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Extremely Rare GT500 Found And Restored

As many of you may already know, I LOVE Mustangs. As a happy Mustang owner, I am always happy to talk to anyone about the illustrious history of one of the most iconic cars ever made (even though we’re now known more for running people over). The one Mustang model that sits atop of my all time favorites list is the GT500.

This story is about a 1969 GT500 (which just so happens to be my favorite year for Mustangs). In 2014, this car surface in the Detroit area and was purchased by one Tony King, Ed Meyer, and Jason Billups, with the car being delivered to Jason’s shop, Billups Classic Cars.

This particular car was #9F03Q102336, a pre-production prototype for the 1969 convertible. Upon further research, it was revealed that although the car had been repainted and had some mechanical work done, it was in fact one of the few development prototypes, which were often driven hard and disassembled/reassembled many times.

In fact, 2336 had a number of prototype features (for the time), including a 120 MPH speedometer, power windows, square based radio antenna, 1968 Midland power brake booster and master cylinder, and a number of cosmetic features.

2336 was listed in the 1997 SAAC World Registry as the “first Mustang built at Dearborn assembly plant for conversion as a Shelby.” Four of these Shelby prototypes were ordered; two convertibles and two SportsRoofs, delivered as Mach 1 models. The two convertibles each came with 428 Cobra Jet engines, C6 automatic transmissions, Traction-Lok differentials, and an adjustable steering column.

Long story short, the pre-production Shelby GT500 #9F03Q102336 was finally unveiled to the public at the 2016 Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals in Chicago. The restoration included a completey photographed and documented log of the entire process, a brand new custm made top, a restored steering wheel, and unique wheel center caps.

Pretty much everything else is what was originally on the car, an incredible feat when you consider the abuse this car must have gone through as a prototype vehicle!

Tony Hsieh

Cars, the Buffalo Bills, video games, comics, sandwiches, jelly beans, and the shooting star press; these are the things that Tony loves (in addition to his family, of course). When he's not spending his time writing tech reviews for theslanted.com, Tony puts his lifetime love of muscle cars to use on his 2015 Mustang GT. Tony's top three favorite cars are the 1973 Mustang Mach 1, Ferrari 458, and Aston Martin DBS.

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