Shelby GT500 Barn Find: Curiosity Leads to Incredible
Classic car enthusiasts always dream of finding an old muscle car in a typical barn find like this Shelby GT500. Never stop dreaming.
Discovering a barn find is becoming more and more scarce these days. The increasing popularity of TV and internet programs that showcase folks going on adventures to find such vehicles have popped up everywhere. You’d expect that the tap would be running dry by now, but somehow, these old rides still are awaiting discovery.
Tom Cotter is just such an adventurer. Using an old Woody wagon, he travels far and wide to dig up dusty relics for Hagerty Insurance, as seen in the above video from the insurance company’s official YouTube page. and this time around, spotted an early Mustang in Florida. Sitting in a front yard covered in moss, Cotter knocks on the door and asks if the car was for sale. Although the owner of that C-code Mustang wasn’t home, his wife was.
According to Cotter, she said “her 13-year-old grandson would like to fix this car up.” But when asked if she was interested in selling it, sh also hinted at another classic Mustang that was stored in a garage behind the house. In order to see it, Cotter had to wait on a call-back from her husband. It turns out the wait would be worth it.
Finally, Rick Luckhard, the owner of both Mustangs gave a call back to Cotter and invited him to see it. Cotter was in disbelief, saying “Shelby GT500 convertible… my oh my!” Sitting in good condition, albeit under a heavy layer of dust, was a 1970 Shelby GT500 drop top. Luckhard had come across this car in 1972 and had owned it ever since. A workplace injury forced him into something with an automatic even though he preferred manual, but the GT500 was too good to pass up.
It stayed as a daily driver for quite some time, until an attempt was made to restore it. This lead to an engine out restoration by a shop that went out of business, which also outsourced engine work. So a long search for the numbers matching engine had to be carried out but thankfully it is all back together.
Despite the car having sat for a few years, it wouldn’t take much to get this Shelby back on the road, and perhaps the visit from Cotter will have spurred some motivation to get a rare (one of only 335) GT500 convertible back to life.
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