Shelby-Owned Shelby GT500 Hitting the Block

By John Coyle - October 21, 2022

Even without its incredible provenance, this 1969 Shelby GT500 would be dream machine for classic Mustang fans.

When Carroll Shelby was first promoting his now-iconic Cobra, he famously painted the first version several times — to give the impression that he had multiple examples. It’s one of my favorite stories about the brash Texan, who loved driving his cars as much as he liked building them. Now, well-heeled fans of the man and the marque will have the opportunity to bid on one of this personal rides. And just as you’d expect, it sports the famous Shelby emblem on grille.

That said, even without a famous former owner, this 1969 Shelby Mustang GT500 looks like one sweet ride. Finished in Candy Apple Red, and sporting a 428 CI V-8 Cobra Jet V8 under the hood, it’s a killer example of one of the most wicked machines of the day. According to the listing on the Mecum Auctions site, it was sold new by Shelby Ford in California, and comes with a Shelby Certificate of Authenticity. While the listing isn’t clear when it was done, the GT500 was treated to a full restoration, and looks every bit like it just rolled off the assembly line.

To complement the sheet metal, the interior is finished in black and red, and while this is a obviously a special car, it’s neat to read the options list like it’s a “normal” one. The ones that jumped out at me were the deluxe belts and warning light, power steering, and the Philco AM radio. Because they all highlight that while this car was manufactured just over five decades ago, in automotive years, it feels more like a million. It’s also kind of fun to note that even when this was new, AM radio was quickly losing ground to FM.

According to our friends over at Haggerty, a GT500 of this vintage would normally fetch somewhere near the $135,000 mark. Given its provenance, this baby will certainly go for more than that. But given that the famous “Flying Mustang” went for a whopping $3.5 million, I don’t think it’s going to come anywhere near the record for most expensive Mustang sold. Regardless, this is an awesome piece of history, and it’ll be interesting to see what the final figure on the sale is. We’ll just have to wait for the auction in January to find out!

Photo: Mecum Auctions