HOME   ABOUT   STRATEGY   CURRENT TRENDS   WATCH LIST  AUCTIONS   CONTACT

Greatest Muscle Cars of the Sixties










1966 SHELBY GT350 


                                                              
< PREVIOUS        NEXT >

Sold for $572,000

443 bhp, 289 cu. in. supercharged V-8 engine, four-speed manual transmission, independent front suspension with unequal length A-arms, coil springs, and a stabilizer bar, live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, and hydraulic front disc and rear drum brakes. Wheelbase: 108 in.

One of two 1965 Paxton-supercharged prototypes
Factory-installed Shelby-Cragar mag wheels
Highly original, including its original engine
SAAC-documented ownership history
Featured in numerous books and magazines
Used as a factory demonstrator

When Ford executive Lee Iacocca asked Carroll Shelby, in Shelby’s words, to “turn a mule into a race horse,” a real race horse this Mustang would become! It was relatively straightforward, but spot-on modifications, upgrades, and component deletions made the 289 “Hi Po”-equipped Mustang 2+2 Fastback into Carroll’s own particular brand of “sports car.” Shelby American built just 562 of those rough and ready ’65s, which were universally considered the “best of the real Shelby Mustangs.” They were not only the first iteration, but they were also the most clear and committed example of Shelby’s original sporting vision for the car.




Most of the production 1965 Shelby GT350s are fundamentally the same. Some of the production cars were delivered with the rare and valuable Shelby-Cragar five-spoke mag wheels, while others had hubcapless steel wheels. Most of the cars wore stripes on the hood and rear deck, while all had manual transmissions and naturally aspired, 306-horsepower, 289-cubic inch V-8s, except for a few.