This specimen, positioned in Pittsford, New York, is presently up for public sale on the Convey a Trailer on-line public sale web site—which, like Automobile and Driver, is a part of Hearst Autos. It was refurbished in California earlier than ending up with its present proprietor in 2014. It flaunts the period-correct Wimbledon White paint with the usual rocker panel strips and non-compulsory Le Mans stripes. A letter from Howard Pardee, Director Emeritus of Shelby American Car Membership, dietary supplements its authenticity. Earlier than scrutinizing pricing figures and situation, let’s first revisit what the primary ever Shelby Mustang truly was.

Carroll Shelby’s legacy was effectively beneath method when the primary of the Shelby Mustangs hit the scene in 1965. As defined in our instrumented check of the 1965 Shelby GT350, he and his crew got down to convert the Mustang fastback coupe right into a street-legal model of a NASCAR inventory automotive. Upgrades included a modified 289-cubic-inch V-8 with an output of 306 horsepower and 329 pound-feet of torque, an array of chassis and suspension upgrades—similar to Koni adjustable shocks, altered steering geometry, and an anti-roll bar together with torque-control arms—beefier brakes with 11-inch discs up entrance and drums within the rear, and 15-inch “mag-type” wheels. After all, there have been different enhancements, together with nearer ratios for the four-speed transmission, non-compulsory oil coolers, an extra-capacity radiator, and so forth.

In keeping with documentation supplied by the vendor, the unique seller bill reveals a complete value of $3,888.04 again in 1965, which incorporates the Le Mans stripes as a no-charge possibility and “particular alloy” wheels as a $214 possibility. For reference, the 1965 Shelby GT350 had a base MSRP of $4547. These figures are a drop within the bucket in comparison with the present bid, which sits at $275,000 as of this writing. If earlier auctions are any indicator, the bids ought to proceed to mount for this pristine-looking instance, as one other 1965 Shelby GT350 bought for $400,000 in September 2020, and a Shelby GT350R managed to fetch a whopping $875,000 in April 2022. Shopping for a chunk of automotive historical past can truly be a particularly costly feat.

At this time, we now have a Shelby GT500 that places out a monstrous 760 horsepower and may pull as a lot as 1.13 g’s on the skidpad. Suffice it to say that the unique Mustang GT350 was the place to begin of a legacy that’s prized by at the moment’s auto fanatics, and it is nonetheless being written.