In the meantime, 5R002 made its racing debut on a brisk but sunny Valentine’s Day (February 14, 1965) at Green Valley Raceway near Dallas, Texas, where it made history as America’s first Mustang in space. The image leapt from the pages of practically every enthusiast magazine in the country and spread through the motoring world like a stampede: a Wimbledon White Ford Mustang fastback, soaring over a rise at full song and clearing terra firma by a foot, a grinning Ken Miles at the reins. Frozen in mid-flight, the first competition GT350 was on its way to sweeping the B Production races that day, proving to one and all the Mustang’s transformation—in the words of Hot Rod magazine—from a “gentle little colt into a roaring, snorting stallion.” The marketing campaign that followed built on the media sensation created by the so-called “Flying Mustang” photo, which branded the GT350 as an exciting winner right out of the gate. It was the first win by a GT350—on its first outing— and the first of three straight class wins that day for Miles in his new Mustang racer. A post-race Shelby press release touted the GT350 as “a true dual-purpose sports car that is a top performer on and off the track.” Images of the Flying Mustang soon appeared in Shelby marketing materials with the claim, “See, our Mustangs really fly!” Simply put, the GT350 overwhelmed its competition. Just two weeks after Miles’ first victories in Texas, Jerry Titus marched 5R002 through four consecutive SCCA B Production class wins on March 3 and 4 at Pomona, California, and March 20 and 21 at Tucson, Arizona, followed on April 18 by a second-place at Riverside, class wins on April 24 and 25 at Phoenix, and another on May 30 at Santa Barbara. That same month, 5R002 appeared on the cover of the May issue of Road & Track, where it posed with GT40 103, the factory competition Cobra CSX2513 and a beaming Carroll Shelby. Inside was a detailed and well-illustrated comparison of street and competition GT350s featuring a street model and 5R002. It was also featured in the movie “Shelby Goes Racing with Ford,” in which it was driven by the legendary Peter Brock at Willow Springs Raceway. GT350 Project Engineer Chuck Cantwell got into the action in July at Willow Springs, scoring a second in the regional B Production on the 24th and winning the class in the national race the following day. Ed Leslie took the reins two weeks later in a non-championship race at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, scoring second in BP behind Jerry Titus in 5R001 on August 8. With 5R001 completed and in the hunt, 5R002 resumed duties as a factory engineering car for further development of the GT350R program, including an arduous 2,000-mile tire test conducted by Goodyear at Daytona. Immediately thereafter, on November 28, it took up racing again at the same venue for the SCCA American Road Race of Champions (ARRC), where it was entered as an alternate to be driven by Chuck Cantwell. Unfortunately for Cantwell, all the qualifiers showed up to race, leaving him sidelined. Jerry Titus in 5R001 won the race and the B Production championship, but since the title was based on driver’s points, the many wins he scored while barnstorming in March through May are credited to 5R002. On February 12, 1966, 5R002 returned to Green Valley with Jerry Titus. Titus won B Production, finishing 12th overall in the Saturday regional race, but in the Sunday national race he finished second in class behind the speedy Pedro Rodriguez in the Gene Hamon-sponsored GT350R. According to the factory invoice included in the car’s documentation, on March 31, 1966, Shelby American sold 5R002 for $4,000 as a “test car – as is” to Bill Clawson of Dearborn, Michigan, an engineer in the Ford Performance Division in Dearborn reporting directly to division head Ray Geddes. Geddes was instrumental in negotiating the sale of 5R002 from Shelby American to Clawson, convincing Ford to pay part of the purchase price, as well as transport and delivery costs. He also arranged for Ford to secretly provide sponsorship while Clawson raced 5R002, as documented in the numerous receipts and working notes Clawson kept on file and that now accompany the car. In fact, Clawson kept unusually extensive documentation on this car, as well as his specific correspondence with Shelby American