Words & photos: Gary Rosier
Kelly Brown of New Smyrna Beach, Fl owns this stunning original example of a ’66 Shelby GT 350 “carryover” Mustang (SFM6S209). It’s painted the original Wimbledon White with the Royal Guardsman Blue stripes, as 250 of the 252 “Carryover” Shelbys were. Kelly found the car after much searching, researching and verifying of its authenticity. This Shelby is well documented and its authenticity is verified by Howard Pardee – the registrar of the Shelby American Automobile Club.
This Shelby is a numbers matching 66 GT350! It retains the original 289 Hi-Po engine, 4-speed T10 transmission and 9-inch rear end. Perhaps the most important aspect of this Shelby is that it has its original rust free body, having lived its life in Texas under the careful ownership of several NASA engineers since new.
The original owner enjoyed the car for its intended purpose of drag racing! He drag raced it regularly on weekends. When he decided to sell the car, he sold it to his good friend who also was an engineer at NASA. Eventually, it was bought by a well known Shelby broker who sold it to an executive… who had no time for the car! Kelly Brown is the documented fourth owner of this car.
Shelby GT350s are held in high regard today and highly sought after by collectors. Carroll Shelby built 502 1965 Shelby Mustangs. They were street legal race cars with extensive modifications.
Shelby bought Mustangs from Ford with 289 Hi-Po engines and then in Venice, California he worked his magic on them, installing modifications that would make them very fast race cars. Shelby’s creation was a long way from the “secretary’s car” envisioned by Lee Iacocca and the Ford bosses. Instead it was a Thoroughbred!
The Shelby here is a 1966 Carryover GT350. It’s both really a 1965 and a 1966! How can this be? Easy: In late 1965, Shelby delivered 252 1965 Mustangs with 289 Hi-Po engines. The 1965 GT350s were considered a little too “racy” with mods that included a battery in the trunk (which caused problems including fumes in the passenger compartment). So Shelby was considering softening the 1966 cars with more street friendly mods.
Remember, these cars were built with no A/C, no power steering, no power brakes, no power windows – just a solid lifter high-performance 289 V-8! She was built to run, and run she does! She is a beast to drive, says Kelly!
Wrap yourself in the original Ray Brown competition seat belts and start up the engine – right away you hear the loud V-8 lope. The clutch is stiff and is unforgiving to the novice. It’s easy to stall and is either in or it is moving forward… and fast! It is a monster to drive, he says, but totally exciting! His first drive was a bit unnerving, but left him wanting more.
The “Carryover” Shelbys have the “go-fast” goodies of the ’65 cars and the “looks” of the 66 cars as follows:
CARRYOVER ’66 Features:
1965 Upholstery, all smooth including door panels and hardware
1965 Radio blockoff plate
1965 Glove box with no 4 way flasher switch in glovebox
1965 Vin tag and style
1965 Date codes on all parts
1965 engine and drivetrain with black painted engine and tags, lowered a-arms (after 6s253 no ’66 Shelby had the lowered “a-arms”)
Override traction bars
15in wheels
Fiberglass hood with steel frame
(Note: There are many 1965 similar mods on the Carryover Shelbys but the above items are the most important).
The FOLLOWING are the 1966 MODS that ALL CARRYOVER Shelbys have:
1966 Grille
1966 Functional quarter windows
1966 GT 350 Gas cap
1966 “Cobra” tach mounted on top of the dash
1966 Simulated woodgrain deep dish Mustang GT Steering wheel
1966 Rear shelf with no back seat (only 95 of the carryover cars had the “package” shelf instaed of the back seat).
The instrument bezel is completely unique to the carryover 66 Shelby’s
Other “goodies” on this particular car include BFGoodrich T/A 225/60R15 tires and a Hurst Competition Plus shifter handle.
Kelly is a retired Ford engineer (Director of Environmental Engineering for Global Ford – for over 33 years). He is a car enthusiast to the core. A 65 K code 2 dr convertible, ’07 Shelby GT 500, 2012 Boss Laguana Seca, 2016 GT 350 – a “modern” twin to this ’66 GT350 and even a ’31 Model “A” Deluxe Roadster are just a few of his toys parked in his massive garage.
I asked Kelly how in the world does he ever get this car to some of the car shows, cruise-ins etc around here. He drives it, he says emphatically! He tells me, “Carol Shelby always said they were meant to be driven not trailed” – so he drives it. And so it is one cool Shelby GT 350!
