Lot 421: 1966 Ford Shelby Mustang

The original pony car, Ford's Mustang soon established itself as one of the cult cars of the Sixties following its introduction in 1964. Available with either 2.8 litre six cylinder, 4.2 litre or 4.7 litre V8 engines, it was also to prove one of Ford's greatest sellers. It was with the largest engine, however, that the Mustang got the kick it really deserved in the form of the Shelby developed 350GT; Ford was keen to take on the Corvettes of rival Chevrolet in SCCA events and Carroll Shelby was commissioned to adapt his experiences with the AC Cobra and Ford GT40 to the Mustang. The result was a car transformed: power for the 4,727cc Hi-Po V8 rose from 271bhp to 306bhp at 5,000rpm, via a four barrel Holley carburettor, Shelby camshaft and a competition exhaust system exiting just forward of the rear wheels, enabling the GT350 to top 125mph and reach 0-60mph in around 7.0 seconds; the coil spring independent front suspension was uprated and a stiff anti-roll bar added, along with a heavy duty Galaxie rear axle with anti-tramp bars and ventilated front disc brakes. The combination ensured success on both road and track and in September 1965, Shelby American general manager Peyton Cramer struck a deal with Hertz to offer the 1966 GT350H Mustang as a rental car. The program was a clever one for Ford and Shelby as it worked to promote the Shelby Mustang to potential buyers. As Ford puts it, "The idea was to put high-performance, special-edition Shelby Mustang coupes into the hands of racing enthusiast-minded rental customers." In fact, it worked rather too well, Hertz discovering, due to tell-tale number imprints, that customers were secretly racing its GT350H hire cars! This 1966 Mustang has been rebuilt into a 'nut and bolt' replica of Shelby's famous GT350H, and converted to right-hand drive using only original Ford Australia parts. Finished in the traditional black/gold stripe Hertz livery, the car is fitted with an original and fully overhauled 4.7 litre V8 engine modified with new high performance components including flat-top forged pistons, HiPo timing chain, roller valve rockers, solid tappets, higher lift camshaft, uprated bearings, high capacity oil pump and an alloy water pump. As a result, the power output is now 340bhp which is transmitted by an original, four speed manual, Borg Warner T10 gearbox that has been fully overhauled and fitted with a Hurst competition gear change. In addition to all this, the car has been fitted with power steering, Koni shock absorbers, an export suspension tower brace, Monte Carlo brace bar, heavy duty front and rear anti-roll bars, 15in x 7in Vintage Racing Torque Thrust-style wheels, BF Goodrich radial tyres (as fitted to the original Shelby Mustang), 8,000rpm original-style tachometer and an engine bay 'dress-up kit', which was also present on the original Shelby racer. A powerful and eye-catching example of one of the most famous American cars ever produced, this Mustang offers a superb opportunity to revisit the golden days of muscle car motoring. Not to be missed!