For Sale: 1966 Shelby GT350 in Conroe, Texas

Having already won the 1965 SCCA B-Production road-racing championship with the potent Mustang-based GT350 and well underway to repeating the feat for 1966, Shelby American was clearly on a roll as the vanguard of Ford’s legendary “Total Performance” racing program. However, with the incredibly successful first-generation Mustang slated to be phased out in mid-1966, Carroll Shelby decided to mark the occasion with a limited run of just four GT350 convertibles. Each GT350 convertible was uniquely finished – one green, one yellow, one blue, and finally, one red. All were identically equipped to the regular-production GT350 fastbacks built for 1966, differing only in the convertibles’ non-functional rear-fender scoops, since the brake-cooling ductwork interfered with the convertible-top mechanisms. While many sources in the past have pegged GT350 Convertible production at six cars, research by the Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) confirms that only four were indeed produced. Numbered SFM6S2377, the stunning 1966 Shelby GT350 convertible offered here is one of those four very special original cars produced and the only one of the four factory-finished in Candy Apple Red. It also features the most desirable four-speed manual transmission and factory air-conditioning. As written by Eric English during 2012 for Mustang Monthly magazine, “Whether you call them test cars, prototypes, or styling exercises, the crux is that they certainly weren’t available to the general public.” The first owner of 6S2377 was Robert Castle Schoen, better known as Bob Shane of the popular popular vocal group, The Kingston Trio, who had already owned two leaf-spring Cobras and forged a friendship with Carroll Shelby. Shane had once intimated to Shelby that he would buy a GT350 convertible if Shelby would build it and the snake charmer’s response was positive. Just a few months later, Shane was contacted and advised that a GT350 convertible was ready for him and he picked it up on July 7, 1966 at S&C Motors, the Shelby dealer located in San Francisco. According to the SAAC Registry, one of the four cars was listed as “already sold,” while the other three were assigned for testing. Bob Shane’s time with 6S2377 was quite brief as well. Soon after picking up the car, Shane let a friend drive him to the airport to catch a flight to a show, but the car was damaged in a minor accident on wet pavement. Shane was disappointed and lost interest in the car. One of his personal assistants returned the car, most likely to S&C Motors, since Shelby Registry entries list some minor repairs made to the car in August 1966 at just 3,815 recorded miles. Next, 6S2377 was sold to Hi-Performance Motors in El Segundo, the Shelby dealership co-owned by Lew Spencer and Carroll Shelby. During the late 1980s, a subsequent owner commissioned a professional restoration of 6S2377 and following completion, it was displayed at the 1992 SAAC-17 meeting in Portland, Oregon. The current owner and his wife purchased the car in 2001 and then, during 2009 and 2010, this special convertible was restored by Mike McCullough and Jason Aker of Worldwide Musclecars in Edmond, Oklahoma, and was guided with the able assistance of head '66 SAAC Judge John Brown. Clearly performed to the highest of possible standards of workmanship and authenticity, it went on to achieve the seldom awarded SAAC Division I Gold status. Maintained following completion in the private collection, 6S2377 is simply stunning throughout. One of only four 1966 Shelby GT350 convertibles ever built, the only one in Candy Apple Red, and equipped with the desirable four-speed manual transmission and air-conditioning, 6S2377 is a “Holy Grail” example and easily one of the finest GT350s in existence today. Posted on behalf of Worldwide Auctioneers.