G'day guys.
I figured being as we're way off topic for an introduction thread I'd start a new one on my Dakota.
I just got off the phone with Jim Paquet who built the truck and he cleared a lot of things up so I figured I'd document it here for you all (and more still to come as I follow a few more leads up).
So here's the thing - Chrysler gave Jim this truck. It started life as a 1997 turquoise 318 Dakota that was intended for race use only. Jim was telling me there were a few trucks given to teams, and he exchanged his for a bunch of transmissions and other race parts which went into the other trucks. He told me there is a tag underneath that identifies it (which I'm thinking is the tag on the race-chassis which identifies the customer as Chrysler). There should also be a decal on the front and rear windscreens with an X on it, which was used to identify it as a race only truck.
The drag pak tag? He's not sure but right now we're leaning heavily towards the idea of it being put on for export to Australia - more research needed, but its highly likely that though this was a "Drag Dakota" it isnt an official "Drag Pak Dakota". I'll keep following some leads and try to find out when the tag was installed......
The paint - the truck was originally turqoise (as mentioned before). One of Jims buddies turned up at his house with a covered transporter and told him "Your paint sucks - I'm taking it away and painting it". Jim didnt have the money for paint and hadnt thought about changing color so when the guy asked him what color he wanted he pointed to a calender on his wall with a 66 mustang and said "Can you paint it like that?". And thats how the truck ended up with with the double blue stripe AKA Shelby Mustang.
To be continued.