FROM PR CAR TO BARN FIND TO TRIPLE CROWN: An Amazing 1965 Shelby GT350 Will Soon Find a New Home

January 11, 2021
Posted by Barrett-Jackson

Written by Eric Becker

On offer with No Reserve at the 2021 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction is this very special 1965 Shelby GT350 (Lot #1395) from the personal collection of Barrett-Jackson CEO and Chairman Craig Jackson.

Sure, there have been other Mustangs that took Lee Iacocca’s pony car to new heights – including several notables in recent years. But it was Carroll Shelby, engineer Chuck Cantwell and a team of maverick hot-rodders who turned a humble “secretary’s car” into an enduring icon of American swagger and brash performance. The 1965 Shelby GT350 was the car that legitimized the Mustang as a performance hallmark in the mid-1960s. It was born at the apex of Detroit’s golden age, a Mustang bred for competition. The GT350 was Ford’s thoroughbred, a car that celebrated Shelby-American’s can-do attitude and appetite for speed. The 1965 Shelby GT350 did not simply enter the pages of history, it commanded, as one of the most sought-after and collectible American cars ever. And now comes a rare opportunity to own one of the best of the best.

On offer with No Reserve at the 2021 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction is a very special 1965 Shelby GT350 (Lot #1395) from the personal collection of Barrett-Jackson CEO and Chairman Craig Jackson. “As a serious collector of Shelbys, I can confidently say that this car is the best 1965 Shelby GT350 on the planet,” said Jackson. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

This 1965 GT350, #5S553, is one of just 562 produced by Shelby-American, and the seventh from last build in the inaugural year of the Shelby Mustang program. Originally built at Ford’s San Jose, California, assembly plant, the fastback Mustang would head south to Shelby American’s LAX headquarters. There, the Mustang would be transformed into performance car legend, or, as Car and Driver put it in their May 1965 issue, “The nearest thing to a real racing car that one is likely to find on public roads.”

This GT350 saw public relations duty before being sent to a Ford dealer in Huntington Beach, California. It would later be purchased and taken to a small town in Southern Texas. There, owned by two brothers, it remained until the summer of 2016, when it was rediscovered sitting in a barn.

Despite the decades literally out of sight and out of mind, the GT350 was remarkably well-preserved, with a mere 19,000 miles on the odometer, and nearly every Shelby-specific item present and untouched. Under the fiberglass hood sat the original “High-Performance” 289ci V8 engine, complete with the full array of factory-installed Shelby “go-fast’ parts, with a high-riser intake manifold, welded-tube headers and cast-aluminum valve-rocker covers – power enough to deliver 306 horsepower. The engine was mated to the original all-aluminum BorgWarner T10M 4-speed manual gearbox, and routed power through the factory-installed 3.89:1 Detroit Locker differential.

Shelby #5S553 was factory-equipped with blue LeMans stripes over the customary Wimbledon White finish, Shelby/Cragar 15×6 alloy wheels, Goodyear Blue-Dot tires, 15-inch wood steering wheel and the California-required rear exit exhaust. All the pertinent stamped and cast numbers remained undisturbed, as well as the untouched period-correct interior. This was the oft-romanticized, seldom-realized barn find, a monumental discovery in the truest sense.

Jackson, the new owner, would serve as the force behind the plan and the team to make this Shelby GT350 a top contender for best in the world. The restoration work was assigned to noted Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) member and Head Judge John Brown of Thoroughbred Restorations in Oklahoma City.

The restoration began with assistance from Barrett-Jackson shop foreman and Mustang specialist Jason Aker. With oversight from Barrett-Jackson Vehicle Logistics Manager Jeff Catlin, Aker and Brown would set to work, intent on perfection and documenting every step of disassembly with high-resolution digital photographs to ensure authenticity.

The original drivetrain was pulled and all original components were rebuilt or, if deemed subpar, replaced with correctly date-coded original parts. Every detail was fastidiously gone over; no bolt left unchecked or stone unturned. The GT350 was stripped bare to the metal, examined and reassembled by the very best in the industry. In all, more than 2,000 man-hours were invested.

“Our goal at the time of restoration was to spare no expense whatsoever and make 5S553 the finest restored example of the breed anywhere,” Jackson said. The goal was also to dominate SAAC Division One competition in search of three “perfect” scores, making the car a “triple-crown” winner in the Shelby world.

The car was first awarded Gold in Division One at the Mid-America Ford and Shelby Meet in 2017. In 2018, the GT350 captured Mustang Club of America (MCA) Gold in the Thoroughbred Class as well as the Premier Award from the Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) at SAAC-43. A new legend was born. What’s more is that 5S553 would also take home the highly sought-after Authenticity Award from the Mustang Club of America, marking the first time the honor was ever bestowed on a 1965 Shelby GT350.

While a picture may be worth a thousand words, an in-person viewing of this remarkable vehicle far surpasses what can be described. And yet the final chapter of this astonishing GT350 saga has not been written. Shelby #5S553’s storied history will continue in Scottsdale, when one lucky bidder will take home this best-of-the-best Shelby Mustang and experience the excitement that only Barrett-Jackson can deliver.

Check out the video below as Craig Jackson and the restoration team take a closer look at Shelby #5S553:

For up-to-date information on this vehicle, click HERE. For a look at all the cars on the Special Preview for the 2021 Scottsdale Auction (with more being added daily), click HERE.