After spending the week in Arizona watching a slew of Eleanor-converted Mustangs sell for more than $400,000, I started thinking about the current values for what I feel are the top of the heap as far as Mustangs are concerned, the Shelby Mustangs built from 1965 to 1970. Now to me, these are as good as it gets for Mustang cars. Sure, a restomod is a better driving car, but the original Shelby Mustangs are something special, and the ones built in California by Shelby American from 1965 to 1967 are just a little extra special.
In a bizarre turn of the market, many of these very special cars are available for less than their restomod custom conversions, such as the Eleanors you see at auction. This makes no sense as the Shelby cars were built in period by guys such as Phil Remington and are not only historically significant but also make for great driving cars. They do not seem to be affected by trends and typically hold their value over time, something we have yet to know about the restomod cars.
My Pick of the Day is one of these cars, a 1966 Shelby GT350H painted in black with gold Le Mans stripes and a black interior.
Now if you do not know this already, the GT350H was a car built by Shelby and sold to Hertz as rental cars or rent-a-racer as they then advertised. There is a ton of legend and lore about to whom these cars were rented, raced, and then turned back into Hertz afterwards. As with all legends, they may be rooted in some truth. The important part to know is that the 1966 GT350H is a true Shelby built car. It is also a low production car as only 1,003 total 1966 GT350H cars were built.
The St. Charles, Missouri, owner states that this 1966 GT350H still has its numbers matching 289 C.I. Hi-Po V8 engine, correct C4 3-speed “SelectShift” automatic transmission, and Ford 9″ rear end with a 3.50:1 final drive ratio. It shows 56,615 miles on the odometer, which are believed to be original miles. They add that the car has been owned by the current owner since 1988 and has a very original body. It is said to have received one repaint, has a mostly original interior, beautiful original floor pans, 14″ Shelby Magnum 500 style wheels, the original dash mounted Shelby tachometer, and racing lap belts.
The best part of this car is the price being asked. The seller is offering this car at a very fair price of $209,995. At this price I am sure it is not a concours ready car, but instead the perfect Shelby Mustang to actually drive. These are great driving cars; it is not often that a car as significant as this one is both easy to own and drive.
This would be a car that I would buy, drive, show locally, and enjoy for quite a long time.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
Source: www.classiccars.com