51 / 113
s I’ve gotten older, I decided I
did not want to manage five col-
lector cars. I also think in the
next ten years or so, demand for most
of our treasured Shelby Mustangs will
decline as the younger generation does
not have the same passion for our cars.
So why not consolidate a couple of cars
into a 2005-06 Ford GT? It is a FORD
manufactured supercar with a pas-
sionate following, without the mainte-
nance of a 1960’s high performance
Shelby Mustang, and the engine is
easily accessible – unlike a big-block
Shelby!
So my quest for a Ford GT was on.
First, I needed to sell a couple of cars
to raise some funds and downsize. The
decision to sell my 1968 427-powered
GT500 was not an easy one. I’d owned
it since 1984, put a lot of sweat and
blood into making it the perfect car I
always wanted, and it received atten-
tion in a number of magazines includ-
ing the SAAC annual and on the front
cover of the 1968-1969-1970 SAAC
Registry. I did not want to sell my
1965 GT 350, so the ‘68 had to go. This
is the white car on the front cover of
the SAAC registry. I listed it on the
SAAC forum at $125K and there was
no interest. A couple of weeks later I
listed it on eBay for the same price
and sold it in one day at my $125K
asking price. I just had to deliver it
from central Texas to Phoenix, which
my dependable 7.3 Superduty diesel
handled without a hitch. It is now a
cornerstone car of a major car and mo-
torcycle collection.
My specifications for a Ford GT
were very specific. It had to be a white,
four-option, red caliper car. Four op-
tions mean it has the optional forged
wheels, LeMans stripes, a McIntosh
stereo and painted brake calipers.
Luckily, 4038 Ford GTs were made,
and approximately 18% of production
(728 cars) were white cars. Most cars
(86% or 3492 cars) had stripes, 85%
(3413 cars) had the optional McIntosh
stereo, and 53% (2121 cars) of produc-
tion had red calipers. So there were
many more cars with my specs to
choose from than rear battery 1965
Shelbys. I didn’t think it would be
much of a search.
Prices on Ford GTs seem to be dic-
tated primarily by four factors:
mileage, options, color, and whether
they have ever been damaged. Rarer
colors demanded higher prices, and
damaged cars seem to be a $50K-
$100K discount. 2006 Heritage cars
seem to be at least a $50K premium to
other colors.
The first thing I did was place a
wanted ad on the Ford GT forum. I
had three replies. The first reply came
from a car located in Canada. It was in
the hands of the original owner and it
was a Canadian market built car. Did
you know that they are different, and
the market values them differently?
The rear bumper has a spacer in it for
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Fall 2016 49
– Rick Thompson
A