Assembled 10 days ahead of schedule on February 21, 1969, this 1969 Shelby GT500 left the factory finished as it is today, in Acapulco Blue over black trim with Clarion Knit and Corinthian vinyl Hi-Back seats. The car was further equipped with an automatic transmission, air conditioning, sport-deck rear seat, tilt-away steering wheel, AM/FM radio and tinted glass.
Upon delivery to Gerber-Payne Ford of Fremont, MI, on March 4, 1969, the car was retained as a dealer demonstrator, where it accumulated just under 7,000 miles before being sold to its first owner later that year. While its first owner’s identity has been lost to history, this GT500’s lineage picks up again with Jack Owne of Wisconsin in the 1980s before reportedly passing to his relative, Robin Thede of Toronto, ON, before the end of the decade. Thede never used the car, instead storing it indoors until 2007, when it was acquired by the AutoDream Group of Niagara Falls, ON.
AutoDream promptly launched a 12-month rotisserie restoration, which began by stripping the car to bare metal. Owing to its decades of indoor storage, the body reportedly needed minimal repair before receiving a refinish in its factory Acapulco Blue with white stripes. Accompanying photographs document both the restoration process and the car’s exceptional level of preservation pre-restoration. During the restoration, the car was confirmed to retain its numbers-matching 428-ci Cobra Jet engine. A Deluxe Marti Report, partial factory build sheet, and copies of the car’s Shelby GT500 Individual Order form and Shelby Automotive Dealer Invoice accompany the sale, as do a bevy of recent service records.
(Introductory description courtesy of RM Sotheby’s.)
