Update 5/3/13 – After being listed on eBay, this survivor Shelby has now been entered into Mecum’s upcoming Original Spring Classic auction in Indianapolis, Indiana. Special thanks to Jim S for updating us on this one!
If you like Mustangs, then you are going to want to take a look at this. This is a 1966 Shelby GT350 and that fact in itself makes this a very special car, but this one is even more so because it was owned by a very caring enthusiast. George Hodges may no longer be with us, but his love for this Mustang ensured that it has been preserved for future generations. Now you can have your turn as caretaker. Just make sure your pockets are deep because the price of admission is high. Find it here on eBay for $250k.
George loved this Mustang from the day he bought it until the day he passed away. He always kept the car well maintained and even had the honor of winning the then new survivor class at the 1993 SAAC national convention. Carroll Shelby helped created the new class and was even on hand to congratulate the winner.
Amazingly this GT350 can even be considered a barn find. George’s daughter took over ownership of the car about 20 years ago and kept it in a barn. It was obviously a nice barn because the car is claimed to be in the same condition it was when it won in 1993 at Watkins Glen. Supposedly the car has never needed any repairs and still runs like new. It does deserve a committed owner to continue the preservation efforts of George, his family, and the seller John Drysdale.
The first two years of GT350 production (65-66) truly were the most pure. These cars even wore the Cobra badges worn by the famous Shelby of the same name. The ’65 GT350 was a race car for the street, but in 1966 it received a few more comforts, such as a rear seat… It was made a little more useful for daily driving without getting too bloated with options like it did in the coming years. So if you are looking to drive and enjoy your investment, this may be the one to get.
There are few cars we would like to have in our garage more than this Shelby. With 305 horsepower and a four speed you could have a lot of fun. You could always get a newer Mustang for a lot less outlay. You would have about the same amount of power, but it will never be as special as this early Shelby. So, what makes this GT350 significant to you?
Darn Barn Finds, I want this. Of course I haven’t got a ghost of a chance of coming up with the quarter mil for it, but I can dream because, along with split window Stingray coupes, these are at the very top of my list of most-wanted US cars.
It had to happen that these would get to this price—if not every GT350, then at least the best ones that have both great condition and significant history going for them, like this car. Problem is, this car reminds me that I passed on a Shelby GT350-H recently that was priced at just 6% of the cost of this one. Well, it was actually a GT350-H clone done from a very nice ’65 fastback. I know, I know…the H was a ’66, but it sure looked good.
This car looks to be the real thing, what with that photo of the owner with C.S. himself, the awards, the original invoice, the proper serial number tags, etc. I learned something—Shelbys did not carry the driver’s door tag that regular Mustangs had.
I’m not sure it will sell for the asking price on ebay—it should be at Scottsdale about now, instead—but I will be very surprised if the seller doesn’t get that quarter mil for it. There has to be someone who wants this as much as I do, and actually has the money, who will pull the trigger now instead of a year or two from now when they will cost even more.
I love this car but i could never aford it.
~ heheh, memories. in ’69 my friend, Jim and i drove his ’65 GT350 from Des Moines to Denver in just over 7 hours to see Hendrix at Mile High Stadium. got tear-gassed with a bunch of gate crashers, slept in a park, swam in a glacier lake after a day in the mountains with a couple hippie chicks. unforgettable Experience.
Colorado has recently given new meaning to the term Mile High Stadium.Thanks for sharing. I am sadly not a car guy, but I enjoy kibitzing.
Ah, the cool dry climate & caring original owners,you can’t get a better combo to own something like this! It’s a little deep for me, but worth every penny.
I wish the owner & the buyer good luck in this wonderfully cared for Shelby.
Survivor — check.
Nice car — check.
Barn find — NOT!
Not sure about anyone else, but I like this site for the lost-and-found, diamond in the rough, democratic (small D), “I could actually take that on (if I had another life)” kinds of cars.
This quarter-million-dollar trailer queen has nothing to do with me.
Your are right Doug, but sometimes it’s fun to dream. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…
~ it’s important to view finished projects now and then to renew our focus.
Trailer queen?? Not hardly..
I knew this car & George personally, it is anything but a trailer queen. A piece of info that wasn’t mentioned, is that the car is from Upstate NY where rust is king. That in itself is amazing. I don’t know that I would classify it as a Barn Find, but it is a true survivor and the furthest thing from a trailer queen.
All I can say is ‘WOW”!!!!!
THIS CAR IS ON EVERY CAR GUYS WISH LIST. EVEN CHEVY,AMC,AND MOPAR GUYS WOULD TAKE THIS IF THEY HAD THE CASH.THE CLOSEST I EVER GOT TO OWNING ONE WAS A 1968 MUSTANG CONVERTABLE THAT I GOT FROM MY COUSIN WHO JUST CAME BACK FROM HIS SECOND TOUR OF VIETNAM.HE WANTED MY 1969 MG MIDGET THAT I HAD AND LET’S JUST SAY HE MAD ME AN OFFER I COULDN’T REFUSE. I DON’T KNOW IF THIS WOULD BE BEFORE OR AFTER A HEMI CUDA BUT NOT BEFORE A 1962 CORVETTE ALL BLACK NUMBERS MATCHING 327.4SPEED.ONE MORE THING. I WOULD NOT MIND BEING FRIENDS WITH THE GUY WHO CAN SPEND THAT MUCH ON TOY.GOOD LUCK AND KEEP IT STRAIGHT.
Great car with a great story.
Are those wheels original to it?
yes they would be.
FRED, I AM AN AMC GUY AND NO IT ISN’T ON MY WISH LIST.
I agree w/AMC fan…its a overpriced Rustang…NO THANKS!
A race prepped and restored 66 Shebly GT-350 that had SCCA-B histroy going back to the 60s sold at auction for $159K not too long back, Not sure what makes this one worht a 50% premiun over that. $125K? sure. Not $250K.
One owner, orignal, stock & straight.
…and sitting untouched, unused, and unmaintained for 20 years.I dont buy that its exactly the same condition as 1993, certainly not the seals, gaskets and rubber. 3hrs left and still for sale. This will wind up at an auction where Mr Market will speak. I could even see it get to $150K-$180k at a good auction, but $250k is a pipe dream. That would be a record for a stock GT350 by a long shot
I remember when we first came to r.i. in 1974, went to car show in coventry ,ri. those guys had a 1965 shelby club, had 3-4 beautiful ones, but never saw them again.
This reminds me so much of the 66 shelby i bought in 1985. I would always drive my this house in my area since i knew in the garage was a shelby packed in there covered with boxs and stuff. All you could see was the back end.. One day a guy was outside washing the family van and the door was open showing the shelby-i had to stop. He told me he had it since 1968 and it is a true shelby. i asked if it was for sale and he said he thought about selling but was not ready yet. I left my number and was gone. Well i got the call 2mounths later- he wanted $2500. I said yes and asked if monday would work.I got there monday afternoon and he had it out cleaned and running. 18,000 orig. miles WOW so i paid him and as i was backing out he stopped me and said he had a pieace in the rafters that went to the car. he brought down a fiberglass nose pieace that he took off the car when he bought it and put a regular nose with lights-he said the car use took race and turned to a street car.long story short the car sold 6 mounths later but i kept the nose . 3 years later at a swap meet i was talking to the mustang vendor about the nose, told him it even had a fomo pt#. he got real excited and said if it was what he thinks it is he would pay $3000 . I ran home got it and when he saw ie he turned white as a goast then said where is the car!!!!!!!! I sold it to someone in tacoma wash. is all i could tell him. Then he told methat could have came off one of the few factory racers and that car is a museum piece..Owell wish i knew what i had then. But back thana lot of those kind of cars where cheep and people did not know what they had. I also bought a 64 gto 36k orig miles no motor but $500 IT WAS THE 3rdONE OFF THE ASSY LINE with 389/421 heads and tri-power factory headers and 4spd. Boy those were the days
Great story & yes I have some of those stories, 67 Vette for $ 2,900 427 /390 I think back in 71, or an E Type 66 for $2,500 back around the same time, both mint low miles, of course you could buy a new Vette for about $5,500 back then.
got my 1967 fastback gt 390 4 speed front 4 piston disc brakes from tennesse in 1980 for 600.00 still have it in the garage
It may have good history but $250K ? Only someone with more money than sense would pay that much. Let’s be real………it is a K code Mustang from Ford. Not the Holy Grail….
I wonder if old George owned a shirt?…………there are certain things in life I don’t like viewing……………
Yes, as transportation, $250K is way too much. But this car is not just transportation anymore.
Assuming that it’s what it is claimed to be, it’s a very special iconic brand, low production, high performance collector car with greater significance than most Shelbys, with a known and documented history, with a great look, and it’s in what looks like pretty good condition. Given all that, plus the maturing of the boomer generation and all the $$ that some of them have, it’s going to have a big price. In Europe there sell for even more than here.
The days of the $5K genuine GT350 with history are over, unfortunately. I’m as sorry about that as the next guy, but those are the facts. And it’s looking like the price now is less than what it will be a year or two from now. The days of the terrific deals like ericj talks about above are mostly gone, unfortunately. I have bought and sold (at a profit) cars that I can’t afford to buy back now because there are guys with more money than I have who have bought them for 10 or 20 times what I paid for them years ago.
So the thing to do is find what you like and can afford now, and go looking. Look in Craigslist or kijiji especially. This is where the buys are, and it`s where I bought my last 2 cars…..good original rust free sports cars, for a total outlay of $7,290 for both plus some diesel fuel. That was in 2012, not 1968.
But as I have said on here before, you have to be willing to work to find then and then travel to check them out and transport them home. It helps to have a pickup and a trailer, or you can hire someone to do it. Nobody is going to sell you a desirable, running, rust free, old sportscar for $3500, and then deliver it to your driveway. Most guys with cars like that want them gone now.
If you like GT350s, well done clones are still available at affordable prices, rust free or nearly so, with good build quality and a terrific look. If you don`t think that a real GT350 with a special history is worth $250K, then how about a real good GT350-H clone for $17K. That`s what I passed on last year, and I still regret it. That one was on eBay, in Texas, and it sold to someone with better judgement than me. Or, I could have had a collection of three running MGCs plus a big pile of good spare parts for $15K, but the logistics of getting them home would have been a bit difficult.
They`re out there. You just have to find them, check them out, and then get them home.
$250,000? In his dreams.
For those interested, sales results from auctions of Shelby GT350 from 2004 to 2012 are shown here:
http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/default.aspx?carID=1909&i=8
The high average occurred in 2010 at $237,071.
The high sale occurred in 2007 at $528,000
The 2012 average was $164,725 and the 2012 high sale was $385,000
Based on these prices paid, and given the history of this car, you would expect its value to be between $164,725 and $385,000 if it were auctioned now.
Sorry, I meant to say that those auction values were for 1965 Shelbys. There is no similar graph available for the 1966 cars.
Crack pipe pricing….
The listing states this is a one owner/family car. Then goes on to show 4 different owners from at least two families. Then goes on to say “don’t call me”. For $250,000 dollars I’d expect an honest listing and the seller to take my call.
The listing ended, but we have no idea if the car actually sold. We will have to see if it pops back up on the market soon.
Soo… Off to Mecon… All they need is one drunk pot bellied hawaiian shirt wearin’ fool to get that price… And it may happen.
Fellers… These are Ford K code cars… With headers, intake, some wheels and carb… Oh’ one inch Shelby drop… That is it. Did I leave anything out? For that price I’d be wantin’ a ’65 or ’66 cross over… But then again a quarter mil in a tax free municipal mutual fund sounds more appealing… Something about compounding interest gets my attention… Just sayin’
~ Autographed glove-boxes now available on aftermarket?