Shelby American designer Peter Brock, one of the pivotal figures in the GT350 saga, has pointed out, “finding a GT350 Mustang in almost pristine condition is more than a minor miracle; it’s headline news.” Offered after 30 years of museum- quality storage, Shelby GT350 No. SFM5013 is the very car to which Brock was referring, and it is quite likely the most well-preserved original GT350 in existence. Significantly, it has been in the careful stewardship of a small cadre of prominent collectors, beginning with its first owner, Sports Car Graphic Magazine Editor John Christy. The story of 5013 begins with its arrival at Shelby American’s Venice, California, shop on January 20, 1964, as a special-order, partially completed Mustang 2+2 from the San Jose assembly plant, as orchestrated by GT350 Project Manager Chuck Cantwell. Work began on the car, which Shelby designated an “Advanced Prototype,” on January 5, 1965, and was completed on January 25. Upon its completion, it served as a PR vehicle and appeared on an early Shelby American promotional poster. On May 20, 1965, SFM5013 was picked up by Hi-Performance Motors in Los Angeles, which sold the car to Christy. A close friend of Carroll Shelby, Christy had been in on the action swirling around Shelby American right from the start. He was one of the first to drive the fabled CSX2000, and he closely covered the Cobra’s development in the pages of Sports Car Graphic. He also completed a course at Shelby’s School of High Performance Driving and was active in SCCA racing. Invited by Shelby to test drive a new GT350 (5007), Christy famously conducted a 10,000-mile road test in the same car, from Los Angeles to Sebring, Florida, to New York City and back to Los Angeles, chronicling his experiences in the June and July 1965 issues of Sports Car Graphic. Christy was so enamored of the GT350’s performance and handling that, immediately upon completing that now-famous road trip, he committed to the purchase of 5013 on May 24, 1965. MECUM.COM • 75 “finding almos t more than a tine condition is minor mira pris a G T350 Mus t ang in it’s headline new cle; ” s.
