Jil McIntosh
Seven months after the 1968 Mustang driven by Steve McQueen in Bullitt set a new record for the priciest example of the pony car ever sold at US$3.4 million, the stakes have been raised by a 1965 Shelby GT350R prototype that just went for US$3.5 million.
Both were sold through Mecum Auctions, and with auction fees attached, the new owner paid US$3.85 million for it.
The car was known as R5002, and Mecum said it was the first Shelby R-Model competition car built, and the first Shelby Mustang to win a race, which it did its first time out.
Built as a factory demonstrator to show to clients, it was driven by Ken Miles, Bob Bondurant, Chuck Cantwell, Peter Brock and Jerry Titus. It racked up more than 10 first-place finishes in SCCA during the 1965 season. When it was photographed catching air on a track, it became known as the “Flying Mustang”.
The car was an engineering mule for Shelby American, and is the only car built with its unique specifications. It appeared on the cover of Road & Track with Carroll Shelby alongside, and participated in a 2,000-mile tire test for Goodyear at Daytona.
When Shelby was done with it, the car was sold for $4,000 “as-is” to Bill Clawson, an engineer in Ford’s Performance Division in Dearborn. According to Mecum, Ford paid part of that and secretly sponsored the car when Clawson raced it. The car received an experimental Ford “XE” engine that wasn’t supposed to leave Ford’s property, lest GM get hold of it, and that engine, plus all the documentation that Clawson kept, was included with the car in the sale.
The car went through other owners who also raced it, including in Mexico. It was later painted in grey primer and parked in a yard in California. Someone bought in it 1989 and it ended up in a museum, in that condition. In 2010 it was sold to Shelby collector John Atzbach, who later restored it to its original 1965 condition. The car’s new owner hasn’t been identified.
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