Jim Morrison led a life of excess and mystery so it’s only fitting that he drove an extravagant car to match his superabundant personality. It’s also fitting that his Shelby GT500 disappeared in 1969, never to be seen again.
Rumor has it that Electra records bought Jim the Nightmist Blue 1967 Shelby GT500 for the work done on the self titled debut album by The Doors. One story explaining the cars disappearance had Morrison hitting a telephone pole on the way to the Whisky-A-Go-Go. Frustrated, he walked the rest of the way to the club and either never returned to the accident scene or never followed up with the towing company. Another story had him parking the car at Los Angeles International Airport where the car was left for a long period of time while Morrison traveled. Upon his return the car had been towed and sold at public auction.
What does survive is Morrison’s registration card and footage of Morrison driving his Shelby hard through the desert in an experimental film shot in 1969.
That’s an interesting find, the ‘67 Shelby GT500 is truly an impressive car. I recently sold a very well done ‘67 GT500 Eleanor replica to a buyer in Russa. That was certainly one of the most enjoyable photo and video shoots I’ve done.
I was backstage after a Doors concert recently at Pomona, Ca and asked Robby Krieger what happened to Jim’s Shelby. He said that Jim loved that car more than anything and he had it repaired 4 or 5 times after being wrecked but that it did not survive the last wreck. The bodyshop told him it was unrepairable. That is all I know about it.
I HAD THE PRIVLAGE OF TALKING TO ROBY CRUGER BACK STAGE AFTER A CONSERT AT THE POMONA FAIR PLEX.BEING A BIG DOORS FAN AND A PAST SHELBY OWNER I ASKED ROBY ABOUT JIM,S CAR,HE SAID THAT JIM LOVED THAT CAR AND CRASHED IT SEVERL TIMES EACH TIME THE BODY SHOP WOULD FIX IT BUT THE LAST TIME JIM CRASHED THE SHELBY THE BODY SHOP OWNER TOLD JIM IT WAS A TOTAL LOST AND WAS NOT REPAIRABLE, JIM WAS VERY UP SET AND THAT WAS THE LAST ROBY HEARD OF THE SHELBY.I WONDER IF A GUY OR GAIL COULD FIND THE BODY SHOP JIM USED MAYBE THE OWNER HAS THE CAR????
i’d like to crash my chevy and get me one of these and drive it in winston salem NC.