Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 Convertible 1966, Estados Unidos

Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 Convertible 1966, Estados Unidos
Fotografia

Highlights:

1 of 4 Shelby GT350 convertibles built in 1966

The first 1966 GT350 convertible by serial number

The first Shelby Mustang Convertible by serial number

The first Shelby Mustang built with air conditioning by serial number

The only 1966 GT350 convertible remaining today with its original engine

Shelby American Factory pool car that was used for test purposes in anticipation of the 1967 ½ Shelby convertible

Appeared in the background of a photo in the December 7, 1967 issue of Autoweek with once controversial Hertz Gold rocker stripes clearly in view making it the only 1966 Shelby to have Hertz Gold rocker stripes with no “H”

Served duty as a pace car for SCCA racing in the Bay Area of California

Known ownership from new

Featured in Mustang Monthly in 1982

Upgraded with a Paxton Supercharger system

Displayed in a special 50th Anniversary Mustang exhibit at the LeMay Museum in 2014

For years after the 1966 GT350 convertibles were produced, the cars remained shrouded in confusion and misunderstanding. Initially, the hobby at large believed that a total of six convertibles were produced at the end of 1966 GT350 production. This was before, in 1987, documentation was unearthed in Carroll Shelby’s Gardena office that confirmed otherwise. Chief among those documents was an order dated June 7, 1966, specifying “Four experimental convertibles are being run through the shop at present time … One of these units is sold and the other three will be used for test purposes in anticipation of a 1967½ GT350 convertible.” Given that information, and the subsequent discovery that two of the then “existing” 1966 convertibles were nothing but figments of the owners’ imaginations, what remains clear is that only four 1966 GT350 convertibles were produced. 

Put simply, here is what is known with absolute confidence today about these legendary Shelby Mustangs. They were the final four examples of the first-generation 1965-66 GT350s. All four 1966 convertibles were painted different colors of Ivy Green, Red, Sapphire Blue and Springtime Yellow. Two convertibles were automatics while two were 4-speed cars. These four convertibles would be the only four Shelbys to have factory air conditioning in the first two years of production. Finally, only one of those four cars remains with its original engine today, and, as luck would have it, that very car is the one being offered here today.

The subject car is Serial No. 6S2375, and it was the earliest of the four 1966 GT350 convertibles produced by serial number. Equipped with factory air conditioning and an automatic transmission, it was finished in Ivy Green with a black interior and white top. In addition, as proven by a photograph in the December 7, 1967, issue of Autoweek, the car was adorned with a set of unique, Hertz Gold colored rocker stripes with no “H,” as was present on GT350H cars. In specification, these 1966 convertibles were identical to production 1966 GT350 fastbacks with the exception of the quarter panel brake cooling scoops being made non-functional in order to accommodate the top folding mechanism, as well as the addition of factory-installed air conditioning. Upon its completion, the car was sent to the Shelby American motor pool for testing in preparation for a proposed 1967½ Shelby GT350 Convertible.