Most Historically Significant 2nd Generation Shelby GT350/R?

[PP0001]

Like many of you I have been a Shelby Mustang enthusiast for a long time and consider "5R002" as the most historically significant Shelby Mustang of all time.

"5R002" was the 1st Shelby R Model competition car to be built and was 1 of 3 first batch Mustangs that was converted into a GT350 at Shelby American at Venice, California back in November, 1964.

"5R002" was also the first Shelby Mustang to ever win a race and that was way back on February 14th, 1965 and took place at the Green Valley Raceway in Texas.

No question that 5R002 will always be considered the most historically significant Shelby Mustang of all time and that brings us up to the 2nd generation GT350/R cars which completed final production almost a year ago and ended in late October, 2020.

It is interesting to note that Ford built the 1st generation GT350's for a total of 6 model years and decided to mirror that same timeline for the 2nd generation GT350's and suggest that did not happen by accident as Ford is famously known for duplicating many cool aspects of their past and storied history such as building the 1st generation Boss 302 cars for just 2 model years and then duplicated that same timeline for the 2nd generation Boss 302 cars.

For me time flew by very quickly when I look back at the 2nd generation GT350's and when looking back at all of the 2015 thru 2020 GT350 cars I started to think about what was possibly the most significant 2nd generation GT350 car built?

I came up with a very short list of my top picks but may have missed some significant cars that someone else can expand upon.


PP001 - The very first 2nd generation R model that was assembled on Tuesday, April 28th, 2015 and came equipped with the Electronics Package and Shadow Black paint with Black OTT stripes and was titled as a 2016 Pilot Production car.

F0001 - The very first 2nd generation regular production 2015 R model and was assembled on July 13th, 2015 and was specifically ordered as a Base R model and was painted Oxford White and came with Black OTT stripes.

LR001 - The very first 2nd generation 2020 HEP R model and came with a Blend Date of January 23rd, 2020 and was equipped Wimbledon White paint and Guardsman Blue OTT/side stripes and came with the Technology Package Exposed CF dash, no car cover and had an MSRP of $78,995.

LR280 - The very last 2nd generation HEP R and supposedly the very last R model built for the 6 entire model years and was ordered with the Technology Package, Exposed CF dash and car cover. Because this car was ordered as the final HEP R model it came equipped with painted Guardsman Blue OTT and side stripes, Blue seat inserts, Blue painted brake calipers all of which was a $10,000 option and pushed the MSRP for this very last R model all the way up to $87,525.

CBB 1 - The only known 2nd generation R model that came equipped with factory installed rear seats and was a 2016 model that was painted in Oxford White with DIB OTT stripes and also came equipped with Blue seat stitching, Blue seat inserts and a CF front chin spoiler.

In no particular order those are my top 5 picks for some of the coolest GT350R's over the last 6 model years.

I have attached a few pictures that I have been able to take along the way and look forward to comments on other cool 2nd generation GT350/R's that I may have missed along the way and want to be clear that the HEP R shown is neither LR001 nor LR280 but attached this picture just for the sake of reference.

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[car crazy]

Thanks for the pics, the history, and the specifics. I don't have anything to add other a Thank you! Great post.

 

[ecoboost321]

Didn’t know they made R models with blue stitching. Very cool ! Thanks for sharing

 

[UpACurb]

nice write up- had no idea about those cars......thank you!

 

[PP0001]

Didn’t know they made R models with blue stitching. Very cool ! Thanks for sharing

As mentioned earlier the only 2 R models that came with Blue stitching and Blue logo's were chassis numbers CBB 1 and LR280 with CBB 1 being well ahead of it's time as it was a 2016 R model and it took another 4 years before LR280 HEP would come with some of those same cool features.

 

[s2ms]

Do any of the early R models have an actual race history getting the snot beat out of them like 5R002?

 

[Wildcardfox]

I love history discussions however I do not think that there is a comparison that exists to say that there is a 21st-century version of 5R002. I just do not believe one exists.

5R002 was the creation of a small group of hot rodders led by one charismatic business owner, who was given the directive to turn a new vehicle that had no performance credibility into a race car.

That businessman cut his teeth racing Maseratis for a famous car owner, John Edgar.

That future manufacturer, had amazing success and back in his racing career. He and Edgar were akin to great partnerships like Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. They raced everywhere around the world and they won everywhere.

He reached the highest heights of racing, even winning the greatest sports car race in the land, the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans.

After his career ended he built cars under his own name, and his team perfected them by competing on the winding roads of tarmac racing against the worlds best. After his team found success, he was given what seemed the impossible—turn this new hot selling car that was meant for the everyday consumer into a bonafide racing machine.

His team toiled for months, testing, modifying, and what emerged, was a half painted mule that was taken to one of the most famous tracks in the country, Riverside International Raceway.

That car had aerodynamic advancements like the rear window that sucked air out of the cabin, brake ducts, and flared fenders among other modifications—it changed drastically as it was developed.

The climate:

This small firm had lots of success with other vehicles that they built. They had an American sports car that left Corvettes racing wins in tatters, they had a custom designed Le Mans GT racer that had destroyed Ferrari—and they even won the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans with it with some of the best drivers behind the wheel. The famed Enzo Ferrari feared that firms GT car as it left his 250 GTO in ruins and but for him having the FIA discount the last race in 1964, this small firm would have been a double world champion. And then there was the new cars in the shop—the culmination of millions of dollars, and one giant manufacturer’s goal to destroy that same Italian red car based car company’s reputation in response to a business slight, while also proving their dominance in race car that existed outside of NASCAR—they had one of the world’s first supercars—THE GT. The climate when that same giant manufacturer dropped hundreds of Mustangs into this small California based firm was not glee, but was annoyance. “Why are we messing with Mustangs when we have Cobra and Ford GTs” recalled one worker.

That was a climate—this new little consumer car was the red-headed step child of the bunch.

The driver:

As the program progressed under chief engineer Chuck Cantwell, the car began to take shape. On person stepped in to give faith to this project that many rejected. A former British tank commander, who had moved his family over to the US for a better life and who had made himself famous as one of the best sport car drivers, racing Porsche’s, MGs, and Sunbeam Tigers—he raced on the tarmac of Air Force Bases and race tracks.

That racer, now a member of this small company, stepped in to help refine the Mustang into a race car. He took it testing at Riverside and Willow Springs. Bob Bondurant, another famous driver who would race the firms GTs before switching to Ferrari, was the first to pilot the car in now modern day Riverside and Moreno Valley, but the ultimate credit goes to Miles for turning the car into the race winner.

That driver would have his hands in every aspect of the company’s success including the racing school, and all of their iconic vehicles. And that tank commander would dominate the greatest race in the land losing out only due to a business decision call that put the company above the man. He would later die, testing the new GT on that same track that he piloted Cobras, Daytonas, Ford GTs, Porsches, MGs, Specials, and yes the Mustang that he would make famous. One of the greatest racers of all time, raced and made a lot of his fame in the tarmac of Riverside, and in turn 9 he would be another one of his tragedies.

Jerry Titus won the championship in 5R002, piloting that same car to its victory in 1965, and the same car repeated in 1966.

There is also the unique design of the car, made by the talents of a man who had worked on Corvettes, Cobras, and who made the Daytona—he’s on the list of most influential car designers in history, and has had his hands in everything for the De Tomaso P70 to Max Balchowsky’s Old Yeller that took on an beat Ferraris, Jaguars, and Maserati with junkyard parts.

We have no modern day equal.

We do not have any one car that was massaged and that’s who’s success we can point to as the turning point where a lowly consumer car became a super star.

We have a fleet. No individual car, no one vehicle that made the name—this generations reputation was made by many different cars of many different colors. It was made by those plethora of vehicles both pre-production and production, they spanned the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 that journalists, the overall public and drivers of Porsche, Mercedes AMG, BMW, Lamborghini, and Ferrari saw, tested, and grew to respect. Those fleet of cars made the reputation on tracks around the world making it seen widely as a world class sports car/super car. That was the fleets doing. To many, that moment when they realized that this was a incredible car that was worthy to be mentioned along side other manufacturer’s top flight performers—it was painted in every hue and equipped with every package.

We have no equal. There will not be one car whether based on its production date or it’s exclusive package or even the fact that there were only 37 made in one year—no second generation has the pedigree or the accolades that can ever be compared to 5R002.

5R002 refined the Mustang as a performance vehicle.

The second generation GT350/GT350R redefined the modern day Mustang as a legitimate world class sports car.

 

[Creedog]

I believe the race history and who drove 002 made it so valuable many decades later. It is too soon to determine what will be most preferred by way of monetary value years from now.

 

[honeybadger]

For me, it's the GT350RC. Race heritage, championship winning, and critical to the development of the car.

 

[PP0001]

Do any of the early R models have an actual race history getting the snot beat out of them like 5R002?

Great question and none that I am aware of but maybe some other members can chime in whereby they can provide some significant race history for some regular production (VIN equipped) 2nd generation R models?

With respect to "5R002" and the one other Competition Factory Prototype (5R001) along with the 34 Factory Competition Race Models, there was never any intent to suggest that there was a 2nd generation GT350R that was on the same level as "5R002" as it is common knowledge amongst well informed Mustang enthusiasts that "5R002" will never have an equal.

There is no question that the 36 Competition R Models from the 1965 model year are in a league of their own with "5R002" obviously leading the way and that the 2nd generation R models are a totally different breed of Mustang but simply outstanding as a modern day Mustang.

Having said that this thread is merely centered around which of the 2nd generation GT350R models (3,647 examples in total) are the most historically significant and not a comparison between the 1st and 2nd generation R models.

 

[V8 Voodoo]

I’d throw @slingblade car on this list, due to Pete Brocks contribution.

 

[rush0024]

For me, it's the GT350RC. Race heritage, championship winning, and critical to the development of the car.

I think these two cars certainly deserve to be on the list, but I'm not sure the racing program was successful enough to make these cars the most significant 2nd generation GT350 cars. One of them went up for auction in 2018 but failed to sell with a 125k bid.

My vote is going to be LR280, if it is indeed the final GT350R ever built. It has a lot going for it to be the top daddy. Final R built. Final HEP built. Owned by Mr. Ford? And all the custom blue such as the seat inserts, painted stripes and brakes. This makes this car a 1 of 1.

The only car that could compete with LR280 would be the first GT350R ever built, imo.

 

[PP0001]

I think these two cars certainly deserve to be on the list, but I'm not sure the racing program was successful enough to make these cars the most significant 2nd generation GT350 cars. One of them went up for auction in 2018 but failed to sell with a 125k bid.

My vote is going to be LR280, if it is indeed the final GT350R ever built. It has a lot going for it to be the top daddy. Final R built. Final HEP built. Owned by Mr. Ford? And all the custom blue such as the seat inserts, painted stripes and brakes. This makes this car a 1 of 1.

The only car that could compete with LR280 would be the first GT350R ever built, imo.

Like you and if I could choose just one R model to own it would come down to either PP001 or LR280 and would probably choose PP001 just because it was the first 2nd generation R model produced and for me to say that I owned the very first 2nd generation R model would be absolutely outstanding.

On a completely different note I found it very interesting that for the 2016 MY that Ford decided to build 95 Pre-Production GT350/R's and to my surprize I was able to determine that ~50% of those 2016 Pre-Production examples were built days and in many cases months before the 2015 GT350R's that were assembled starting on Monday, July 13th, 2015.

Not sure what prompted Ford to build ~50 Pre-Production 2016 GT350/R's prior to building the 2015 50th Anniversary GT350R's (37) but that is what took place and how often do you ever see that take place in the automotive industry?

One other interesting fact that I came across during the 6 year production span was that for the first 3 model years (2015-2017) it was very easy to determine an R model versus a non R model based on the first 4 digits of the VIN and then for some reason that all changed with the launch of the 2018 GT350/R cars whereby all 2 seat and 4 seat VIN's where all lumped together.

From my standpoint it would have been great to keep a unique VIN series for the 2 seat cars separate from the 4 seat cars for the entire 6 years but unfortunately that did not happen and not sure why Dearborn and/or the FRAP did not continue on with a unique VIN series for the 2 seat R models?

 

[slingblade]

I’d throw @slingblade car on this list, due to Pete Brocks contribution.

Not sure if it will or not, but I can tell you his contribution has meant the world to me. I’ve had an opportunity to meet and become friends with a lot of amazing individuals over the last few months because of it. Brett “wildcardfox” being one of those people, took these amazing pictures this past week at the Shelby Bash.

 

[PP0001]

Not sure if it will or not, but I can tell you his contribution has meant the world to me. I’ve had an opportunity to meet and become friends with a lot of amazing individuals over the last few months because of it. Brett “wildcardfox” being one of those people, took these amazing pictures this past week at the Shelby Bash.

Troy, just some outstanding pictures taken by Brett!!

There is no question that Peter Brock has taken your 1 of 1 2020 HEP R to another level and it looks simply outstanding.

To have all of Peter Brock's DNA all over your car which culminated with the very 1st generation Shelby GT350's from back in 1965 is simply incredible let alone all of the cool stories and experiences that you have forged with an automotive legend over the last year or so is absolutely priceless.

Thanks for sharing your very interesting and incredible journey with all of us!

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