Shelby GT500 is Shockingly Original With Low Miles, a Rare Treat
Long-lost 1968 Shelby GT500 is one of 1,140 built for ’68, and has spent its entire life in Pennsylvania for the past 50 years.
Is there anything cooler than the discovery of a long-lost classic? This 1968 Shelby GT500 disappeared 43 years ago. And after decades of intense searching, it’s now back for all the world to see. Oh, and it’s for sale.
Mustang owners are a passionate breed. But Shelby owners are obsessive on a whole other level. There are plenty of stories of long-lost Mach 1s and K-Code cars turning up every now and again. But “lost” Shelbys are aggressively hunted for. In fact, that’s part of the reason why this car disappeared in the first place.
This GT500, one of 1,140 built for ’68, has spent its entire life in Pennsylvania. And until 1975, it was well accounted for. In the 2014 edition of the SAAC Shelby Registry, the car appears in the “Have You Seen This Shelby?” section. It was shipped to Gilboy Ford-Mercury in Allentown on February 1, 1968. It received a new battery and starter wire (we said it was well accounted for) before it was sold to Francis for Fords in Lewisberry in April. On the 30th it found its first owner, one E.W. Hoffman. On January 2, 1969, it was brought in for service at Francis before it was sold to a second owner. Then the trail goes dark.
Until now, that is. Thanks to the sleuths at Old Forge Motor Cars in Lansdale, we now know the rest of the story. This Shelby went to its second owner in 1970. He racked up a very-low 33,643 miles before he put the car up on jack stands in his garage in 1975. Why? He was sick of Shelby hunters showing up at his house trying to buy the car.
Now, it’s someone else’s turn to experience that. This ’68 is likely one of the most original – and desirable – GT500s on the planet. Other than its Wide-Oval Firestones and mufflers that date to the 1970s, this car is exactly how it rolled off the truck at Gilboy Ford-Mercury 50 years ago. Its Wimbledon White paint and black vinyl interior still look great. And we’d love to put its Cobra Jet 428 and four-speed manual transmission through their paces.
But, with provenance like this, this Shelby will probably end up in a museum. We can’t fault the next owner for that. But if we had $130,000 to spend we’d be really tempted to buy some replica wheels, some Wide Ovals (save the originals for car shows) and add some miles to the odometer.
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