Vehicle Description
ORIGINAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 1968 SHELBY GT350 HERTZ # 1146 West
Coast Classics are proud to present an absolutely exceptional
example of this original southern California 'Black License Plate'
rust free and accident free 1968 Shelby 302 4BBL V8 Fastback built
in Metuchen in 1/1968 and sold in 1968 at 'Robert H. Loud Ford' in
Pasadena, CA loaded with rare factory options of: J - 302 4BBL V8
GT350 T - BUILT AT METUCHEN 1/12/1968 SERIAL # 149347 SHELBY UNIT
NUMBER SCHEDULED FOR PRODUCTION # 1146 63B - SHELBY 2 DOOR FASTBACK
T - ORIGINALLY CANDYAPPLE RED REPAINTED DARK GRAY 5A - BLACK KNIT
VINYL LUXURY BUCKET SEATS 8D2596 - HO RESERVE ORDERING DISTRICT DSO
# 2596 8 - 3.50 CONVENTIONAL REAR AXLE W - C4 SELECT SHIFT
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SOLD NEW AT ROBERT H LOUD FORD IN PASADENA,
CA SHOULDER HARNESSES HERTZ RENT A RACER VISIBILITY GROUP WHEEL LIP
MOLDINGS SPORT DECK REAR SEAT POWER DISC BRAKES POWER STEERING TILT
AWAY STEERING WHEEL AIR CONDITIONER - SELECTAIRE AM RADIO TINTED
GLASS HEAVY DUTY BATTERY TACHOMETER amp; TRIP ODOMETER THIS VEHICLE
IS ONE OF: 613 WITH THIS PAINT CODE 458 WITH THESE PAINT/TRIM CODES
525 WITH THESE ENGINE/TRANSMISSION CODES 1,053 ORDERED AS SHELBY GT
350'S 224 WITH HERTZ RENT-A-RACER FOR THE 1968 SHELBY 2 DOOR
FASTBACKS SOLD WITH DELUXE MARTI REPORT CARROLL SHELBY SIGNED 302
CI engine block with Ford VIN clearly stamped Original transmission
and rear end with original axle tag still in place Original seat
belts with factory tags, headliner, dash, upholstery and carpet
Rust free, original body panels and Shelby fiberglass parts
Original trunk and trunk mat Ford's biggest success of the sixties
and the originator of the 'Pony car' concept was essentially a
sporty compact car but with a now legendary long hood and short
deck proportions, built on Falcon and Fairlane chassis and
drive-train components, the Ford Mustang was introduced in April
1964 as '65 models and within a year became the fastest selling car
of all time; with these early production cars now carrying special
favor! The upgraded V8 from the Falcon six cylinder engine was the
260 c.i. V8 produced on the same assembly line with other 1964
Fords, the early models were titled as 1965 models although they
were actually from the 1964 production era. After September 1964
the 260 V8 was dropped in favor of the larger 289 V8 high
performance 'A' code 289/225HP 4 barrel V8 or the top--f-the-line
'K' code 289/270HP 4 barrel V8. In 1965 Carroll Shelby created the
high performance SHELBY MUSTANG, the impetus was to win the Sports
Car Club of America's B Production road racing title, which it
would go on to achieve three years running from 1965-67! What
started as a specially supplied White Mustang 2+2 fastback from
Fordin Shelby's small Venice, CA shop, was to become the now
legendary Shelby GT350 with a warmed up n289 V8, Borg Warner T10 4
speed gearbox, heftier rear axle (from Ford's big Galaxie) metallic
linings for the rear drum brakes, Mustang optional Kelsey-Hayes
front disc brakes (with metal based pads), Koni adjustable shocks,
cast aluminum wheels, and wide rocker panel and topside striping. A
fiberglass hood with air scoop and tie downs replaced the normal
steel item and the rear seat was omitted - a Shelby trick to
qualify the GT350 as a two-seat 'sports car'. A competition R model
was also developed with a tuned and blueprinted Cobra 289 packing
340-360 bhp with an aluminum case transmission, bumperless
fiberglass nose with an additional air intake, stripped interior
and racing bucket seats and with a few examples having 4 wheel disc
brakes and flared wheel-arches. No more than 30 of these very rare
R models were built in 1965 along with a handful of drag cars.
These days the 1965 model is considered the purest of all Shelby's
and therefore is more valuable than the 1966 model although all
1965-66 should be considered 'blue chip' Shelbys. Most '66 GT 350's
of which the first 250 or so were left over '65's had Plexiglass
side windows instead of the fastbacks louvers, optional rear seat
kit, revised grille, new side scoops and more paint/stripe options
and 5 cars were fitted with the Paxton supercharger option that
lifted horsepower above 400! In 1966 Shelby had 6 convertibles
built as personal gifts for close friends. Also in 1966 a limited
production of the now legendary Shelby Hertz rental was introduced,
painted Black amp; Gold, and delivered for Hertz rentals at the
major U.S airports. many of these were notoriously abused by their
renters and raced on the weekends which led Hertz to abandon the
idea as an unprofitable headache! Amazingly fast on both tuns and
straights, the GT350 has become one of the 1960's most collectible
performance muscle cars. The 1967-68 Shelby GT350 was to be the
continuation of the race winning 1965-66 model but it was heavier
and less technically specialized. The highlights continued with
aprotruding fiberglass nose, plain 'mouth' grille, housing a
central pair of driving lights, scoops applied ahead of the rear
wheels and on roof quarters, a prominent decklid spoiler and wide
tailights. Inside a thick padded roll bar housed inertia reel seat
amp; shoulder belts and a new Shelby emblem - the coiled Cobra in
anodized Gold. Horsepower was nominally unchanged but doubtless
less owing to the deletion of the previous steel tube headers. Also
in 1967 Shelby introduced a big block GT500 to the lineup with
Dearborns all new 428 Cobra jet engine which boasted 360 bhp along
with the new styling features of the GT350. 1968 was also the first
year to offer an optional automatic transmission, the continuation
of the small block in the GT350 in the form of a 302 V8 and more
convenient features with a somewhat huskier version of the 1967
look with a reshaped grille, wide hood nostrils as air intakes,
Cougar tail lamps with sequential trun signals, even more scoops,
all shared with the GT500 and the Gt500KR model with KR for 'King
of the Road'. These KR's packed tuned 428's with big port heads
from the racing 427 engine and larger intakes and exhaust systems.
Some early production GT500's had 390 V8's installed, the result of
a strike limiting 428 supplies and which can be very hard to spot
without engine documentation. A convertible GT350 was also offered
in '68. Shelby production was to peak in 1968 with 1967 being the
last Shelby built Mustang with Ford now handling the marketing and
development and with the 1968 models built no longer at Shelby's
California shop but at the A.O. Smith Company in MI. In 1968,
Shelby wanted to rekindle his relationship with Hertz Rent-a-Car in
order to resurrect their "Rent-a-Racer" program with Shelby
Mustangs as part of Hertz's Sports Car Club fleet. However, with
their earlier experience still fresh in their memory, and after
ordering only some 999 cars in 1966, they were to cut back even
further with their program with Shelby in 1968 and cut 20 cities
out of the program and scale back marketing with only 224 cars
being known to be delivered according to the Shelby Registry,
actually 223 according to Marti Report, and this time they ordered
them in an array of colors, not only in Black amp; Gold as in 1966.
S/N 1146 seen here is one of the 223/4 built with a Deluxe Marti
Report to document its build. It was delivered to Robert Loud Ford
in Pasadena, CA in early 1968 and delivered to Hertz in March that
year. After Hertz was finished with it, it went to an enthusiast
who reportedly owned it until 2001 when it then went to the most
recent owner who commissioned a rotisserie restoration on the very
original car. It had no rust, so all of the original body panels
were re-used and the car was stripped to bare metal and repainted
in a very striking 'Chrysler Dark Slate Metallic' c...for more
information please contact the seller.
