1965 Ford Mustang
It is difficult not to think of Carroll Shelby when you picture a Ford Mustang. The two go together. In particular the 1965 Shelby Mustang is one of the most recognizable, and boasts of a successful performance pedigree. It is among domestic legends with a long and varied list of accolades. These vehicles have that hard to define Shelby coolness and style. They are raw, crude, and a ton of fun. My car was born an A code Mustang, but at her heart I think she has always been, a Shelby.
The 1965-66 Shelby Mustangs are properly not called Cobras, which hardly can be confused with Shelby’s Ford-powered AC based sports car of the same period. The confusion arises mainly from the optional Cobra valve covers on many of the GT350s, which was part of a marketing tie-in campaign. Also a source of confusion is the GT350 moniker, it’s not displacement, it’s not power, it’s actually the number of paces Carroll Shelby counted off from his office to the assembly plant in the original California facility. After all, it’s the car that makes the name so GT350 it is, and the rest is history.
All 1965 GT350s were painted Wimbledon White with Guardsman Blue rocker stripes. The optional matching Le Mans hood, roof, and trunk stripes were pretty rare and typically installed by dealers. It was in 1966 that non-white colors were introduced – red, green, blue, and black. Other changes included functional brake scoops, quarter panel windows that replaced the extractor vents, optional automatic transmissions, and an optional supercharger. 1965s had black engine blocks, and 1966s were predominately blue.
1965-66 GT350s were successful racers and had many production class victories. They were created to qualify for SCCA/B production competition by homologation, with at least 100 examples being produced, thus enabling the GT350 to compete. Somewhere around only 522 cars were produced in 1965, and around 2,378 examples were produced in 1966. Of note, it was the first race-ready car ever to be marketed by an American auto maker. Unfortunately, with a base price of $4,547, the car was too expensive for most consumers. For comparison, the 1965 AC Cobra sold for around $6,500. If we only knew . . .
A good source of information for car enthusiasts can be found at Jay Leno’s Garage: http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/. The website not only focuses on specific vehicles, but discusses car care, restoration, tools, book reviews, interviews, and more. He, of course, has an original 1965 Shelby Mustang and the video is embedded below.
In March 2010 Carroll Shelby visited Jay Leno at his garage and below is the video interview. Jay and Carroll talk about the origins of the Shelby Mustang, and Carroll signs Jay’s Shelby Mustang glove box door.
I am having some difficulty embedding video today, I'll update soon.
I have several projects in store and will post updates in the following pages.
