Shelby Mustang GT350R – Only 34 Was Produced and This Days Cost Almost $1,000,000

- in Cars

For Shelby fans GT350 is the Holy Grail. Reportedly, only 34 pieces seen the light, and doubtless there are not too much left.

While Ford’s new Mustang was a huge hit, selling some 22,000 units the first day offered, it would never be mistaken for a “Total Performance” poster boy, especially since this pony was based on the running gear of Ford’s Falcon economy compact.

Carroll Shelby, already a Ford-related performance personality since his AC Cobras were in Ford dealerships, was tapped to transform the wimpy Mustang into a potential “B” Production SCCA racer. Thus, the legendary Shelby GT350 R was born.
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Carroll Shelby and the Ford Motor Company, along with the engineering wizardry of Chuck Cantwell (who was the development engineer in charge of both the GT350 Street Cars and the GT350R Race Car projects), transformed the Mustang pony car into a track-savvy racing machine.

Each of Shelby’s GT350 R models would be heavily-modified once they arrived for the Shelby American crew to transform.

When complete, the Shelby Mustang GT350 R was a turn-key race car that was ready to go straight from the Ford dealer, where it was bought directly, to an SCCA race weekend and compete at the highest level.

Shelby American built 34 of these purebred racing Mustangs to compete in SCCA B/Production events. All were Wimbledon white with blue stripes, and all were unbelievably competitive. This class was heavily dominated by the Chevrolet Corvette up until 1965. The 350GT R-Model won the national title three years in a row: 1965, 1966 and 1967.

Shelby Mustang GT350R is the most winning and the fastest Shelby Mustang of all time (184 mph at Daytona in 1971). This car unofficially reached 9200 RPM on the dyno and was hitting 8400 RPM when it went 184 mph at Daytona.

In 2012, a 1965 Shelby GT350R sold at RM Auctions Monterey event for $990,000.