Carroll Shelby’s 1969 Ford Shelby GT500 heads to public sale

A 1969 Ford Shelby GT500 as soon as owned by Carroll Shelby himself will cross the block at a Mecum public sale happening in Kissimmee, Florida, from Jan. 4-15.

Mecum did not present a lot element on the automotive’s historical past, noting solely that the Candyapple Crimson journey is introduced with a Carroll Corridor Shelby Belief title and Shelby Certificates of Authenticity testifying to its pedigree. Actor and director Jackie Cooper additionally owned the Mustang at one time, in keeping with the itemizing.

In contrast to the unique Ford Shelby GT350, which was developed for SCCA racing, the 1969 GT500 was designed solely as a street automotive. Shelby’s partnership with Ford—which had produced the GT350, Cobra, and 24 Hours of Le Mans victories with the GT40—was additionally waning at this level, so he did not have as a lot involvement with the event of the GT500.

Nonetheless, this was a potent muscle automotive in its day due to its 428-cubic-inch Cobra Jet V-8. The engine is coupled to a C6 3-speed automated transmission on this automotive, however a 4-speed guide was additionally accessible. A Traction-Lok limited-slip differential completes the connection to the rear wheels.

The GT500 continued with this physique type for the 1970 mannequin 12 months, after which Ford dropped it and parted methods with Carroll Shelby. The Blue Oval revived the GT500 identify for the 2007 mannequin 12 months with Shelby’s stamp of approval. Shelby died in 2012, however the GT500 continues at this time in 760-hp kind, with the late tuner’s Shelby American firm providing its personal modified model dubbed the Shelby GT500 Code Crimson.

Mecum did not publish a pre-auction estimate, nevertheless it’s price noting that Shelby owned a number of automobiles. The truth is, one other Shelby-owned 1969 GT500 was offered by the public sale home in 2013, and a set of 23 of Shelby’s automobiles and vans went below the hammer in 2018. The Shelby identify can draw large bucks, although. A 1966 Shelby 427 Cobra Tremendous Snake beforehand owned by the person offered for $5.5 million at public sale in 2021.