There’s a big ‘Pony’ club gathering at Shannons in Melbourne on Monday June 2, with seven special Shelbys and Mustangs being corralled for auction. The real ‘show ponies’ of the Winter Classic Auction will be a brace of thoroughbred Shelby Mustangs – a race-ready, red, right hand drive 1968 Shelby GT350 Fastback and a 1969 left hand drive blue Shelby GT500. The red Shelby is number 328 of the 1,027 GT350 Fastbacks built in 1968 and is recorded in the Shelby American Automobile Club’s Registry. Since arriving in Australia, the car has belonged to several well-known identities in the motoring world, […]
There’s a big ‘Pony’ club gathering at Shannons in Melbourne on Monday June 2, with seven special Shelbys and Mustangs being corralled for auction.
The real ‘show ponies’ of the Winter Classic Auction will be a brace of thoroughbred Shelby Mustangs – a race-ready, red, right hand drive 1968 Shelby GT350 Fastback and a 1969 left hand drive blue Shelby GT500.
The red Shelby is number 328 of the 1,027 GT350 Fastbacks built in 1968 and is recorded in the Shelby American Automobile Club’s Registry.
Since arriving in Australia, the car has belonged to several well-known identities in the motoring world, including dealer and collector Lance Dixon.
The present Melbourne owner has spared no expense in preparing the Shelby for historic motor racing, tarmac rallies or club track days and it is now CAMS compliant and ready to race.
It is fitted with a date-correct Windsor 302 block that has been stroked to 347-cid and fitted with Dart alloy heads, roller rockers, ceramic-coated extractors, hi-capacity Cobra alloy sump and a stainless steel dual exhaust, amongst many other enhancements.
A new T5 five-speed gearbox, Rallye style front seats, a heavy duty cooling system, uprated suspension, four wheel disc brakes and a 22-gallon fuel tank are other desirable modifications making the Shelby ideal for historic tarmac rallies.
However the GT350 can easily be returned to its original factory configuration, as its original seats, four-speed close-ratio Top Loader gearbox and numerous spares are being sold with the car.
It is expected to sell in the range from $170-$200,000.
According to the Shelby Registry (1997 Edition), the Acapulco Blue Shelby Fastback Coupe is number 508 of the 1,534 GT500s built from 1969-1970.
Powered by Ford’s legendary 428-cid big block V8 and fitted with the optional C4 three-speed automatic transmission, the Shelby has spent most of its life in California. However in recent years, the Shelby was the subject of an extensive restoration to a very high standard by the current Melbourne owner, who had Carroll Shelby autograph the glove box lid while he was in America sourcing parts.
As one of the last of the coveted Shelby Mustangs of the 1960s, Shannons expect the GT500 to sell in the range of $135-$150,000.
The other Pony cars on offer include a beautiful yellow right hand drive 1970 Mustang Boss 302 Fastback ($68-$78,000), a rare 1967 ‘S-Code’ right hand drive white Mustang GTA 390 Fastback ($65-$73,000), a left hand drive white 1966 Mustang ‘A Code’ coupe ($28-$36,000) and a right hand drive pale yellow 1966 Mustang coupe ($24-$28,000).
And for modern Mustang fanciers, there is a 2007 right hand drive, red Mustang GT Fastback with trademark ‘Shelby’ striping, which Shannons expect to sell in the $105-$130,000 range.
