The Cobra Caravan GT350 R
In 1965, Shelby American packed up a rotating cast of six cars – a Cobra Daytona coupe, a GT 40, 289, and 427 Cobras, and two GT350 Mustangs, a standard GT350 and this GT350 R – and took them on a 12-city tour they called the Cobra Caravan. Frustrated by the lack of attention and PR from Ford after winning the GT World Championship, the Caravan was Shelby’s very public way of making sure the country knew what they were capable of. Of course, the 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans the following year would be publicity the world never forgot.
Among the exotic Shelby Cobras of the Caravan was this Wimbledon White GT350 R, which at a glance was not too different from a regular fastback Mustang, or even the production GT350. However, it was a different beast in most every way. With a price tag of $6,000, it was about $1,300 more than a road-going GT350, and double that of a regular 289 fastback. The Shelby-built, 289 V8 made a rumoured 350 bhp and yielding an amazing power-to-weight ratio in its lightweight form. A long list of competition parts was highlighted by the unique deep front fibreglass air scoop, fully striped out race-ready interior, Plexiglas side windows, race fuel tank, headers, competition exhaust, American Racing Torq-Thrust wheels, and riveted aluminum rear louvers. The car yielded a 5.5 second 0-60 time and 13.6 second quarter-mile.
RM Sotheby's will be offering this special Shelby GT350 R at their upcoming Arizona auction between the 18-19th January 2018. The estimated value is between $1,000,000 - $1,200,000. For more information on this and other vehicles at the sale, click on the link below. Photos: Robin Adams ©2017 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's.