This bent but far-from-destroyed 1968 Shelby GT500 KR in Dundee, Illinois would make a fine addition to anyone’s collection of automotive art. The GT 500 KR topped the lineup of Shelby Mustangs for 1968, benefiting from the Shelby-improved version of Ford’s reworked 428 cid Police Interceptor engine. Shelby trademarked the phrase King of the Road before he knew it would adorn this model, and as everyone knows, It’s good to be the King! The $115,000 Buy It Now price here on eBay limits the pool of bidders. The rest of us can dream.
The seller explains that the front-end accident sidelined this high-performance classic in 1976 and it hasn’t carved up a corner since. I wouldn’t recommend throwing a Shelby Mustang under a tarp as an alternative to dollar-cost averaging of a well-managed 401k or IRA, but the Shelby will probably accrue value over time more than that Corolla in the backyard that got you through high school.
Officially rated at 335 HP, the massaged 428 likely made better than 400 HP (thanks to americanmuscle.com for some details). The seller reports that the engine and other key parts are original, including one muffler! It’s unrealistic to suggest that the new owner might take this rare Shelby and “just fix it up and drive it,” but it sure would be a hoot. Can you imagine showing up at a Show-n-Shine in small-town America with a GT500 KR running perfectly and sporting a dirty engine compartment and an off-colored front fender? You’d give people a story they would tell for years after they’d forget seeing one perfectly restored. What sort of royal treatment would you give this King?
There is no doubt this is a rare, desirable and expensive Shelby Mustang. I see lots of red flags though such as the VIN tag, the car being sold new in IL and the Seller’s location being in IL, lots of exterior rust showing, no underneath pics to clarify actual front-end damage and the Seller’s statement “Original floors, frames & torque box’s in restorable condition. I guess a lot depends on those “Many NOS parts included” and what they are.
Way overpriced for condition? Ironworms worked on it while it was sitting. the few pics that show some underneath stuff looks mighty crusty. Not for the faint of heart! What you think about the pricetag?
Good luck to the new owner.
When it was wrecked in 1976 that was the time to fix the damage.Didn’t the owner have insurance??? Cost more than it’s worth now to fix everything….sad
If he had insurance, he sure didn’t after the wreck! Maybe he collected insurance and used the money to get married like my dad did. Guess I owe my existence to that!
Good luck!
You’d be insane to spend 115k on that rust bucket
Awesome car, owners dreamin
http://Www.mustangrestorations.net is selling it
I guess they don’t even want to touch it
A lot of restoration shops sell you the car and then offer their services. Couldn’t be more convenient!
Shouldn’t the VIN number on the inner fender match the other VIN numbers?
It appears to end in 5477, while the other numbers are 5177. Maybe I ‘m not seeing something correctly, or just don’t know what I’m looking at.
Way over priced. Must be selling by the pound of rust at gold prices. One of my favorite cars but they would almost have to give it to me in this condition.
@Todd Fitch – Really? This is an ULTRA-rare 4-speed, FACTORY A/C… KR! There can’t be a handful in existence.
You’re usually really on the ball. But, not a mention of any of the above in your write-up? The article does blather on about relative values, and small town folk, and other superfluous dribble, though.
This car is AWESOME!
It is impossible to overstate how rare and exciting it is to find one with this combination of equipment.
My best friend at the time had one identically equipped, except his was an automatic. A 4-speed would have made it just that much better.
The only thing that could make it more cool, would have been that it had come off the assembly line as a convertible.
Epilogue:
It appears the the Shelby data plate has been massively screwed with. The buyer definitely needs to do the homework on that. I know that for my 1967, the tag was held on with ‘star’ rivets. That left one looks more like a ‘mooshed’ rivet. The right one is somewhat nonexistent.
Hello TriPowerVette. I LOVE this car. By “automotive art,” I meant that it deserves to be pampered and nut-and-bolt restored and set up on a pedestal. I would, however, properly respect anyone who bought the car, insured it well, and DROVE it a while before taking it down the road to untouchable automotive sculpture. Talk about knocking people’s socks off… I certainly didn’t mean to suggest it’s just another old V8 Mustang. Thanks, as always, for your comments, and the data plate definitely suggests caveat emptor.
$115K?!?!? Serious collectors would never pay that hefty price tag for this vehicle.
@Todd Fitch, I totally agree about the hoot showing up at local car show with this mess. No one would remember anything else they saw and all conversation would be about this car…that’s gotta be worth something! Remember, restored cars are everywhere but how often do you see something like this at a show? This is exactly why barn finds is so popular.
This car should be saved , but price is outlandish.
Original Muffler! And the other one rusted off.
How much is this car worth when done?
Has a Shelby Mustang ever been sold for $200,000?
Yup. Shelbys have sold for up to $1.3 million (the ‘67 Super Snake).
While I hope someone who won the lottery will save it beware of the seller who I know on a shop to client basis. I traded a beat up pickup to a kid for a 67 Mustang coupe in the mid 80’s for my wife, it was in sad shape rust wise but ran great. I came in to some money so I took the car to his shop and told him to do what ever is needed to make it nice and safe for my wife cost was not a problem. He showed me his work which was a few cars dissembled waiting for parts or paint and a 67 or 68 Mustang he made in to a stretch limo. A year and a half later we get the call to pick up the car and pay the 10K bill. On the outside it looked beautiful but after a few months the wife complained about it wandering on the highway. I took it to my mechanic who put it on his lift and what we found shocked him and me, the drivers front frame rail was rusted so bad the steering box was pulling away from the frame. I contacted him right away and he said he did everything I asked and would not fix the problem without another couple grand. I ended up giving it to my son who had a friend in the body business who traded him a 68 Camaro for it that just needed paint. I have a picture of him with the car somewhere but I refuse to go that far in discrediting his shady business practices.
Wow. I’ve heard of a lot of things, but trading a 67 Mustang coupe in the mid 80’s for your wife is pretty outrageous.
Farhvergnugen, we all did crazy stuff in the 80’s.
I suppose in 1976 this was the kind of car many people absolutely hated, for various reasons, snobs turning up their noses at the very sight AND sound of such a delinquents gas guzzling trouble making car. I’m probably wrong, but that’s who I remember driving cars like this the most around back then as a boy who loved hot cars, just like this one. Probably got parked for lack of insurance, possible other reasons that may have included the law? Not nearly the valuable time machine back then as they are now, actually have been pulling big bucks for years come to think of it.
Get it running and driving enjoy it show it then turn it into garage jewelry. Its worth $65 k as posted.
Switch the numbers and all of the rest into a good car…..
So now the seller wants 115 grand for a rare ( now and then) Mustang that when it had a fender crusher was put aside and parked. Decades ago. Uhuh.
Are there any similar for sale elsewhere at the moment? That accounts for a chunk of the premium?
Perhaps they are ready for Gas Monkey Richard to turn up and offer half.
“…the Shelby-improved version of Ford’s reworked 428 cid Police Interceptor engine.” Well, actually, it was the April 1968 introduction of the butt kickin’ 428 Cobra Jet.
Yeah, that quote describes the GT500, not the KR.
I always love the comments from non Shelby people.They repeat things that someone told them at some point of time and now it is a fact.I was taught,if you don’t know what you are talking about , listen to someone who actually does.
Inner fender VIN stampings could have been human error.
http://www.mustangandfords.com/news/mump-0209-ford-mustang-vin-number-mistake/
Damn, that was the price of fully restored mint ones not long ago at Carlisle
Price aside, id get it driveable and it would be kept this way, probably event leave the new parts in primer. Awesome Cars n Coffee machine to piss off the Lambo & Mclearen crowd…
Too rich for me. I’d bang out a few dents, and drive it…work in progress…
LOL… 115k… after a quick search, if I had that kinda money, I’d buy this one: https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/shelby/gt500kr/2138125.html
That is a nice one!
This car is an embarrassment. Reminds me of the one Nick Cage got at the end of Gone in 60 Seconds minus Angelina.
Oh myyyyyy, so so sad 😟 I want my 70&1/2 427 Camaro S.S. back!
It. Has ended
If it is human error, then that car is worth even more! Mistakes are rare!
The red one JC found is in a little bit better shape!
And as for BOB BAIRDs comment he’s right I’m sure the shop will offer there services because they would make a lot more money fixing this beater after someone bought it than if they restored it themselves and tried to recoup losses.
The car in Hemings is about what I would think these are worth, right around on par with a Hemicuda.
I see pricing like this is insulting to the collector car buying public.
Purchase price-$115,000
Paint and bodywork-$20,000
Interior-$20,000
Engine work-$20,000
Wheels and tires-$5,000
Assorted “shop and environmental fees”-$5,000
Finished price…$185,000 for a nice $90,000-100,000 car (in today’s market).
If you are real lucky. Aftermarket metal sucks for fit on a $100k so you will have to weld and beat back a lot of stuff. Then tighten the gaps, better than factory to get anywhere near $80K.
Paint and bodywork 20 k?? Whos your bodyshop???
That paint and bodywork guess is way off… my wife backed into my truck while backing out of the garage last week and caused 3k worth of damage to the drivers side rear passenger door and rocker panel.
The truth about Ford factory high performance engines is the person assembling them. The variations are surprising to say the least. Was it put together on Monday or Friday? The high performance parts were not bar coded and in easy reach. Engine builders could put what ever rods, pistons, vavles, block they felt like. Ask any old Ford mechanics you know. No telling how radical your big block Ford may be.
Lroy, I agree with you totally. I’m an old car guy, growing up and still living in and around Detroit. Being in the automotive machine tool manufacturing all my life, well from 17 years old, I know how cars built out. “It’s Friday and the end of the month. Get this thing out of here!”
Matter of fact, this Saturday is the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, touted to be the biggest, longest, continuous logjam of cars in the world. It is amazing. Check it out http://www.woodwarddreamcruise.com The Woodward Ave. became famous when blue-eyed, blonde, test engineers from Ford, GM, and Chrysler would trailer to Ted’s Drive-In and blast down entrance ramps to I-75. The approach and ramps are over two miles long. One-off Edelbrock intakes with a test Holley, handmade down I-75 in Warren. Fun times for a young car guy.
My 1969 Camaro doesn’t lean. I’m a lousy camera operator.
Back to it. This is NOT a framed car. With this much front-end damage, it may not be possible to pull the front end enough to just drive it without taking up two lanes.
When did these fake {post Carroll} shelby’s become so valuable.When a 67 gt500 was worth $25000,00, you couldn’t give one of these away.