Throwback Drive: 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350
Hold on to your holsters! Mark goes for a drive in a raucous, race-prepped 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350.
WORDS: Mark Rose | PHOTOS: Dom Ginn
Classic Ford Mustangs never fail to make car enthusiasts all hot under the collar. They’re very special machines, particularly to the fast-Ford-faithful and muscle car fandom, but some are more special than others. Anything to do with Carroll Shelby really gets the bloody pumping, and recently, we were lucky enough to drive one of his heavily fettled creations – a 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350.
Adding to the sense of occasion was the fact that this isn’t ‘just any’ Shelby Mustang, but one that’s been race prepared by Hayward Motors California and sold to an owner who competed in the SCCA California. From the year of delivery and up until 1975, this GT350 competed at famous American race tracks including Leguna Seca and Riverside, and is just one of twelve known 1966 cars that was raced in period.
The car has changed hands a few times over the decades and has benefited from a plethora of restoration work while continuing its racing career all over the US at other infamous venues including Watkins Glen, Palm Beach, Sebring, and Road Atlanta. It was raced regularly up until 1995 when the car was sold on, only to receive a full restoration the year after. The Mustang was then imported in to the UK and left in storage until 2017 when it was sold to the previous keeper by RM Sothebys. Since then, the ‘stang has received occasional use as a road car before being sold again in 2022 where it was subject to another overhaul with the aim of making it more suited to road use.
In truth, we’re only scratching the surface when it comes to this car’s provenance because what we really want to do is tell you what it’s like to drive, but before we do that, it’s worth pointing out how far removed it is from a road car, despite the number plates.
The interior is completely devoid of any creature comforts. Anything that adds weight has been chucked out and the bits that are required for driving have also made way for lighter components. The rear seats are gone and the front two are lightweight racing buckets with six point harnesses. There’s a full roll cage, fire extinguisher, racing clutch, and the side windows are curiously absent – something I was grateful for on a hot summer’s day with no AC to hand. The driver’s seat looks like something stollen from death row and installed in a car which only adds to the intimidation factor – tell me you’re American without telling me you’re American. The lethal looking side bolsters stop you from getting thrown around, but they also force you to drive with your arms stretched forwards which feels completely unnatural.
If all this sounds like a challenge to drive, then you would be right. Out on the road, the Mustang is anything but usable, but heavens above, is it fun. It’s a sensory overload, a wrestling match, a real battle between man and machine, but when you get it right, it’s deeply, wonderfully satisfying. The engine is an event, a normally aspirated 4.7 litre V8 from a time when car companies didn’t care one dot about emissions, and as you would expect, it sounds glorious. It thunders its way to the rev limiter, and because all the sound deadening has been ripped out, you get to hear all that American muscle as intended. Another highlight of the motor is the response. 1966 pre-dates the use of fly-by-wire technology in road cars by some twenty years, so what the Mustang has is an old-school throttle cable and therefore, old-school throttle response.
Perhaps the biggest challenge when driving the GT350 concerns the gearbox. It’s a four-speed H-pattern and requires much precision and a lot of practice to get the best from. It isn’t just a case of dipping the clutch and changing gear, it’s much more nuanced than that. The gears are positioned closely together so it’s easy to miss a shift, particularly when coming down the gearbox. Also, because it’s an old transmission without synchros, downshifts require you to heel and toe otherwise the gear just thuds in to place with little mechanical sympathy. The hefty weight of the racing clutch also makes it difficult to find the bite point, making it even more difficult to nail your gearchanges. When you get it right though, it’s deeply rewarding with its mechanical, rifle-bolt feel and sense that you’re the one responsible for driving the car properly.
Like any classic car, the steering is vague, something that the large wheel and thin rim exasperate. The body pitches and rolls excessively and the brake pedal is, well, it has one. In many ways it’s wonderfully communicative which is what you want from something you’re going to take to a track, but on the road the lack of modern brakes and masses of lateral movement deprive you of confidence. But it’s also not a car for the faint-hearted or for those who lack talent. It’s something that pushes you to be a better pilot, to rise to the occasion and tame the beast. I have full respect for anyone who can get close to extracting the potential from it, something which I wasn’t willing to attempt on the public road in a car with this much provenance and a price tag of £160,000.
In truth though, it wasn’t built to be hustled down a narrow country lane and no matter how good a driver you are, you probably shouldn’t attempt it. Whoever buys the car, I hope they take it to a track and give it a fine old thrashing, because that’s what this Shelby Mustang GT350 was bred for, and that’s what it feels like it wants.
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