Shelby Mustangs have long been desirable cars and their values seem to just keep climbing, so it only makes sense that people take non-Shelby Mustangs and build them into tributes. When you figure that Shelby’s creations were just modified Mustangs to begin with, it’s actually a decent way to get the GT350 experience without all the expense. For the most part, I’m one hundred percent on board with building tributes, especially if they are built nicely. My only real complaint with it is that too many nice original Mustangs have been modified that should really have been kept original. And that makes me actually appreciate what reader Felix V has done here with this 1966 Ford Mustang. Rather than taking a nice original car, he found a salvageable wrecked car, repaired the damage, and then made it into a GT350R tribute. Although with a bit of a twist!

While it has a salvage title, his $15,000 asking seems quite reasonable considering what A-code Mustangs are worth these days. Normally a salvage title would be a bit of a deterrent, but in this case, you can drive and enjoy the car without having to worry about driving it hard or leaving it in a parking lot. Plus, you don’t have to feel bad about it being a tribute car, it’s better than it ending up in the scrapyard! You also are saving a decent amount of money over buying another Mustang and building it into a tribute. I don’t think you would be able to buy a different example, all the R parts, and have painted for anywhere close to his asking price. Heck, a nice paint job will set you back $10k these days.

Felix states that when he bought the car in 2011, it had been hit in the rear. So, he found a rear clip from a rust-free convertible, removed the crumbled section, and welded the good one on at the door jams. Based on the VIN, it appears the car started life as a hardtop, so I assume that means he also had to cut and modify the windshield frame to make the convertible top work. To make sure it was solid and safe to drive, he also welded in a frame reinforcement piece. I would want to inspect it and make sure the body is straight, but it looks to be nicely done in photos and everything appears to line correctly (including the convertible top).

There were only a small handful of GT350s built to R specification and none were convertibles, but the visual changes do go nicely with the convertible’s looks. Keeping with the R theme probably helps save a little money on the interior as well, as the R was stripped of any unnecessary weight like a back seat and carpet. And the roll bar may help improve the chassis’s rigidity as well.

There’s no word on what work was done to the engine, but it’s wearing all the usual Shelby bolt-on parts. Being an A-code V8 means this should be a 289-4V engine with a 4-barrel carburetor. Ford rated this engine at 225 horsepower, which is a ways off from the 300 horsepower of the GT350R, but bolt parts can get you part of the way there. This is a popular engine, so building it to R spec shouldn’t be much of a challenge, but as long as it runs well and makes nice sounds, I’d be content with the engine as is.

This is one of those finds that you will definitely want to view in person, but it could prove to be a good find if it’s solid and as nice as it looks in photos. It’s located in Redondo Beach, California so getting it inspected shouldn’t be a challenge for those of you that don’t live in the area. If you’d like to contact Felix for more information or to make him an offer, you can do so via his BF Classified!