1969 Ford Mustang

Vehicle Overview

This is a 1969 Shelby GT500 in its original Candyapple Red color, and black interior. The Shelby was fully restored during a 6 year project, right down to the last nut and bolt. The condition is near perfect, with only 87,000 or so original miles on it. The factory options include air conditioning, tinted windows (comes with a/c), AM radio (an option back in those early days), fold down 2+2 rear seat, and a C6 automatic transmission (required with factory air conditioning). The Shelby is in pure stock condition other than the front door glass being replaced with 1970 bolt-through glass, as opposed to the original glue-in glass, which had been a failed experiment by Ford in 1969. We still have the glued-in glass were we ever to decide to revert to a pure stock vehicle - not likely on that point. The engine has had one factory authorized alteration made, and two warranty repairs that required a few original pars to be replaced. The original automatic choke Holley 750 CFM carburetor was replaced with a Holley 750 CFM carburetor with a manual choke. This was a factory campaign/recall to help better manage cold engine high idle speeds that had been causing several accidents. Both the original and the replacement Holley carburetors feature vacuum secondaries, and despite being a pre-1992 design with the Power Valve Protection Circuit, we have never had a Power Valve rupture or fail as yet. The manual choke mechanism works perfectly. But, unless it is very cold, the engine starts and runs at lower temperatures just fine with no choke being applied. The only other modification (warranty repair related) was with one of the 428's cylinder heads and intake manifold being replaced under warranty. Reportedly the cylinder head cracked, and the crack was in an area that caused damage to the intake manifold. The other cylinder head and engine block (and transmission) are numbers matching to the VIN.

Vehicle Story

Future Plans

This Shelby has been owned by no less than 4 prior enthusiasts, that together managed to keep it in terrific condition, especially following the expert restoration that was performed by Paul Cote and Anthony Di Labio, of Ottawa, Canada. Being the current owners, we plan to preserve and maintain it to the highest level of condition possible. The intent is to pass the Shelby down to our heirs, along with several other 1973 Mustangs (Mach 1 and Convertible, and a 2020 Shelby GT500. Fortunately good, even oem/NOS parts are still plentiful, other than Motorcraft BSF32 Spark Plugs that ended production a few years ago. Folks have been told to use a hotter BSF42 plug instead. But, I purchased about 10 sets of BSF32 plugs via ebay as soon as I heard they were being discontinued. So we have enough plugs to last a few decades! So far, the Shelby has proven to be a very reliable vehicle, never leaving us stranded or in a lurch. The engine cooling system is well designed and works perfectly even on hot Summer days with the air conditioning turned on. Although we do drive the Shelby around town, and to car shows, it is not a daily driver. It is well balanced and has great road manners. Of all the muscle/pony/sports cars we have, this one is my absolute favorite.