Photo: ctalis/eBay
Introduced in 1967, the Shelby GT500 quickly became the ultimate Ford Mustang. And even though it was superseded by the KR (King of the Road) in 1968, it morphed into a rare and highly desirable collectible.
Come 2022, and these muscle cars are hard-to-find and expensive, regardless of the model year. Not only due to their beefed-up engines and special features but also because Shelby didn't make too many of them.
Only 2,050 units rolled off the assembly line in 1967, while 1968 saw 2,994 examples (including GT500KRs) come out of Shelby's shop. Production dropped to 1,872 cars in 1969, of which 789 remained unsold and received 1970-model-year VINs.
In all, that's less than one percent of total Ford Mustang production from 1967 through 1969, which included more than one million cars. Rare is an understatement!
But things become even more interesting when you break it down to options and colors. This 1969 GT500, for instance, is one of only 33 cars finished in what Shelby called Competition Red, a special-order paint. This orange hue was, in fact, known as Calypso Coral in Ford's color palette. It's also one of only 17 fitted with factory air-conditioning.
But scarcity is not the only thing that makes this 1969 Shelby GT500 special. The Calypso Coral paint you're looking at is the same that was applied on the assembly line more than 50 years ago. Yup, this beefed-up 'Stang is a true survivor.
A one-owner vehicle until 2013, this GT500 spent a few good decades in a barn. Retired due to a water pump issue in 1985, it remained in storage for almost thirty years until the current owner got ahold of it. He rebuilt both the engine and the gearbox and put it back on the road but kept the original paint and interior untouched.
With nearly $15,000 worth of repairs, the GT500 is now a running time capsule that looks almost as good as it did when new (save for a bit of weathering, of course). On the flip side, the 428-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) Cobra Jet V8 is dated 1967, which probably means it's a replacement mill. Yup, not as good as a numbers-matching unit, but the fact that it has only 63,386 miles (102,010 km) on the odometer makes up for it.
Arguably the coolest first-gen GT500 survivor I've seen in a very long time, this Calypso Coral beauty is looking for a new owner as we speak. It doesn't come cheap, though, as eBay seller "ctalis" wants $110,000 to part ways with it. Do you think it's worth it?
Only 2,050 units rolled off the assembly line in 1967, while 1968 saw 2,994 examples (including GT500KRs) come out of Shelby's shop. Production dropped to 1,872 cars in 1969, of which 789 remained unsold and received 1970-model-year VINs.
In all, that's less than one percent of total Ford Mustang production from 1967 through 1969, which included more than one million cars. Rare is an understatement!
But things become even more interesting when you break it down to options and colors. This 1969 GT500, for instance, is one of only 33 cars finished in what Shelby called Competition Red, a special-order paint. This orange hue was, in fact, known as Calypso Coral in Ford's color palette. It's also one of only 17 fitted with factory air-conditioning.
But scarcity is not the only thing that makes this 1969 Shelby GT500 special. The Calypso Coral paint you're looking at is the same that was applied on the assembly line more than 50 years ago. Yup, this beefed-up 'Stang is a true survivor.
A one-owner vehicle until 2013, this GT500 spent a few good decades in a barn. Retired due to a water pump issue in 1985, it remained in storage for almost thirty years until the current owner got ahold of it. He rebuilt both the engine and the gearbox and put it back on the road but kept the original paint and interior untouched.
With nearly $15,000 worth of repairs, the GT500 is now a running time capsule that looks almost as good as it did when new (save for a bit of weathering, of course). On the flip side, the 428-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) Cobra Jet V8 is dated 1967, which probably means it's a replacement mill. Yup, not as good as a numbers-matching unit, but the fact that it has only 63,386 miles (102,010 km) on the odometer makes up for it.
Arguably the coolest first-gen GT500 survivor I've seen in a very long time, this Calypso Coral beauty is looking for a new owner as we speak. It doesn't come cheap, though, as eBay seller "ctalis" wants $110,000 to part ways with it. Do you think it's worth it?
Google News