A little bit of inspirational news amid today's uncertain times can sure go a long way, as the world of cars provides a sort of microcosm for the challenges humanity currently faces on a global scale. For a little pick-me-up, Ford Performance recently covered the story of one Mustang superfan named Mark Fisher who has spent the last 50 years, on and off, creating the car of a his dreams: a Shelby GT350 replica. Of course, for average gearheads a true Shelby GT350 remains unobtanium, so Fisher's dream build looks like a pretty good compromise in the meantime.

Trust The Process

Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 Homemade 2
via Ford Performance

Fisher began his automotive career with a Mustang, specifically a 1964.5 convertible with a bench seat and three-speed. That's not a bad way to start out, though no mention is made of what happened to that car. But as much as Fisher may have loved his car, he must have been green with envy, as he describes that one of his fellow teenage friends had a Shelby GT350-H, the famous "Rent-a-Racer" cars built as a brilliant marketing ploy. Somehow, Fisher managed to get his hands on a pile of parts from that car, so in reality, his GT350 clone is probably about as close to the real deal as possible.

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Living The Dream

Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 Homemade 3
via Ford Performance

Finished in iconic white with blue pinstripes and lettering, the car definitely looks the part, even in photos that were apparently taken on a Nokia flip phone. But maybe that's the commitment Fisher had to his project, refusing to spend a cent on anything else, not even a smartphone, until he could live the dream of his youth. And with a High-Performance 289ci V8 under the hood, it's safe to say that dream has now come to fruition—or, at least, very, very close to reality.

Source: FORD

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