This 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350 is one of 504 street-production examples built for the model year during the first seven months of construction of Shelby American’s Mustang variant. Chassis SFM5S250 was completed on May 17, 1965, before being shipped on June 7 to Riverside, California, dealer Warren-Anderson Ford. The car was sold by Warren-Anderson to its first owner in January 1967 and was later purchased by a California owner who modified it in the style of a GT350R in the 1990s before subsequent owners campaigned it in vintage racing between 1995 and 2005. Finished in Wimbledon White with black stripes, the car is powered by a replacement 289ci V8 that was built by Tony Oddo and is paired with a Tex Racing four-speed manual transmission with an aluminum main case. Additional features include front disc brakes, Koni shock absorbers, 15” alloy wheels, an oil cooler, a fuel cell, an electric fuel pump, 1966-style brake scoops, bolstered bucket seats, four-point harnesses, and a roll cage. Purchased by its current owner in 2022, this R-style GT350 is now offered in California by the seller on behalf of the owner with its removed 289ci HiPo V8, a log book, engine specification sheets, a copy of its SAAC Registry entry, and an Arizona title.
Development of the GT350 model began in summer 1964 after Ford enlisted Carroll Shelby to create a variant of the Mustang to homologate for competition in the SCCA’s B Production class. Incomplete K-code Mustang fastbacks were sent from Ford’s San Jose, California, plant to Shelby’s Venice facility for transformation into GT350 specification before Shelby began shifting production to its facilities near Los Angeles International Airport in early 1965. This example was modified in the 1990s to replicate the GT350 competition model, or R model, that was developed by Shelby as a turn-key racing variant of the GT350 and accounted for three straight SCCA B Production national titles.
The body is said to have been repainted during the 1990s project and is finished in Wimbledon White with black Le Mans stripes and side stripes. R-style details include a fiberglass front apron with integrated brake-cooling intakes, a painted rear bumper, a top-vented plexiglass rear window, and pull-up side windows. Additional features include a steel-framed fiberglass hood with a functional scoop and quick-release pins, 1966-style fender scoops, louvered sail panels, dual side mirrors, a fuel-cap blanking plate, an exterior electrical cutoff switch, and number 54 graphics.
Five-spoke alloy wheels are wrapped in 6.00-15 Goodyear Blue Streak tires. Braking is handled without assistance by ventilated discs with cooling ducts up front and drums at the rear, and front-rear bias is adjustable via a knob in the cockpit.
The cockpit houses a pair of bolstered bucket seats trimmed in black upholstery and equipped with Simpson four-point harnesses. Additional features include floors devoid of carpeting, a black dash, a Hurst shifter, a roll cage, and a fire-suppression system.
The quick-release steering wheel features a padded hub and sits ahead of Stewart-Warner instrumentation including a central 8k-rpm tachometer flanked by gauges monitoring fuel pressure, coolant temperature, oil temperature, and oil pressure. The car is not equipped with an odometer, and total mileage is unknown.
The 289ci V8 was built by TOE Performance Products in California and features a four-barrel carburetor, a high-rise intake manifold, tall valve covers, and MSD electronic ignition. Engine specification sheets dated between 1999 and 2000 can be viewed in the photo gallery below. Additional equipment includes four-into-one exhaust headers, an oil cooler, an aluminum radiator, an electric fuel pump, and a Fuel Safe fuel cell.
Power is sent to the rear wheels via a Tex Racing four-speed manual transmission with an aluminum main case. Suspension incorporates adjustable Koni shock absorbers all around along with overrider rear traction bars.
The car’s removed 289ci HiPo V8 is included in the sale, and various markings on the engine can be seen in the gallery. A logbook listing events between 1995 and 2005 can also be seen below, as can the car’s SAAC Registry entry. The latter notes that in 1988 the car was observed with a 1966-style fuel cap, steering wheel, fender scoops, and quarter windows, and it mentions that the car is one of four that may have been fitted with such equipment by Warren-Anderson Ford before the original sale.
The Arizona title carries a “not actual” mileage note.