Is there a "best" Year GT350 to Buy?

[svttim]

There is nothing any better than a '65 or '66 carry over Shelby GT350 with respect to rarity and overall performance IMO but without a doubt the '67 cars had so many unique and cool features and were the very last production model year to have Shelby American DNA all over them therefore how can any enthusiast not think very highly of the '67 cars.

Lastly, regardless where I am domiciled in the near future I am looking forward to staying in touch with terrific Shelby/Mustang enthusiasts such as yourself!

This is where the the Shelby purists struggle. Many will tell you the new GT350 is not a real Shelby. They are wrong but they are entitled to their opinion. After 66, Shelby and Ford worked together on the car. We all know 68 production was moved. But many dont know Charlie McHose, the designer of the 67 was actually employed by Ford. Shelby made requests from Ford for such help. Many dont know, Jim Owens worked for Carroll as well as Ford. Carroll is still alive and well at Ford for now as well as Shelby American. Like I said, Might be a tad bit obsessed.

Sponsored

 

[Wildcardfox]

Brett, always appreciate your comments and insight with respect to all things Mustang but like yourself I suggest that I have a good feel for the collector market as well.

With that being the case I am not sure what your definition of "Unicorn" is but my defintion is a highly desirable vehicle but also a very difficult vehicle to find.

With the 2015 R model representing only 37 examples out of ~25,000 GT350's built over the 6 model years it is obvious that the 2015 R's are quite rare with very few showing up at auction based purely on incredibly low production numbers.

I suggest that we have been very fortunate over the last 6 months as we have seen 2 of the 37 R's hit the auction block with John Atzbach's #37 car selling at Indy last July and with Sam Pack's #16 car selling in Kissimmee last January.

In the case of #37 car it was obvious that John drove all of his cars and I remember viewing his car numerous years ago in Seattle when John first obtained #37 and spoke to him about his car being the very last 2015 R.

John's car had just over 6,000 miles on it at auction with a good bit of patina and hammered for $148,500 including the buyers premium.

With respect to the #16 car which sold at Kissimmee just over a month ago this was a dealer owned allocation and still on the MSO with 70 miles on that car and suggest that Sam Pack netted ~$100,000 or just a little less than that and obviously he was quite realisitic and motivated to let his car go at a very reasonable price.

As you mentioned in your post some of the few dealerships that were lucky enough to get an allocation for a 2015 R model they have no intention of selling their R models unless someone comes up with some stupid money and that is certainly the case with the Ford dealership in Miami.

Of the 37 R's allocated by Jim Owens back in the Spring of 2015 I suggest that most R model allocations were not based so much on a dealership level but more on an individual VIP level.

In any case you had a dealership in Texas that was motivated to sell his R model at a very reasonable price and a dealership in Florida that has no intention of selling his R model unless for crazy money therefore two different business models.

Oh I agree with you. I was just giving context of my mentioning of the word unicorn.

I take it from the 2000 year movie film “Gone in 60 Seconds” when discussing the main character’s “unicorn”, the modified 1967 Shelby GT500.

“- Donny Astricky: Eleanor is Memphis’ unicorn.
- Freb: What’s a unicorn?
- Donny Astricky: A fabled creature? You know, the horse with the horn? Impossible to capture?”

I always found that as a beautiful metaphor for a vehicle that is so sought after, so rare and so hard to see or even catch.

From my knowledge the 2015 GT350R original owners were all Ford VIPs. Jay Leno, other dealers, and famous racers like Jim Busby, a Porsche legendary driver and owner was offered one on a secret tour in 2014 by Bill Ford who showed him the engine and told him that they were developing a flatplane crank Racing Mustang.

Most are now in second or third owner hands, although I’m sure there are some like Leno who will never part with his.

 

[lonegunman]

2019 of course. I really do not care if the SAAC does not consider my car a "real Shelby". Their cars are simply Mustangs with fiberglass bits after 1966 and no long after that they were all made in Michigan or some such thing by Ford, not Shelby. Barring a miracle and lots of late 2000's resto mod parts, none of them are faster, better handling or braking than a new GT350. Some early cars have cool racing histories and other interesting facets that make them very desirable.

Shelby Chargers are REAL Shelby's with 2.2 liters of four banger fury, designed by the man himself and the SAAC isn't wild about them either. They should just call it, the gen 1 toadies club or something.

 

[svttim]

2019 of course. I really do not care if the SAAC does not consider my car a "real Shelby". Their cars are simply Mustangs with fiberglass bits after 1966 and no long after that they were all made in Michigan or some such thing by Ford, not Shelby. Barring a miracle and lots of late 2000's resto mod parts, none of them are faster, better handling or braking than a new GT350. Some early cars have cool racing histories and other interesting facets that make them very desirable.

Shelby Chargers are REAL Shelby's with 2.2 liters of four banger fury, designed by the man himself and the SAAC isn't wild about them either. They should just call it, the gen 1 toadies club or something.

Not sure where SAAC came into the conversation. Generally talking about individual owners. Team Shelby Recognizes all Shelbys and Yes, that includes the Dodge Models

 

[Carbide]

Good thread guys. That attached video convinced me to pick up a 2020 GT350.
It is still getting prepped so I get it on Friday.

I was originally going to purchase a GT500, but decided to go this route.

 

[Rev Happy]

Oh I agree with you. I was just giving context of my mentioning of the word unicorn.

I take it from the 2000 year movie film “Gone in 60 Seconds” when discussing the main character’s “unicorn”, the modified 1967 Shelby GT500.

“- Donny Astricky: Eleanor is Memphis’ unicorn.
- Freb: What’s a unicorn?
- Donny Astricky: A fabled creature? You know, the horse with the horn? Impossible to capture?”

I always found that as a beautiful metaphor for a vehicle that is so sought after, so rare and so hard to see or even catch.

From my knowledge the 2015 GT350R original owners were all Ford VIPs. Jay Leno, other dealers, and famous racers like Jim Busby, a Porsche legendary driver and owner was offered one on a secret tour in 2014 by Bill Ford who showed him the engine and told him that they were developing a flatplane crank Racing Mustang.

Most are now in second or third owner hands, although I’m sure there are some like Leno who will never part with his.

A couple weeks ago, I was driving down Sunset BLVD headed toward PCH and I ran into Leno. He was in his yellow Mclaren P1 and I was in my R. He saw me right away and gave me a thumbs up. We eventually caught a light and the first thing I said to him was "Do you still drive yours?" and he was like "Oh Ya, aren't they just the greatest cars?" He then asked me how I liked it and what year, etc, but I thought it was funny that he's driving this million dollar hyper car, and here we are just talking about a Mustang. The P1 from the rear has such a presence btw but it was never mentioned in the quick conversation.

 

[Wildcardfox]

A couple weeks ago, I was driving down Sunset BLVD headed toward PCH and I ran into Leno. He was in his yellow Mclaren P1 and I was in my R. He saw me right away and gave me a thumbs up. We eventually caught a light and the first thing I said to him was "Do you still drive yours?" and he was like "Oh Ya, aren't they just the greatest cars?" He then asked me how I liked it and what year, etc, but I thought it was funny that he's driving this million dollar hyper car, and here we are just talking about a Mustang. The P1 from the rear has such a presence btw but it was never mentioned in the quick conversation.

Leno is a great guy and he loves his GT350s, his old and his new one.

I’ve spoken on the phone with him twice, last time not two weeks ago, but I’ve never met him in person. I hope to one day, meet him in his garage, but cruising in your GT350 (1) to see a P1 McLaren—that’s unbelievable right there, and (2) to see that it has Jay Leno inside of it and he’s waving at you—can’t beat that. I saw a McLaren Senna once when we were going into a secret filming of Ford vs. Ferrari. Early VIP only stuff, it was a few journalists, a few shelby fans (could count them on one hand) and a Ferrari club that had filled the stadium. That Senna was parked down below in The Century City mall parking lot. Still would take the Jay Leno in a P1 any day.

 

[Sergeant Gearhead]

Generally the closer you are to the end of any series of car/model is best. The kinks are all worked out and it's as good as it gets.

Yeah, I totally agree. I heard a similar thing played out for the Focus RS when it was on sale. For the first couple of years, people criticized it for the jumpy ride quality, and for its final year (2018), I heard Motor Trend say that they had finally evened out all the car's rough edges (in a more or less fashion). I really loved that car when it came out and have been blessed to see at least 3-4 in real life (two of them just so happened to be that pretty Nitrous Blue color). It's a shame Ford gave it (and the GT350) the cut.

-SG

 

[JR369]

Generally the closer you are to the end of any series of car/model is best. The kinks are all worked out and it's as good as it gets.

You would like to think so but...I'm not convinced at all.

 

[svttim]

You would like to think so but...I'm not convinced at all.

Having had a 16 and now a 19, I believe the 19 is better all around

 

[stanglife]

No one wants to think they came out with anything that improved right after they bought one I've had a 16R and a 20R. While a little different, I enjoyed them equally.

 

[Wildcardfox]

No one wants to think they came out with anything that improved right after they bought one I've had a 16R and a 20R. While a little different, I enjoyed them equally.

I didn’t really care. The 19Rs are a second faster with the improvements in solenoids and microchips and improved ABS which allows them to better trail brake. Wish I could upgrade to have it, but unless you’re Billy Johnson, it doesn’t really matter because most will never hit that limit. I soothe myself in that I have a one year color haha.

 

[Lorne34]

My vote is for the 2019... This one major improvement puts it far above the previous models..
...

 

[Lorne34]

Leno is a great guy and he loves his GT350s, his old and his new one.

I’ve spoken on the phone with him twice, last time not two weeks ago, but I’ve never met him in person. I hope to one day, meet him in his garage, but cruising in your GT350 (1) to see a P1 McLaren—that’s unbelievable right there, and (2) to see that it has Jay Leno inside of it and he’s waving at you—can’t beat that. I saw a McLaren Senna once when we were going into a secret filming of Ford vs. Ferrari. Early VIP only stuff, it was a few journalists, a few shelby fans (could count them on one hand) and a Ferrari club that had filled the stadium. That Senna was parked down below in The Century City mall parking lot. Still would take the Jay Leno in a P1 any day.

..
McLaren Senna
finished #5....
https://www.motortrend.com/news/2019-best-drivers-car-rankings/

 

[stanglife]

..
McLaren Senna
finished #5....
https://www.motortrend.com/news/2019-best-drivers-car-rankings/

Hard to argue. 350 will be a crowd favorite for years to come. ;)

Sponsored