Photo: YouTube/Legendary Motorcar
“Compared to today, gas was cheap, but driving was getting expensive.” And why, you might ask, was driving to work getting expensive? “Well, gas wasn't easy.” It was 1967 and the car was a Mustang, and an ad in a car magazine caught the eye of a young man. He was so excited that he went ahead and bought one and kept it for 58 years.
Sadly, he didn’t drive it for the entire half-century he owned it, as gas prices made it an occupational hazard rather than an expensive hobby. In 1997, he parked the car in a barn and focused on more economical options. Usually, with old age comes wisdom, but in this case, old age brought with it the inability to drive the car, one of only 1,174 Ford Mustangs to feature the 306-horsepower 289 V8.
That particular detail kind of gives it away, doesn’t it? Ford never produced a 300+ horsepower 289, but someone very close to FoMoCo did. Carroll Shelby was tasked with injecting some serious horsepower into the pony car, and his company had been rolling out the Shelby GT350 since 1965, with appreciable results. However, 1967 brought with it a unique offering for high-performance Mustang enthusiasts: the GT500 and its first big-block, the legendary 428-cubic-foot (seven-liter) powerplant.
Sales shot for the moon, and they did: The GT500 sold like hotcakes, outselling its small-block sibling by nearly two to one. By the end of the model year, the Shelby American record books showed 2,048 examples of the mighty GT500 had been sold. It probably helped that the big-bore Mustang cost only $200 more than the base GT350, but it delivered more than its money’s worth.
Photo: YouTube/Legendary Motorcar
That’s not to say the 4.7-liter small-block’s 306 horsepower, 329 lb-ft (310 PS, 446 Nm) was a lazy combination, but it sure helped to take a big-block to the local strip and line it up next to a GTO or a Coronet R/T or a Hemi Charger. The guy who saw the ad in ’67 figured he could use the $200 for something else, so he went with the GT350.
The high-revving engine wasn’t a gas guzzler of epic proportions, but it was a thirsty little devil nonetheless, and it didn’t take long for this Achilles heel to start to hurt. When the oil embargo threw America into the hard senses of geopolitics, cars like the 1967 Shelby Mustang GT350 were crucified. The energy crisis never really abates, with oil prices steadily rising until pre-malaise cars became luxury goods to be owned and used daily.
Some found safe havens in barns, and this green example was locked away in a Virginia shed at some point in time. That was 27 years ago, and the owner, faced with the unforgiving reality of aging, decided to part with his trusty Shelby Mustang. The longtime (and only) owner is so far keeping mileage to a minimum, at least not on camera, but the car has had an engine overhaul.
Photo: YouTube/Legendary Motorcar
It also has a thick layer of barn dust all over it, but it looks much worse than it actually is. The underside is clean and, importantly!, original. The factory applied red primer is still visible – this car has been driven with a weather forecast in hand, or has seen very little action on the pavement.
In any case, the buyer, a dealer in Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada, agreed to take the keys (and other related accessories) for a cool five thousand pounds. Apparently, the car was running and driving when Bruce (the long-time owner) parked it, but it hasn't been resurrected since. A thick layer of barn dust makes it difficult to assess its condition, especially on camera, but the attached video gives us a pretty good idea of what this car is all about.
The interior is clean and, more importantly, in place, and the YouTuber says it smells better than it looks, which is an oddity in itself given how long-lost barn finds tend to go. Also, the camera work isn't helping us get a good overall assessment of the Mustang, but it's clear that this GT350 is a major restoration project in waiting.
Photo: YouTube/Legendary Motorcar
Being an automatic (the console-mounted T-shifter with a lockup gives it away), this example has a 3.50:1 rear end (mandatory gearing with the heavy-duty three-speed Cruise-O-Matic). This long-forgotten Shelby Mustang was likely assembled in mid-February of '67 (the '1169' sequence on the Shelby VIN is proof positive). Of the 1967 Cobra-badged small-block Mustangs built, 353 were equipped with automatic transmissions, and 410 of those were ordered in Dark Moss Green over a black interior.
At this point, I’m very curious about the future of this car, given how original, immaculately maintained examples change hands for six figures. The most expensive example on public record sold in March 2023 for just under 300k. The buyer of our one-owner survivor claims he got it for $50,000, so there’s plenty of overhead to budget for a remodel if needed and still turn a tidy profit.
