1965 Shelby GT350 Fastback Tribute

- Stock Fastback Mustang
- Shelby GT350 Livery
- Gray with Black Stripes
- 289 V8
- Automatic Transmission
- Wood Dash and Wheel

(Please note: If you happen to be viewing this 1965 Shelby GT350 Fastback Tribute on a website other than our Garage Kept Motors site, it's possible that you've only seen some of our many photographs of the car due to third-party website limitations. To be sure you access all of the more than 145 photographs, as well as a short start-up and walk-around video, please go to our main website: Garage Kept Motors.)

“Homage to the Tribute Car” - Hagerty Media, November 2020

Hagerty writer, Sam Smith, made a strong (and apt) case: “Tribute cars let you drive and share historic moments that might be otherwise doomed to a quiet life of little more than display. By way of example, several years ago, my garage held a 1965 Ford Mustang fastback. From 20 feet, the car appeared to be a lightly modified GT350—rocker stripes, a small-block and a clutch pedal, rear-fender scoops, an R-model front valance and gauges. In reality, the car was born as a no-frills, regular-production coupe. Decades later, someone worked it over, making it drive like and visually resemble its more valuable sibling. I bought the Ford partly because I didn't have the bank account for a real '65 GT350, and partly because I adored how it worked. (Fast and snorty, with raw, predictable handling—what's not to love?) My car didn't quite feel like a real Shelby, but who's counting? I drove it hard and often, on back roads and road trips, in the rain and sweltering heat, leaving stop signs sideways in clouds of tire smoke, often with my dog shedding all over the passenger seat. Several months into ownership, while pumping gas in some rural town in the middle of nowhere, it occurred to me that had I been fortunate enough to own a real '65 GT350, I probably wouldn't have driven it in the same carefree, glorious fashion.”

Offered here is an original 289-cubic inch V8 1965 Mustang Fastback (born at Ford's San Jose Assembly Plant) that has been professionally and painstakingly converted to a tribute to the Shelby GT350 of the same year. It is true to the ethic Sam Smith described above: not a duplicate of a GT350, but rather a car designed to pay homage to that historic automobile while creating a one-of-a-kind tribute, a car that can still be driven as it was intended, rather than locked away in a storage building. Currently showing 49,884 miles on its odometer, the Mustang has traveled just 890 miles per-year since new.

The exterior pewter metallic finish—a shade no Shelby was painted at the factory—was a beautiful choice, and the black racing stripes the perfect complement. The paint finish is smooth and uniformly glossy, the result of a professional application. In the same way, the painted twin top stripes are perfectly applied (note the application over the hood scoop and below the bumpers), and free of cracks or other imperfections. Chrome bumpers, side mirror, door handles, and window trim show very well with minimal patina. (To best assess the quality of the paint and trim finishes, be sure to view the close-up photographs of the car in the accompanying gallery.) Factory badging is limited to the F-o-r-d letters on the hood, “289” engine badges on the front fenders, and the “Cobra®-GT350”-branded gas-filler cap. Cabin glass and lighting lenses are clear and free of blemishes. American Muscle® Legend Series gloss-black-5-spoke, 15-inch wheels are mounted with Maxtour® Radial GT 205/60 performance tires.

Inside, the color theme is black, and classic Mustang. Low-back bucket seats are upholstered in vertically pleated black vinyl. Door trim includes a black vinyl, chrome-trimmed insert on black painted metal. Black carpeting, protected by “Cobra” carpet mats in front, covers the cabin floors. A wood-rimmed, brushed-metal, 3-spoke steering wheel frames the full, 5-opening gauge cluster—140-mph speedometer, fuel, oil-pressure, electrical output, and coolant temperature—set in woodgrain trim (some black paint deterioration is noted on the lower dash). The glove-box door features matching woodgrain and the Mustang emblem. The T-shifter for the automatic transmission is located on the chrome-trimmed deluxe console (which also shows light surface deterioration).

Under the hood, a perfectly clean and tidy engine bay houses the 289-cubic-inch Ford V8 beneath a chrome, Shelby-embossed, open-sided air cleaner, chrome Ford Performance valve covers, and an unpainted manifold. All components are properly mounted and all hoses and wiring correctly routed. Viewed from below, the chassis is straight and undamaged. The full-length performance exhaust system is a visual focal point. Rust-inhibiting spray covers much of the metal.

The original VIN markings remain in place in multiple locations.

While the more than 145 high-definition photographs and the short walk-around-and-startup video available on the GarageKeptMotors website showcase this '65 GT350 Tribute in detail from every angle, including from below, we expect and encourage in-person inspections at our Grand Rapids, Michigan showroom. Please call to arrange an appointment in advance as our showroom is not open to the public. And feel free to get in touch anytime by phone or email if you have questions.

Sam Smith concluded: “Classic cars are nothing if not shareable joy, and in that light, the tribute car is as egalitarian as it gets. There's also a shared connection with ideas we cherish around here: Learn your history, and appreciate what came before. Carve out your piece of the rock, and don't worry what others think. And most of all, when in doubt, fling open that garage door and just drive the thing.”

Sounds right to us.