Photo: Ford
For Mustang fans, today (January 16) will become a date to remember. At 9 a.m. MST in Scottsdale, Arizona, the CEO of Barrett-Jackson, Craig Jackson, will be pulling the wraps off not one, but two of the most important cars for the Mustang bloodline: the Green Hornet and Little Red.
The Hornet has already been previewed in late December, when Jackson announced the car, the 1968 Shelby EXP500 prototype, will be accompanied under the spotlight by the very first 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500 to roll off the assembly line.
The biggest news of the day is however the fact that the two Shelbys above will have on their side a third one, perhaps even more important: the 1967 Shelby GT500 known as Little Red.
For most of its life, the Little Red was lost and for about two decades considered destroyed, but Jackson managed to track it down in 2018 in rural Texas. For a number of reasons, uncovering this lost treasure of American auto history is considered by Jackson “one of the most significant finds in American car collector history.”
That’s because the car is unique in more ways than one. It is the only hardtop GT500 coupe built by Shelby, the only one fitted from the factory with dual-quad carburetors, and the second GT500 ever completed, following a fastback variant.
For the auto industry, it is a pivotal machine, being one of two experimental cars developed by Shelby and Ford at a time of intense transformation for the Blue Oval.
When found, Little Red looked something like in the gallery above, but what we are about to witness later today is a complete restoration commissioned by Jackson. The project was supported by Shell and Pennzoil.
Full details on the Little Red (and on the Green Hornet) can be found, together with details and photos of the restoration process, at this link.
The biggest news of the day is however the fact that the two Shelbys above will have on their side a third one, perhaps even more important: the 1967 Shelby GT500 known as Little Red.
For most of its life, the Little Red was lost and for about two decades considered destroyed, but Jackson managed to track it down in 2018 in rural Texas. For a number of reasons, uncovering this lost treasure of American auto history is considered by Jackson “one of the most significant finds in American car collector history.”
That’s because the car is unique in more ways than one. It is the only hardtop GT500 coupe built by Shelby, the only one fitted from the factory with dual-quad carburetors, and the second GT500 ever completed, following a fastback variant.
For the auto industry, it is a pivotal machine, being one of two experimental cars developed by Shelby and Ford at a time of intense transformation for the Blue Oval.
When found, Little Red looked something like in the gallery above, but what we are about to witness later today is a complete restoration commissioned by Jackson. The project was supported by Shell and Pennzoil.
Full details on the Little Red (and on the Green Hornet) can be found, together with details and photos of the restoration process, at this link.
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