Okay, it’s confession time. I am a Ford man. I grew up in a household where the blue oval was king, so my leanings were an inevitability. With that in mind, when this particular car came across my desk I knew that I had to write about it. Located in Broadview Heights, Ohio and listed here on eBay with a clear title, this GT350 raises a couple of interesting questions. With 2 days remaining and a BIN of $115,000, is this a car that you buy and restore, do you leave it essentially untouched or do you leave it where it is?
Full credit must go to the seller on this car. They have given potential buyers a “warts and all” description of the car. The paintwork is all that you would expect of a car that is 50 years old and has 146,000 miles on the clock. The paintwork has chips and scratches, and the seller believes that the passenger side front fender is not original. As you can see from this photo there is also some rust and corrosion present. Unfortunately there are no shots of the underside of the car, so it would need a fairly thorough inspection to ensure that any corrosion is not too extensive. All exterior chrome and bright-work appears to be complete and in fair to good condition. This Cobra was also optioned with tinted glass which is all present and in reasonable condition for its age with no significant chips or scratches.
The interior generally looks quite good, but there are a few issues that need to be addressed. Firstly that is an after-market stereo in the dash, and speakers mounted in the foot-wells. While the interior trim may look in quite good condition, this is not the original trim. The seats and headliner were replaced about 17 years ago. There is also a tear in the vinyl on the console armrest. The carpet is worn and discolored, especially in the driver’s foot-well. The seats have been fitted with headrests which were not originally optioned with this car.
The engine is the correct 302ci V8 backed by the C4 auto box. This car was optioned with the “Selectaire” air con. The compressor appears to be present, but the seller doesn’t indicate whether it is operational. One deviation from original is that the original power steering has been removed and replaced with manual steering. The carburetor has also been replaced with an Edelbrock unit. Rather confusingly the advertisement states that there is no air cleaner present, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. There are two photos of the engine in the ad, and both show that Cobra air cleaner.
I guess now it’s decision time. Looking around the market $115,000 really puts this Shelby at the top end of the price range. In fact, it is possible to find nicely restored ones for significantly less, but that’s where the conundrum lies. This car is a survivor. Is it worth buying and replacing the few parts that are non-standard with genuine parts to return it to original, or is it just too much money? A lot of people say that they’re only original once, but is this one original enough to count?
In the Corvette world, unrestored examples are quite valuable and the National Corvette Restorers Society gives its “Bowtie” (Chevy’s symbol) for an unrestored Corvette that is still original enough so that those restoring their Corvettes can use the Bowties as a model by which to restore theirs correctly. Don’t know if Ford clubs do the same thing, and don’t know if this is original enough, but if they do, that would be the way to go.
When I go to a Corvette event, I glance at the restored cars, which can be very good, but still be artist’s/restorer’s conceptions of what it “should” be, as I am heading to where the unrestored and original cars are, which is the only place to learn anything.
I love unrestored cars better than the like new restored ones, get it running and drive it as it deserve to be run.
I am guessing he took the air cleaner off after taking the pictures because he saw he could get big bucks for it on ebay…when I see high end cars like this, I check to see what they are bringing online…and from my search, I can pick up one now, ready to go, for much less…is originality worth that much more? And how original is this car? Swapped out carb, replaced fender, and questionable underneath…good luck to the seller…my guess this car should be priced in the low to mid 60’s…just my 2 cents…
60’s would still be a pipe dream,car is a project -period.
Original survivors mean nada,unless they don’t need restoration .This one is sixty thousand dollars away from being a seventy five thousand dollar car.
But how much of a survivor is it, really? The steering has been changed, the interior was redone in the past, and one of the fenders were replaced. While the rest seems nicely original, you are still dealing with a high-mileage car with rust and an auto box.
Given all this, the price seems kind of ridiculous.
Right. With that many miles there are going to be a lot of parts which have been replaced. Belts and hoses, starter, water pump, radiator, ignition wires, shocks, and distributor cap at least. I think it’s a pretty neat car but I think that price is really high.
Don’t forget half the paint on the front-end does not match. My guess is collision damage and partial repaint.
I agree with the comments above, enough said.
I second that. Cool car, interesting in some aspects and not interesting in others, has issues, it will have a new owner.
I’m sorry but these 68 GT350’s are dogs. I own a 66 GT350 and so does a neighbor of mine plus a 69 GT350 vert. These were rated at 250HP and believe when I say our cars will walk all over these, buy it for the looks not the performance. Still way over priced though, it’s a 55K all day at most.
If it was a truly original 4-speed GT 500 (not a KR) with much lower mileage, it might be worth that $115,000US these days (maybe even more). For a shall we say…touched up 302 with a slush box and very high miles, $55,000 to $60,000 is reaching for the sky. As much as I love Shelby’s, there’s no way this car is worth that much, and I bet he’d take the first $40K offer.
Not a survivor. Also not a Shelby Cobra. A Ford man should not make that mistake.
Hi ThisGuy, the information that I had is a bit contradictory so I went with the most compelling evidence. I’ve corrected my error as I’ve gotten hold of some additional information. Thanks for your feedback though, I always value it.
The other thing that I need to probably explain is that what I put in the title description for these articles is exactly what the seller puts in the title for their advertisement, whether on Craigslist or eBay. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong, and sometimes it’s just hilarious. The blue oval cars are an interesting case for me. I wrote up a 1970 Boss 302 a couple of weeks ago. The engine and transmission were gone, along with the interior and all of the desirable options. The body was made of Swiss cheese but it still managed to pull just on $10,000 on eBay. Sometimes these things just don’t make any sense.
Smart seller prices it high to scare off the tire kicking flippers. The right buyer comes along with a reasonable offer around 50 g’s and the car moves along to its new home with a new owner that is capable of making it right. Spend all your money on shops and you’ll be in way over your head. People that think they can assess cars from pictures are fools. You need to look in person at cars like this or you can get hosed big time. Car looks fairly solid to start from but not at that price. Or it could be a see honey I tried to sell it with no luck lol
I cannot imagine some of the things this car has seen in 145k, 50 years, and a varying array of drivers.
Anyway, to answer the original question, I definitely leave it as is. You can buy tarted up ’68 Mustangs and Shelbys all day long. But this car looks like it has stories. Leave it alone.
289 and 2 pedals….in that kind of shape….$70K tops
50k tops its not even a 4 speed LOL
It’s a shelby cobra
Original, no
Survivor , no
Restoration project, Maybe
Old wore out rust bucket from up north , most likely but still a shelby cobra.
If you’re gonna drive it , its never gonna stay perfect or survive.
If you want a museum piece of garage jewelry….. that’s your choice.
Investment. At that price , nope.
My opinion is, if you want a driver this one is over priced. Unless your stuck on bragging rights.
Me ? find a nice 68 fast back and make it yours. As fast, Cool , and impressive in any way that suits you.
6 figures for a project with 146k miles?… come on man…
I had a 68 fastback that I removed the power steering system due to header interference. Worst mistake I made. Should have taken the headers off. It was horrible to steer.
Lovely looking Shelby Cobra GT350. Assuming all is there, restoration should be fairly easy to do.
It is not a Cobra and it is not an original survivor. Do what it takes to get it on the road with the least amount of effort and enjoy it.
So Cargirl, are you stating this isn’t a Cobra because of the year 1968 or the C-4 ? Because the Cobra label didn’t get dropped until 1969, plus swapping out a 4 speed for a C-4 was not that hard. If this car has ever been to Palmdale Ca. back in the 90’s, i may be the one that did the trans. swap on this car. My new apartment neighbor, a little woman in her 60’s inherited a 68 red Shelby Cobra Gt 350 4 speed . That 1968 Shelby Cobra GT 350 that i worked on had fresh red paint after right front damage to the fiberglass hood, grill strip, rt head light bezel, the S, H, in Shelby , & front bumper. I know this because i was riding in the car when she hit the brick wall corner at maybe 12 mph. I tried to talk her out of the swap by trying to teach her to drive the stick. But that’s how the car got wrecked because she got “confused by too many peddles”. I know the trans. work should of been done before the new paint job, but i was still trying to talk her out of the swap. Plus i was hoping to get her wrecked car from her for $ 2,500 cash, she said no. Then her insurance Co. got it fixed quick. She got the new C-4, & new drive shaft delivered to my 1 car garage, then she paid me $800oo cash to do the work. The damage on the right front fender wasn’t that bad just paint chips, plus no rust anywhere on her cool car. Probably not the same car, but what if?
First off, you are going to have to repair the rust areas with preferably with new metal! Since that has to be done might as well do repaint! So might as well put everything back to original it would be worth the asking price then! As is he’s asking too much money! Seriously, I know I have one in my collection!
@Wrong Way
Sooo he buys it at BIN let’s say -which is already at the top of the market and then he buys original parts and brings it back to original specs, and then has a repaint which is basically a full restoration. Now he’s way on the other side of the car’s value.
And the next potential buyer doesn’t want to shell out for his folly when there are plenty of reasonably priced GT 350’s around with way less mileage.
Again, just fix it up and drive it. This is not an investment vehicle.
That’s exactly why I said that he wants to much money for it! He’s at the top now if you redo it will be way over the top! I think mine has 45000 miles on it, and it’s near perfect! I have 12 Mustangs in my garage and I know Mustangs all mine are original one owner stangs I know because I am the one owner of them all! I had promised to put pictures of them on the site, but I had a heart attack and unable to get around very well! My son is to busy with the farm to get s pictures for me so he says, but I think that he doesn’t want me to post any pictures! He’s scared of theft! They all have less than 100,000 miles on them! The only picture I have on my phone is of my 2012 GT which I recently parked at 18,000 miles on that one! They will all go to m grandson when I check out! :-)
@Gay Car Nut
What the heck is a 1968 Shelby Cobra GT350? Call it a Snake if you have to. Stop calling it a Cobra.
.
@Wrong Way
We are on the same page. And your son is correct. Do not post anything about your cars. They sound amazing and I’m dying to know more about them but your son is right. Do not post information about your cars. There are ruthless people out there. And one owner car’s are obviously very valuable.
(Quick note to your son; I buy and sell for collectors and you can find me everywhere by Cargirl or Supercargirl – many, many car forums, many car clubs :)
I do have a 65 Cobra GT tho all original! I think that the dealer in California that keeps wanting to trade me a nice Porsche for it plus cash is named Seneca! He keeps sending me pictures of different exotics trying to tempt me! LOL, almost worked, but my son jumped in the middle and said, no way pop’s! :-)
65 Cobra “GT”?
Put down the exclamation points and slowly back away…
I know for a fact that even nice restored ones of these, you can get for 50k to 75k, from what I’ve seen. Not this particular ride. It may be original, but it’s not a 6 figure car. I would bet he will be able to get 30k easy. Lucky if it would push 40k. In my opinion. I like these allot though. I just don’t see the value in the price on this one.
Fix the exhaust leak into the cabin before you drive this much. The current owner is delirious.
The BIN price is a joke your lucky this is worth $35k and thats me being kind
Clearly the seller’s wife has told the seller to sell off some of his cars, lol
Good guy, good effort
Not a chance on that price. Another seller suffering from BJS. ( Barrett Jackson Syndrome).
Well, it just closed at $88,100. Looks like everyone above who felt it was only worth $35-$65,000 tops was way off the mark. I suspect you will tell me the new owner over paid; but think back years ago when this car at $10,000 was considered an insane price by a seller. The car is worth what it is worth to the highest bidder, nothing more, nothing less.
I own this car. Found this feed while searching for parts. I was able to track down all the owners of the car back to 1981. That gentleman bought the car in Phoenix and owned the car for 30 years. Between his ownership and mine it changes hands 2x in a 4 year period, both were dealers. Once We had the chance to talk he filled me in on the history of the car. Well at least the last 30 years.
The Marti report says the car was sold new in Missouri. I am not sure how it got to AZ or when it did but its cool and the patina can never be duplicated. I drive it regularly and really enjoy it. Is she perfect? Hell no but I can buy a redone GT350 any day of the week. When you drive her she takes you back.