The Ford Mustang is an iconic car in the history of automobiles and, specifically, in the history of muscle cars. The 1965 Mustang GT 350, one of the best muscle cars ever, was hand-built by Carroll Shelby. He took a normal Ford Mustang and made it into an amazing fastback, a race car for streets. The GT 350 is also considered very sacred in Ford's history and has appealed to enthusiasts over the years. It is also said that gearheads yearn for a chance to take the mighty GT 350 for a spin.
The 1965 Ford Mustang GT350 is a product of passion and engineering brilliance. Carroll Shelby has gone down in the history of automobiles as an icon and will always be remembered for making iconic muscle cars. The vehicle was better than the standard Mustang in every way and was designed with one purpose in mind: to go faster than any Mustang before it.
The Racing DNA Unleashed
The Mustang was a big comfortable cruiser that could effortlessly hit high speeds in a straight line. Carroll Shelby was originally a race car driver who had built a reputation for making fast cars, and these cars had been winning many races in the past few years. That’s when Ford decided to bring Shelby on board to make their muscle cars go faster, which appealed to many audiences. People finally had faster versions of their beloved vehicles. What Shelby did to the standard Mustang was make it a road-legal version of its NASCAR nemesis.
The fastback design was very noticeable and looked stunning, especially from the rear three quarters. The vehicle came in a single paint scheme which was ‘Wimbledon White,’ adding to the style quotient where the two paint stripes run the entire length of the car from up top. This particular vehicle's most noticeable design element was the dazzling side exhaust, which was a thing of beauty, and no other vehicle sounded quite like this iconic V8. There are side vents on the rear quarter panel, and there was the GT350 badging on the sides of the vehicle. The front and rear feature classic Mustang headlamps and tail lamps with circular housing for both of them. The vehicle is old school and stands out proudly.
Under the hood is where most of the valuable magic of this car happened. This vehicle featured a 289 inch, K-code solid lifter camshaft V8. How this engine ended up in Carroll Shelby's hands, he started with the 271-hp ‘High-Performance’ version of the 289 V-8. He added a high-riser intake manifold, welded-tube headers, and cast-aluminum valve-rocker covers, which raised the peak power to 306. That’s about it; everything else on the vehicle was pretty much stock. That was about it, and it was a good thing because the engine was brilliant, to begin with, as it revved very high, had tons of power, and a tremendous amount of torque. The engine is considered one of the best to roll out of Detroit, the home of all muscle cars.
The inside of the car is where there were considerable differences from the standard Mustang Fastback. To begin with, there was a big gauge pod attached to the dashboard, which contained the oil pressure gauge and the tachometer, which Shelby added. There was also a wood-finished aluminum steering wheel which was approx 16 inches. Interestingly, in a classic car like this, is that the horn switch was located in the dashboard rather than the center of the steering wheel. Another difference was that it had no back seats as it was a NASCAR race car, and to fit the NASCAR rules, this vehicle had no back seats. To fill out the void for the road-legal version of this vehicle, Ford added a spare wheel in place of the back seats. The 1965 GT350 was developed for the SSCA Production Sports Car series. The GT350R was one of the first race-spec Mustangs built by Carroll Shelby. For the track, this vehicle was extensively tested and ridden by Ken Miles, the man who raced the Ford GT in Le Mans.
The Cost Of A 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350 Today
The 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350 was made in limited numbers and was a very exclusive car. What is worth noting is that in 1965 only 562 of these vehicles were made. A 1965 GT350 in decent shape is worth almost $300,000, while a show car-quality example could command nearly $600,000 or more. The price of these vehicles can even go into millions for pristine condition models, and especially if they have the racing stripes over the top. These are some of the most expensive collector’s items, and the value of these cars goes higher with every passing year. The 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350 is an iconic race car that cemented the legacy of Carroll Shelby as a performance tuner in the history of automobiles and motorsport.