1966 Shelby GT350

Legendary Texan Carroll Shelby had been campaigning Ford’s Mustang with considerable success in North America, winning the SCCA B-Production title three years running in the mid-1960s. Capitalizing on his success, Shelby American began manufacturing Shelby GTs based on the Mustang, which were officially sanctioned and sold through selected Ford dealerships. The first Shelby Mustang, the GT350, debuted in 1965 powered by a modified version of Ford’s 289 high-performance small-block V-8 producing 306 bhp, with options of a 340–360 bhp unit in competition trim or 400 bhp supercharged. A four-speed Borg-Warner manual gearbox was the choice transmission on early Shelby Mustangs, though a heavy-duty, three-speed automatic soon became available as an option. The drivetrain was upgraded appropriately to handle the GT350’s increased performance.