Hot Rod delves into its archives to revisit the of curious case of Bela Lugosi Jr.’s Shelby, which hasn’t been seen for decades.
When the 1931 film version of “Dracula” came out, Carroll Shelby was only eight years old. Even when the man who made the vampire count a Hollywood legend, Bela Lugosi, died in 1956, Shelby Mustangs were still years away. He didn’t live long enough to experience their sound and power.
However, his son Bela Lugosi Jr. was a grown man when Shelby first started producing his hotter versions of Ford’s hit pony car. Hot Rod recently dug into its archives and came across one of its stories in its November 1977 issue. It goes like this:
“Twelve years before the article came out, an unnumbered factory GT 350 with less than three miles on its odometer somehow came into contact with a silver spike and suffered a substantial amount of damage. Holman & Moody, Ford’s official racing contractor, bought it and subsequently sold it to a company called FT Enterprises. It held onto the hobbled horse until an L.A. lawyer decided to restore it. They sold it in 1974 to none other than Bela Lugosi Jr., who would go on to take the GT 350 to numerous Shelby-related events.”
Given the timeline, this Shelby should’ve been made in roughly 1965. With its grille-mounted lights, sail panel scoops, and horizontal bar tail lights, it looks more like a ’67 model, though. Other touches that make it stand out are its rear window louvres, exaggerated rear fender flares, and mono-pipe exhaust finisher. And let’s not forget the vanity license plates that read “DRAQLA.”
A couple of quick online searches revealed nothing about this car’s current status. Perhaps Lugosi Jr. sold it to someone else who has it locked in a garage and building value somewhere. Maybe it got wrecked or stolen and parted out. We hope not. Dracula spawned several sequels and related movies. We’re crossing our fingers that the world will get to see more of this obscure Shelby one day.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
