Attached is the original order form for my '68, 2152 and the Marti report. I'm guessing there was a Shelby Automotive contingent in Southfield that would send over the order to AO Smith?
Sequence of events:
2/18/68 - Order received at NJ assembly plant (Ordered as batch of cars by SA or AO?)
3/22/68 - Car serialized (Ford VIN assigned)
3/28/68 - Retail order placed by King Motor Co., Alabama, Shelby number assigned - 2152
4/3/68 - Scheduled build date
4/8/68 - Chassis Bucked
4/22/68 - Actual date built
4/25/68 - Released from assembly plant
7/29/68 - Sold to original owner (known from copy of original title)
So, a couple things here...
1) As Bob corrected me earlier, AO Smith or Shelby Automotive, whoever was processing the orders, was placing orders before cars were sold/ordered for retail. There does not appear to be any correlation between the order sent to the assembly plant and the retail order.
2) The Shelby number could have been assigned before a car was even built at the Ford assembly plant. In the case of 2152, the Shelby number was assigned almost a month before the car was built at the Metuchen plant.
3) It took 3 months from the time the car was completed at the assembly plant to be shipped to AO, converted to a Shelby, then sent to Koon's Ford in Va. and sold.
Just one of many, but might shed some light on the ordering process. It doesn't answer if there was any priority or batching of like colors or equipment cars at AO. It doesn't help to determine if cars were built in sequence of orders received.