover Shelby. “I searched for Jeff Krueger’s name, and I think I sent him a Facebook message,” Matt says.

“I gave Matt a call, and he started texting pictures. All the sudden, a light bulb went on,” Jeff says. “I know your father!” Herb and Jeff both attended SCAT (Shelby Cobra Association of Texas) shows in the ’90s. There they would gather with other people in the show parking lot at night and talk cars into the wee hours of the morning. “Your father was quite a character,” Jeff says.

Herb had bought the Shelby in Houston, Texas, probably in the late ’70s. He parked the Mustang in the pasture until around 2004, according to Brian. “I was just kind of blown away, to be honest with you, when the car showed up in Herb’s shop,” Brian says. At the time, the body was covered with moss from its 25-year slumber under a pecan tree. Apparently, Herb had pretty much kept this rare Shelby a secret. Of course, he knew the G.T. 350 was one of the first 252 Shelby Mustangs built for the 1966 model year, and thus, highly desirable. Herb was a real Ford enthusiast “In this town, he was known as the Mustang Man,” Matt says. “At all the parts stores, if you wanted to know something about a Mustang or a Ford, you came to him.”

“He got his first Mustang as a graduation gift from high school, a [brand-new] 1965 model, and he still has it,” Janet says. “He had wanted a big engine, but his dad wouldn’t let him.”

Herb got his masters in agriculture, or in pecans and such as Janet says, from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. And then went to work for the government. “But, he wanted to do what he wanted to do,” Janet says. What did Herb want to do? He mostly wanted to fool with Mustangs and Fords. So in the early ’70s, he quit the federal government job and turned his Mustang and Ford hobby into his business. “He started out very small. He had one of those little tiny shops over there, where his big shops are now,” Janet says pointing. “And he started working on cars and restoring and such, and made enough money where he could enlarge,” she says.

Now, with Herb gone, Janet had been faced with the daunting task of selling off a mountain of cars and parts. Jeff Krueger appeared at just the right time to help appraise and sell off the collection. Jeff was transitioning from his Carpet Solutions business in Lubbock to a Mustang restoration business when Matt had called him about the Shelby. Jeff started out trying to make a deal for the 1966 carryover Shelby, just like the car he almost got in December 2015. Coincidentally, Jeff was working on Marilyn Garrett’s 1966 carryover G.T. 350 in his restoration shop at the time. Now, by some fortuitous act of Mustang Karma, he had actually stumbled onto another carryover 1966 G.T. 350. This time, one he could buy. After collecting and building Mustangs for close to 30 years, Jeff was ecstatic to finally acquire his first early Shelby.

Meanwhile, Janet thought Jeff getting the car fit what her husband would want her to do. Put the car in the possession of somebody who would love, cherish, and take good care of a Mustang—not unlike wedding vows. “Jeff was probably the perfect person for the 1966 G.T. 350 because he just loves it,” Janet says. They made a deal for Jeff to buy the car. Jeff will also fully restore a 1965 Mustang convertible and build Herb’s high-school graduation gift, a 1965 fastback with that 289 two-barrel C-code engine, into a roller.

Jeff will restore and drive the 1966 G.T. 350 and has no plans to sell. One day, he plans to give Janet Tisdale a rip-roaring ride in Herb’s Shelby, probably at a show like the one where Jeff met Herb. Maybe at this show, Jeff will have finished all three Mustangs—the Shelby, Janet’s 1965 convertible, and Herb’s first car, the 1965 fastback. Is this Mustang Karma or what?