[moneymanager]

I am assuming you haven't taken a look at my website. Your answer lies there....

HISTORY of the 65 Shelby GT350 "R"

There were a special group of race prepared Shelby GT 350's called "R" models. For 1965 of the first 115

cars, only 16 were built as the GT350R, racing version. Winning a B - Production title essentially meant owning

a Shelby GT350R. Five of the six SCCA B-Production regional titles were won by these cars and in the

finals 7 of the top 10 places were won by Shelbys. By years end, a total of 562 1965 Shelby GT350's

had been built.



Each GT350R one was basically hand built by Carroll Shelby and his team, in an old airplane hanger

in California. They were ordered from Ford with the following items "deleted": carpet, headliner, side glass

and rear windows, door panels, original gas tank and bumpers. Then Shelby did their magic to them. He

gave notice to all Corvette racers that "the only time a Corvette would see Victory Lane would be if a Shelby

GT350 wasn't in the race". The "R" models were never sold to the general public.



Shelby expanded into a larger production facility for the 1966 year. Sales were expanded and Hertz

ordered 1000 Shelbys to rent at a premium to members of the Hertz Sports Car Club. These were older,

respectable and wealthy regular car renters who were allowed to rent Corvettes as an incentive to maintain

their business. With the purchase of the Shelby's, they had a choice. Since the Hertz order was 40% of

the 1966 production total of 2380 cars, the Hertz cars carried special equipment, color schemes, and Vin

numbers. All but 230 were produced with black exteriors and interiors and gold striping which included the

special GT350H designation. All but 85 cars had automatic transmissions. Hertz rented the car for $17.00

per day and 17 cents per mile. Most of the Hertz cars were used for fast street driving, however there are

many stories about renting the cars for weekend racing, hence the name "Rent-A-Racer."The First chapter

of the early model Shelby Mustangs closed with the end of the 1966 production run. In total there were

only 37 Shelby "R" models and it is estimated that only 32-34 of them remain in existence today.



The 1965 Shelby GT350R Mustang was the most race worthy of all the Shelby's ever produced,

including the famous big-block Cobra's! At a price of $4,000 in 1965, the standard GT350 (not an "R"

model) was not a hot seller. A buyer had to be a real car enthusiast because these cars were basically a

factory built race car, right off the showroom floor. The 1965 Shelby GT350R has become probably the

most significant vintage American race car in recent history. Hence the legend of the 1965 Shelby GT350

was born.



The most recent sale of a REAL 1965 Shelby GT350R is reported to have fetched $250,000.00

Mine can be bought for less than that! And it's even faster....

Doc