31 year Garage Find Shelby GT 500 Mysteriously Appears!

I think by "hand" somebody meant "permission to copy and enhance the A/C Cobra" and nothing more.

Shelby Dodges and Dodge Shelbys

Shelby began working with Dodge at the request of Chrysler Corporation chairman, Lee Iacocca.[14] Iacocca had previously been responsible for bringing Shelby to the Ford Mustang. After almost a decade of tuning work, Shelby was brought on board as the "Performance Consultant" on the Dodge Viper Technical Policy Committee made up of Chrysler's executive Bob Lutz, Product Design chief Tom Gale, and Engineering Vice President François Castaing.[15] Shelby was used for his wealth of experience to make the Viper as light and powerful as possible.[15]
The following cars were modified by Shelby, and bore his name, but still sold under the Dodge marque:
1983–1984 Dodge Shelby Charger
1985–1987 Dodge Charger Shelby
1984–1986 Dodge Omni GLH
The following cars used Shelby-modified parts, but were not overseen by Carroll Shelby:
1986 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z C/S
1987–1988 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z
1988–1991 Dodge Daytona C/S
1989–1991 Dodge Daytona Shelby
1988–1989 Dodge Lancer Shelby
1989–1990 Dodge Shadow Competition
1991–1992 Dodge Spirit R/T
1992–1993 Dodge Daytona IROC R/T
The following cars were modified and sold as Shelbys:
1986 Shelby GLHS (based on the Dodge Omni GLH)
1987 Shelby GLHS (based on the Dodge Charger Shelby)
1987 Shelby Lancer (based on the Dodge Lancer)
1987 Shelby CSX (based on the Dodge Shadow)
1988 Shelby CSX-T (based on the Dodge Shadow)
1989 Shelby Dakota (based on the Dodge Dakota)
1989 Shelby CSX-VNT (based on the Dodge Shadow)