Shelby Mustang GT350-R

www.QV500.com - Shelby GT350 Mustang Part 3: GT350-R

It was no secret that Shelby's original brief from Ford had been to construct a hot Mustang suitable for use on road and track, so before long an appropriately tuned competition version emerged. The first GT350 had been completed in September 1964 and by that December, the 100 production cars required for homologation were ready for inspection. As planned, the GT350 was accepted into the SCCA's B-Production racing category where it would compete principally against Chevrolet's Corvette and the Sunbeam Tiger. For this purpose, Shelby manufactured the small batch of now legendary GT350-R's.

Not legal for street use, each car was specially built and many consequently had unique features. B-Production rules said that cars could run modified suspension or engines, but not both. Shelby opted for the modified engine route and thus the GT350-R's suspension differed only from the regular street car by having reinforced springs and stiffer Koni shocks. Wide American Racing Mag wheels were fitted and like early GT350's, the battery was mounted in the trunk for optimal weight distribution. Shelby's high performance 289 engine was tuned to produce between 350 and 370bhp. The competition upgrades included free-flow side-exiting race exhausts, high-rise intakes, huge oil breather stacks and an oversize oil pan. There was also a supplementary oil cooler mounted in the gaping aperture carved out from the front bodywork. This mammoth opening was especially noticeable due to the absence of any bumpers and also fed cool air to the radiator and brakes. In some cases the wheelarches were subtly flared and many cars had their exterior lights removed. Also junked were the standard glass side and back windows, Shelby fitting lightweight Plexiglas items instead. The bank of sail panel-mounted vents found on 1965-model year GT350's were in most cases deleted in favour of being blanked off by a riveted alloy panel. To save weight, practically every unnecessary luxury was stripped from the cockpit, this including the carpet, headliner and door panels. New rudimentary door trim permitted the driver to raise and lower the Plexiglas side windows via nylon strips. Each GT350-R was also equipped with a beefy aluminium roll-cage, fireproof bucket seat and five-point racing harness. A passenger seat could be fitted if required. Special instruments were housed in a custom panel, the speedometer being replaced by 160mph item and the tach with an 8000rpm dial.

Complete with a new 34-gallon trunk-mounted fuel tank, the GT350-R typically weighed in at 1150kg, 115kg lighter than the 1965 street version. All this came at a price of $5950 (compared to $4425), Shelby retaining the two prototypes for his factory team and selling a further 35 cars to customers. Each was tested prior to delivery at the Willow Springs circuit in California. One of the factory GT350-R's was entered for Ken Miles to debut at the Green Valley Raceway SCCA event in Texas on February 14th 1965. Miles won and after a dominant season, GT350-R's secured the first of three consecutive SCCA B-Production titles.