1965 GT 350 Road Race Car for sale

[DAVID GAGNARD]

I'm posting this for a close personal friend,he has decided that it is time for him to get out of the Road Racing business and spend more time with his wife and grand-kids at his age.....here are some of the details about the car,

1965 Mustang GT-350 #5S274 (in the SAAC registry)(also has another original 65 GT-350 street car,keeping this one for now)
He has owned and raced this car since the late 80's,he has raced from Daytona to Watkins Glenn and most every track on the east coast between the two tracks mentioned.....He has raced in the Vintage race at about 10 of the yearly SAAC events........

1965 GT-350 # 5S274,your choice of 1 of 2 engines (alum headed 326 stroker about 595 hp or iron headed non stroked motor about 435 hp,dyno sheets are avaliable,both engines probably have less than 10 hours on them right now........both built on the four bolt main Ford racing block,and I think they are both still standard bore......

4 speed road race toploader built by Mike Durham Toploaders in Pensecola,FL..,Hurst Comp.+ shifter

3.70 rear gears Detroit locker,9" rear end,factory over-ride traction bars

8 pt roll cage,with 10 pound fire suppresent sytem with 3 nozzles (enigne comp.,drivers comp.,fuel cell.,has 2 elec. fuel pumps....

There is a ton more info on the car and I'd rather let the owner tell you the details,this car is race-ready as it sits and needs only a driver and fuel to go VIntage racing and be competitive,just ask Rick Kopec,he has raced against this car for the last ten years or more...........I have ridden with the owner on track at speed at two different tracks and it is "scary fast" with him behind the wheel,but he is also one hell of a driver......Please only serious inquiries as the going price will be a minimum of 100k.........Right now a few of the Vintage racing organizations have been told it's for sale and it will probably be in the next SAAC newsletter and possibly a few of the Vintage Race publications by the end of the month....

I have no stake in this deal other than to get the word out for a very dear friend,in fact,I've been trying to talk him out of this for a week now,as I know how much this car means to him......He and his son are building a 65 fastback for his son to race and he has told me he will be the crew-chief for his son and myself when we go racing and when the "itch" hits him he'll drive one of our two cars on occasion...........

Please contact him at the following for details and photos...... tdbuck@bellsouth.net

Here are a couple of pics of the car in action........

David

[mrmustang]

Folks,

I've seen this car up close and personal, if you have ever wanted to go vintage racing, this would be the car to buy........

Sincerely,

Bill S.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

ttt

[gsharapa]

Interesting history in Registry.........

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Gary;

I've never read up on it in the registry,but I knew it was listed...........the history,good or bad???? I do know most of it from the owner,I think he bought the car in the mid to late 80's.............

David

[mrmustang]

see below

Bill S.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Very interesting to say the least,I do know the car has been in the New Orleans area for some time and the present owner bought it from a guy that had been owning the car for some time and had been road racing it also,he sold it to move on to an "open wheel car".......the present owner has a lot of photos and history of the car and races it was in from the prevouis owner.........I'll see him in a few weeks and ask him about it..................

David

[gsharapa]

David and Bill S.

Bill,

The vehicle history you put in is for 6S274 which is a 1966 Shelby and not this car which is a 1965 Shelby GT350 5S274.

This car (5S274) shows:

Date received at Shelby 5/13/65. Date work started 5/17/65; date work finished 5/21/65. Shipped to Warren-Anderson Ford (Riverside, CA) 7/7/65. Purchased by the original owner Warren H. Nevilee (Corona, Ca) 7/22/65. Purchased by Al French (Jefferson, La) '70 from a junkyard in Riverside, CA with no motor or transmission. Raced in SCCA GT-1, painted dark Green/Gold stripes with a 289 engine until '74 when replaced with a Boss 351. Subject of many articles written by French titled, "The Budget Racer" in The Marque '72-'76. Last raced '80 and stored until '89. Purchased by Don Buck Sr. (Slidell, La) '89 and rebuilt for open track. Painted AMC "Big Bad Green" with fender flares and trans-am rubber.

I assume he restored this car sometime in the 1990s or is the car he is selling 5S241?????????

The Registry also shows Mr. Buck SR. also owns car 5S241 which also shows a history purchased by Mr. Buck Sr (La) in '83 with multiple show wins (competition class) including Concours class at SAAC-12, 15, 20 and featuured in Mustang Illustrated 6/87 and Mustang Times in 4/89. I assume this is the car he is keeping?

Base on your email for the owner it looks like these are his cars.
Always wanted one of these and after being in Tulsa, OK last week-end and seeing the Vintage Races with a bunch of these cars the desire is even greater. Always have to sell a car to buy one however.........

[mrmustang]

Gary,

It did not even occur to me, must be my ADHD kicking in...I'll edit mine out for now and will await a firm VIN so that we can get everyone on the same page.

Bill S.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Gary;

You are correct on all counts,Don Buck Sr. is the owner of both cars and a very dear friend to me and my family.............I did not want to devulge too much of this info on the internet,but now that it is out,I'll tell all what I know and have known for some time.............

Al French is/was some sort of chemical engineer/scientist in the area (Jefferson/Slidell all within spitting distance of New Orleans),he bought the car as stated and I've seen all the magazine articles and write-ups about it and Don has them along with tons of photos of the car........Don was the Louisiana state Solo II champ in 1987 or 1988 in a 65 Mustang fastback in his class,shortly after winning the state champoinship,he was offered a "nice" sum of money for the Solo II car and could not pass it up and wanted to go Vintage racing anyway,he knew Al wanted to sell the Shelby and shortly after selling his fastback bought the Shelby 5S274,he drove it as it was for a couple of years and then did a full blown restoration on it bringing it to it's original state (still has the front flaired fenders hanging on the wall of his shop in that "beautiful green" color),he then had Gemini Racing in Arizona do all the suspension on the car as well as some roll cage upgrades for safety,then he began his road racing days.......he is now in his early 60's and has not had a "real" vacation with his wife in 25 years and has decided it's time to do other things besides racing,hence the sale of 274...........

5S241 is a "show car" and has won numerous awards at SAAC and MCA events,(it has not been shown or on the show car circuit since Don bought 274)it has been in a number of magazines as well as many articles written about the car........It was judged and still is one of the 65 Shelby GT-350s that still has the most original parts on it,as a matter of fact,it has only 3 parts on it that were not original to the car as it was delivered when built,but are the correct parts for the car, even has the Sebring trans and the case is stamped 5S241 as well as the block and the Cragar wheels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This car he is keeping for a while like most other Shelby owners are doing right now...........

He has a lot of documentation on both cars and many photos and awards and such,both are defintely the "REAL DEAL"............

Now for some back ground on Don,he was always a Ford guy and racer,drag racing and owning many fast and valuable Fords,some today would be worth as much as the Shelbys...........He took "early retirment" in his 40s and went into businees with another guy restoring early (mainly 65/66) Mustangs,about 6 to 8 years ago he moved to his present location and opened his own shop at his house and has continued to restore Mustangs,again,mainly 65/66s,over the years he has parted out no telling how many cars from the New Orleans area and has a wharehouse of parts.......he is a one man operation,but still manages to do about 3 to 6 cars a year and he has done some very expensive cars over the years,a number of 65/66 Shelbys and a Hertz or 2 thrown in as well as many desirable GTs and Boss 302s.......his restorations are second to none and I would put his cars against anyone's out there,his attention to detail is a work of art and being he does 65/66s he knows the cars inside and out,I really believe he could just about put one together with his eyes closed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He is about the nicest guy you would want to meet and has 2 great Shelbys,(but I would not want him mad at me,he's about 6'8" tall and about 270 pounds and in great shape)I have been trying to talk him out of the sale,but he has decided it's time to move on and spend more time with his family................

I DO NOT have a registry,,but was going to borrow one this weekend to check "the facts" that MR Mustang posted as they did cast a BIG shadow on this whole deal and I knew what Don has told me about the history of the car and the documentation he has shown me on it,but before I posted anything I wanted to see it in "the book" first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gary, I also know what Al French paid for the car at the junkyard and what he sold it to Don for,but I'll keep that secret for now,lets just say when Al bought it,it was a rough 5 year old car with NO motor or trans in a junkyard,so you can guess he got it for a song,also,at that time they were just "used cars" and not worth anything as a Shelby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

274 knows it's way around Hallett as Don has raced there a number of times.................274 also raced in the Vintage race at the 40th Mustang to do in Nashville,as well as a number of SAAC yearly conventions...............both Don and I have a bunch of video of many of the races.........it has also been on national tv about a half dozen times............


Don and Vic Edelbrock at Nashville at the 40th........

David
My car,the red fastback (clone) and 5S274 at Nashville for the 40th.....

[gsharapa]

David,

Nice pics of the cars! Thanks for posting the addition information as it all now ties together. From the looks of # 274, in the pics, I'd say Don knows his stuff and it appears to be as presented. I also have been around awhile and had many performance Fords in my past. I guess I bleed Ford Blue being a Ford Motor Company employee for 27 years now and also working at some Ford Dealers in my college years, mid 70s.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Gary;
Thank you for the research and "setting the record straight"...........Both Don and I have a ton of pictures of the car inside and out if anyone wants to see more pics of 274..........I just recently took a bunch of pictures of his roll cage and used it as a guide for mine in my 65 Mustang road race car I'm building,the two cages are practically identical.............

I know this car inside and out as I have crew-chiefed for him at a number of races............In fact,he's the person that got me started in this road race business,I tell my wife "it's all HIS fault" when the UPS truck comes to my house...........

David

[Old Phart]

David,
This IS a good 65 Shelby for racing and a bargain at $100K (if that is what he will take for it). I have SFM5S386 which is a factory stock, matching # GT350 with race history, and I was recently offered $175K for it. I know I'll never be able to buy another one like it if sold, so I'll keep it.
Finding any legit 65 Shelby for sale is rare nowadays.

Bill aka Old Phart

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Bill;

Not sure what the car will sell for but Don told me the minimum would be 100k,I think he has had a couple of inquiries on it and is in no rush to sell the car.........Wish I could afford it,cause I would have it,tried to talk him into adopting me,and then leaving me the car as my inheritance,but that was a no-go......... .....

Any guess on how many of the original 562 65 Shelbys are left????????? I have often wondered and have asked around,but no one seems to have any idea,what would be your guess?????

I see besides 386,you have an original small block Cobra,care to adopt me, ,I'm reallllll handy with cars,can do body/paint work as well as engine rebuilds,good to have around to keep the old cars going....... ........

I think most of the 65 Shelby owners are hanging onto their cars right now,actually,I've heard a few say they would not sell them until CS goes to the big race track in the sky,then when the price shoots up,they will be on the market...............

In the last month or two I've seen a few of 66s on e-bay
and I think only one sold,the others did not meet the reserve,but there are a lot more 66s around than 65s...........

I have attended SAAC 12,14,15,16,19,20,21,22.23,25,27,28,29. I entered the vintage races at 25,27,28,and29,yes I passed Kopec on the second lap at Lime Rock.Jim I've been running 5S274 since 1990,never made it to CA but have run PIR in AZ,Daytona,Mid Ohio,Watkins Glenn, Lime Rock .Pocono.Road Atlanta,Sebring, Texas World Speedway,Charlotte and MIS. ... by Don Buck posted on another site.......

Gary;

Don does know his stuff when it comes to Mustangs and Shelbys,in fact,I wish I knew as much about them as he has already forgotten............

David

[Old Phart]

David,
I would guess, from all the facts I have, all but 20 or so of the 562 1965 Shelby GT350's have been accounted for. Of those, I would guess around 250 or so have no major past issues, ie. rust, rebody, accidents, matching #'s, original parts, etc. IMHO the early 66 Shelbys will be the ones to buy if you can't afford a 65 because of the rarity and unique (left over 65) history.

Look for CSX2252 at SAAC-30 in Fontana.

Bill