Can't believe after 113 posts and 12,300+ views that nobody would offer an official answer so I went to the source to answer my lingering question about who builds the CJ500.
I called Shelby Autos in Las Vegas today. At one time (1965-1967) Shelbys were built and sold by Shelby American. You didn't buy a Mustang, you bought a Shelby. That is what I thought was still in practice. Wrong. Today, you buy a Mustang which is licensed to wear the Shelby name and identification along with the official licensed add-ons (body panels, performance parts, etc.).
So I rest my argument that the CJ500 is a stripped Shelby, not a Mustang (or whatever the heck my argument was...
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I still believe a hand-crafted kit-car belongs in Superstock since they are not sold for public highway useage. But it's NHRA's rulebook that allows "acceptance will not allow precedence". Geez, with wording like that, why have a rule book?
