This Shelby Mustang Gt350 Frozen In Time
This 1968 Shelby Mustang GT350 looks like it was hermeticallysealed in a container 50 Years ago.
Its been over 50 years (April 17,1964) since the Mustang boltedfrom its factory womb. Howfitting was it to come across notjust any Mustang, but the iconicShelby GT350? Carroll Shelby, aTexan racecar driver as well as a chicken farmer, was asked by Ford toenhance the performance of itsMustang. The GT350 was essentially a street version of itsracing predecessor, the 1965GT350-R model.
Nick Vernon acquired his original 1968 Shelby GT350 quiterecently, having seen an advertfor it. He says that the advertwas for a Corvette Stingray butin small lettering beneath werethe magicwords, Shelby Mustang. He has a friend who dealsin cars and through him, foundsomeone who checked that theMustang was legally imported. Nick and his friend flew upto Johannesburg. Here theyfound itstored in what amounted to be aprivate showroom with about 20cars.
The car was bought from theoriginal owner in the UnitedStates in 2007 and shippedover in 2010. His Shelby is thereal McCoy and Nick has theMarti* build sheet to confirm it.It is absolutelystandard apartfrom the automatic gearbox thatreplaced the 4-speed manualwhich it was issued with. Thefirst owner changed it after 18years of nagging by his wife.
Nick says that even thoughthe engine rattled and sounded like a bag of loose nuts, itwas in pristine condition. That is why he couldnt have imaginedthere might be any problems withit. It looked like it washermetically sealed in a container 50years ago and only opened yesterday. That is the reason why hebought it on the spot. Nick saysin hindsight that he should havewaited a day and let the sellerironout the problems or he should have re-negotiated the price.
The person he bought it fromhad it resprayed in its original colour and there were nodents or rust on the body. In addition, the white racing stripes wereadded after the respray. Furthermore, theinterior was leftuntouched andit too is in immaculate condition.Also, the seat belts retract from thetop of the roll bar and remindme of the type of harness onewould wear as you embark onsome extreme jump. Thebackseat folds like origami into a flatsurface that two vertically challenged people might have enjoyed at a drive-in cinema onceupon a time.
The car was shipped by truck to Montague Gardens in Cape Town and arrived there at ten in the evening. Nicksays it wouldnt start so he left it ina strangers warehouse, hoping thathis Mustangwould still be there inthe morning. Fortunately for Nick, itwas still there the next day. Afterjumpstarting it, he managed to travela total distance of 100 metres.
He soon discovered why his firstdrive had ended so abruptly. Eventhough the petrol tank looked brandnew, it stood for three yearswith petrol in it. Therefore, the condensationhad resulted in a half inchof rust atthe bottom of the tank and this wassucked through the fuel line into thecarburettor. Someone had smothered the valve springs with thickgrease to silence them. Also, there wasno oil pressureand the conrod boltswere loose.
Nick says If Id drivenover about 3000 revs, you wouldhave seen various holes appear in itThe only thing that actually workedwas the air-conditioner. The car was left to Ferrolli Performanceto sort out all the problems and they told Nick thateverything in the engine was brandnew. Fortunately, the only problem was that itwasnt bolted together properly. After cleaning it, a new set of bearingsand a few odds and ends, the engineran perfectly.
This was not the endof the problems however as the onlygauge that worked was the speedometer. Nick wasafraid he might have toreplace the rev counter that, beforeshipping costs, would have set himback a thousand dollars. Nick investigated the spaghettijunction beneath the dashboardandfound that most of the connectorswere covered in dust and grime.
Luckily it was just a matter of cleaning them upto have everything functioning again.Unfortunately, he then discovered that the tighteningof boltsissue he experienced earlier was not only confinedto the engine but to the entire body ofthe car. He says that Americans havethis idea that after youve painted acar, you shouldnt tighten the bolts toomuch lest they crackthe new paint. He reckons the second owner sharedthis philosophy and so Nick had to goover the entire car with a spanner, otherwise it would have just rattled aparton the road.
The manual 4-speed gearbox that all Mustangs from that timeshare is waiting at the side of his garage to be inserted. Nick isnt too keen on changingit just yet. Besides, everything is working sowell at themoment that he thinks hemay tempt fate by fiddling withit. As incredible as it sounds, hes onlytravelled as far as Melkbosstrand withit!
The car is magnificent as it is andI wish Id had theopportunity to havea drive in it. For compensation, Nickoffered me a drive one day down theracetrack in his super-powered Camaro parked next to it. I think it wouldleave my stomach pulsating onthe tarmac, so Ive gone into hiding.
TECH SHEET
OWNER:Nick Vernon
LOCATION:Table View
BUILDER:Built at Metuchen, USA
YEAR:1968(number 317 of 1053 sold that year)MAKE:Shelby Mustang GT350
BODY FABRICATION:Steel and fibreglassGRILL/SHELL:Stock
COLOUR:Sunlit Gold Paint
PAINT TYPE:Ford #3073
PAINTER:Previous owner
GRAPHICS:Extra stripes over the roof
CHASSIS:Unibody, welded
FRONT AXLE:3.89 standard axle ratioENGINE:302-4V Engine (V8)
TRANNY:Automatic
EXHAUST:Standard Duel ExhaustINTAKE/CARB:Single Holley four-barrelREAR SUSPENSION:Live axle, multi-leaf,Semi-elliptical springs, tube shocks
FRONT SUSPENSION:Unequal arms, coilsprings, adjustable Tube arms, anti-sway barBRAKES:Kelsey-Hayes Power Front DiscBrakes, Rear: Drum
WHEELS/SIZE:15 x 7 Shelby AluminiumTYRE/SIZE:255/60 back, 235/60 front
SEATS:Black Dcor Bucket seats, SportsDeck Rear Seat
UPHOLSTERY:Vinyl
DASHBOARD:Black
INTERIOR EXTRAS:Rollbar, Tachometer, tripodometer
STEERING:Power steering LHD
FUEL TANK:18 Gallons
