Pristine Pony

Early Shelby Mustangs are as rare as rocking horse poo -- genuine examples at least. And low-mileage, well-maintained models never turn up in an old shed. Or do they?

Shannons has one such vehicle up for sale at the Collectors' Auction to be held during Motorclassica at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne from October 22 to 24.

The 1965 Shelby GT350 was owned by a Ford dealer in the US. Up to the time of the owner's death in 2001 the Shelby had covered less than 41,000 miles and had spent the previous 30 years stashed in a shed.

According to Shannons, the GT350 (a Ford Mustang modified by Carroll Shelby and his Shelby American team) is chassis number 6S263, built in late 1965 as one of 2377 units of 1966 models. This car features items dropped by Shelby for later production cars; items such as: lowered front control arms, traction over-ride bars, axle-limiting cable and bonnet latch deletion.

After the death of the original owner, the car was fully restored, although the transmission in the car is a T5 five-speed manual, which makes for easier touring. Shannons says that the original four-speed box that came from the factory will be sold with the car, for conversion back to its original form.

The car's restoration was complete by the middle of 2004, when it was shipped to Australia with 41,600 miles showing on the odometer. Since arriving in the country, the Shelby has notched up a further 1000 miles and the vendor has certificates to verify the car's authenticity, including documentation from the Shelby American Club.

Shelby-modified Mustangs were exceptionally popular in their day and remain iconic among American muscle and pony cars of the era. Furthermore, the Shelbys competed in motor sport events and the modded Mustangs bathed in the reflected glow of both the fire-breathing Cobra 427 and the GT40 Fords that beat Ferraris at Le Mans. It's for this reason that Shannons estimates the GT350 will fetch between $220,000 and $260,000 at auction in October.

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