We all share that fear of our project car meeting an untimely demise, and I can only imagine the sting the owner of this 1966 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 felt when it was heavily damaged both front and rear. I suspect this was a heavy rear-end impact that pushed the Shelby into another obstruction, and both the owner and the insurance company relinquished the title to the tow yard it ended up at. The seller knows little about its history other than it will turn over but won’t stay running due to a punctured gas tank. Find it here on eBay with bidding at $4,500 and no reserve.
Wow – that was a big, big hit. Can you imagine seeing whatever the source of impact was, be it another or a guardrail, hurtling towards you in the rear view mirror? I can’t imagine a jersey barrier making a dent like this, and whatever vehicle did hit it was low enough to not bend the trunk lid. With the rear panel completely compressed and the gas tank knocked loose, it seems likely that the frame was also substantially tweaked. Look at how the whole body appears to sit at an angle.
The engine bay remains impressively clean, and it appears the front end impact was not significant enough to cause any major damage. What do you do here – salvage the mechanical components for insertion into another car, or cut off the rear clip and start welding? Shelbys are still considered quite special, and it remains a dream for many to own the genuine article. Given the comparatively mild front end damage, could you justify trying to rebuild this body?
The interior furthers the case for potential restoration, as it, too, remains in excellent condition. The automatic is a bummer but may make the case that this Shelby lived a gentler existence than one with three pedals (in thinking about the Hertz examples, probably not.) What would you do: is the numbers-matching provenance enough of a justification to try and weld on a new rear section, or should it all be transplanted into an accident-free shell? And is it even a real Shelby?
It was indeed an obstruction, and it looks to me like the obstruction won this one hands down!
Someone correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t these unibodies? If so, there’s no frame to bend (or easily replace). So in this case, you’re buying a VIN, engine, transmission and some other bits for your new Dynacorn body.
But even then, you’re gonna have a salvage title, which will lower the value because you’re going to need to explain that your “vintage” Shelby is a new car with some parts carried over from a wreck. It might make more sense to get the VIN from a rusted car but with a clear title.
** I don’t condone this behavior at all. But I’m wise enough to know that this is why these wrecks and basket cases sell for so much money in today’s hobby. I’m sure someone’s going to pay a lot for this, and it won’t be to fix it up.
Dynacorn bodies are not exact copies. There are subtle changes like added reinforcement to the undercarriage. If someone wants to transfer the VIN, they will need an original body.
Steve R
Can you actually create a ’67-70 shelby mustang using dynacorn bodies? & how expensive are shelby specific fenders, bumpers, hoods, tallites, etc?
Looks like it was French kissed by a Mac truck!
I notice the glove box cover is missing…betcha it had King Shelby’s signature on it…
Totally – saw that and thought the same thing!
The ONLY reason to remove a Shelby glove box door. Carroll signed ALOT of them over the years. I myself know of 2.
So you never removed your glove box door to have the guy that perfectly professionally painted your awesome car, air brush a rendering of the car on to it? Then something so terrible happens to the car that the painter dude is too pissed off at you to give the door back to you. That’s what happened to me when my eleven second RS/SS 67 Camaro was stolen in Glendale Ca. back in Feb. of 1980. Hey Steve Swanson may i please have it back, plus the car too!
That’s what I noticed to.might be a real one?isn’t there a number in the rear of the car?
Not real it’s a C code car (289 2 bbl)
Should be a K
If true, this isn’t even worth buying. Get one of the new re-popped body shells and build another one. Just pull the engine out of this and drop it in.
Agreed. I thought all Shelby’s of this year had those rear roof levers removed and replaced with a (plexi?)glass window.
IT’S A FAKE. This is NOT a real Shelby GT350 and the VIN code bears that out. Shelby American NEVER built their GT350’s from a “C” code car. This is the VIN listed for this car..
6F09C197337
This is a fraudulent sale.
OW!
So ok, don’t get a Dynacorn – they’re not all that. But, a donor could be sourced. And IMHO, lose the auto and go for broke with the good-‘ol Toploader.
That’s not a real vintage Shelby.
I’d drive it as is.cut the sheet metal away and do about 50 donuts
Since it is not a real Shelby, the cost to rebuild this one would not justify the effort. The insurance company will likely sell the car to a Copart type company so take the insurance money and find another project.
Calling Roadkill…..
My autobody teacher bought an old Chevy Impala which was dented and rusty like you would not believe. I thought at first that it was not a good idea to buy something that far gone, but then it occurred to me that that car would be able to provide years of projects for students, and in the end, another classic would be saved. I think something similar should happen to this Shelby. Some autobody teacher should snap it up and use the free labor of their students to restore it properly. I know I would’ve loved the chance to work on one.
“Restore it Properly”? I guess you never saw the cool movie “Corvette Summer”. Teens don’t do stock restorations, but more like a cool Resto Mod (Rat Stang).
Not a real Shelby. Re-read the ad. It is a C code Mustang.
I love the wood screws holding the Shelby plate on the dash. I’m guessing the glove box is missing because IT DIDNT have Carroll Shelby’s signature on it.
Still might be enough parts if the engine runs to make it worthwhile to stockpile bits and pieces at about this price
Lol at the screws…. “Don’t worry about the hardware, Junior, Shelby folks aren’t picky about little details like that…”
Amazing that someone would go to that much trouble to fake (ok, ok: ‘tribute’) a well-documented car and not make a better effort than that.
Agree with Brian and Butch, another fake Shelby, and not very good one at that. It would have a Shelby VIN, not a Ford. Has spoiler on the rear deck lid, blue interior and paint details, ’67 wheels, etc. etc. ‘Ol Shel is still signing glove box doors from the great beyond by the way. You can pay Shelby and they will add it to whatever you send them. They cutely add an extra stroke to his signature and claim that they are not really selling fakes that way.
I love the sellers line of research this as I call em as I see them .
I see shelby possibly with hopes of my salvage flip.
It’s a hot rod clone folks and a destroyed one at that.
A parts car with a C code engine
Must have been one heck of a trip with that damage
Not hard to fix this at all. Put it on a frame machine to square it up, then cut and replace the damaged parts.
Seller knows it is not a real shelby. He is selling the 289 emblem off in another add. Selling the shelby gr350 emblem seperate too. Buy beware
Shelby emblem is a dash emblem for a 67.
289 emblem is for a Mustang, not a GT350. GT350’s did not receive fender badges.
Not hard to fix at all….just take insurance money, junk car and buy something else!
Whoever the owner was, they had just enough information about a Shelby car to be dangerous. The fake Shelby VIN plate shows that. They stamped in a Ford VIN, which should be UNDER the Shelby plate and not on the Shelby plate itself. All 1966 Shelby Mustang GT 350 cars had a VIN with SFM6SXXX with the XXX being the production number, starting from 001.
Also, the VIN that is on that particular Shelby plate (that should be under it stamped on the body) is wrong. It should be 6R09KXXXXXX, not 6F09C197337.
They tried to present it as a true Shelby, but it is a C code, 289 fastback ONLY. Nothing less, nothing more. Clone it all you want, but if it was done maliciously to pull a fast one then they’ve taken it to a different level of BS.
It’s like they think that no one else has the internet.
Judging by the $11,000 + bid with 5 days to go I think they might be right! This is stunning.
First thing I noticed is the ad says ’66 shelby which would have had a glass quarter window, NOT the Louvers of the ’65. Wrong Engine code too. It’s a Wanna Be car.
Its NOT a real Shelby. The 66 cars had quarter window glass. Must be a “K” code car, and exhaust appears to look like the GT option. What you see here is a fastback Mustang. So either use it for parts or make “Yard Art” out of it.
I say this without feeling guilty…luckily it wasn’t a real deal Shelby that got plowed into. Was a neat Mustang, fun to cruise, and Ford built so many Mustangs back then, thousands upon thousands of boring little Mustangs, so no worries.
A real special Shelby GT 350 on the other hand getting smashed into now days, that would be automotive trajedy…
Now the ad is gone, imagine that!
Not gone.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/113766279316
Currently at $10K, with 41 bids.
Funny to me that even though eBay has for quite a while redacted enough of bidder’s ID’s as to make them effectively anonymous…. This is still a “Private Auction” with bidder identities protected.
Hmmm. I was going to editorialize here, but maybe I’d better keep it to myself.
It wouldn’t show up yesterday
This thing is already at 10k!
For a fake Shelby and an absolute bucket. There’s hope for my wrecked “Shelby Pinto”
Victor a buddy of mine and I once had the idea to build “Shelby Pintos”. Paint them white, put some blue stripes on them, etc. etc. etc. just for fun. Totally forgot about that until your post. Now where’s that Pinto hatchback I bought a few years ago?
This is a bad nightmare come true for either a C code or a K code car. I bet the owner of this car on the day/night of this accident still hopes he will wake up with this car never had been wrecked. It looked great i bet.
Just out of curiosity. I am not a big mustang guy but I have always liked the looks of the fastbacks and the Shelby’s but I would be perfectly happy to just own a nice clone car.
What does a nice 66 clone car go for?
Good question, i was thinking the same thing. I know the Ring Brothers get a lot money for their awesome resto mod wide body Mustangs.
I don’t think it’s a real Shelby. The ’66 had glass, where the upper rear vents were. I think the front clips were fiberglass. At least the big blocks made in Ionia MI were. They got the fiberglass front clips from 2 blocks away the AO Smith factory where my grandfather worked.
It’s at 50K now. What do you think? Haggerty says a 4 (fair) sells for 114K. Gonna take a lot to get it there, but goes up from there pretty quick
What fools these mortals be!
Morons is US, in the words of BT Barnum a sucker is born every minute,
Ouch hurts my eyes!!! Hurt someone’s pocket book too!!!
Umm, it’s now at $50,000!!! What is going on? Are these folks not paying any attention. $50K for a wrecked c-code? Absolutely nuts.
I have to believe there is no way that a buyer will follow through with this. Seller even seems to suspect the same with added comments about legal action to enforce the sale. I’m not sure what is more shocking, that anyone actually would bid this to 50k, or the seller would feign such a lack of knowledge on what this is when it’s so easy to tell.
People are running up the bid to screw with the guy and then they’ll retract, probably to keep other people from bidding on it. He even put something in there asking people to retract their bid if they bid thinking it was a real Shelby. Anybody that would bid any real money on this car, would have the sense to know that it’s not legit.
He’ll sue you to take it! if you lose, you get to get into it outside the courthouse with your head hung low, and drive off, crabbing slightly to the right, into the sunset.
Sure a lot comments for a clone.LOL
Auction has been restarted with clarification that this is a Shelby tribute.
Cool! Thank you.