Shelby ‘Flying Mustang’ sells for $3.85m
Shelby “Flying Mustang’ soars to a record setting $3.85m at Mecum sale
INDIANAPOLIS _ The first Shelby GT350 “R-Model,” also known as the “Flying Mustang” sold for $3,850,000 July 16 at Mecum’s Indianapolis Spring Classic Auction. The total is believed to the highest ever paid at auction for a Mustang.
The first competition Shelby Mustang, the first to be raced and the first to win, 5R002 simultaneously served as Shelby American’s factory engineering mule, a rolling test bed for ideas and components, including those that would constitute both the second team car (5R001) and all 34 customer R-models. It was presented to the FIA for homologation for SCCA B Production class racing in 1965 and was illustrated in the official homologation papers. Ken Miles, Bob Bondurant, Chuck Cantwell, Peter Brock, Jerry Titus and several other world-class drivers drove it extensively in testing and development.
Miles’ first competition victories in Texas, Jerry Titus marched 5R002 through four consecutive SCCA B Production class wins. After its racing career was over, the car eventually wound up with Shelby collector John Atzbach, who had it restored to its original racing configuration.
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