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1965 Shelby GT350
The 1965 Shelby GT350 was not a normal Ford option package. Ford supplied Mustang 2+2 fastbacks from San Jose for completion by Shelby American, and period and museum sources describe the program as a Shelby conversion aimed at turning the new Mustang into an SCCA B-Production contender. The target identity is therefore a 1965 Ford Mustang fastback special edition built through Shelby American, with the base relationship preserved to the 1965 Mustang fastback rather than treated as a separate factory body line.
The core recipe was deliberately narrow. Sources consistently tie the street GT350 to Ford's high-performance 289-cubic-inch V-8, revised by Shelby with induction, exhaust, aluminum dress and oiling pieces to a published 306 horsepower. Period tests record a four-speed manual gearbox, limited-slip rear axle, side-exit exhaust, the absence of the rear seat, a fiberglass hood, and chassis changes centered on Koni shocks, torque-control/traction bars, a large front anti-roll bar, revised front geometry, stronger brakes, and 15-inch performance wheels and tires.
Appearance evidence is also conservative: the sources used here support Wimbledon White cars with blue GT350 striping/trim, black two-seat interiors, fiberglass spare-tire/package-tray area, side GT350 identification, hood pins, and either standard steel wheels or optional Shelby/Cragar alloy wheels. Exact stripe paint-code treatment and every production color-code variant should still be checked against the Shelby American brochure or SAAC registry before treating it as a car-specific claim.
Production is best stated with care. The Henry Ford records give 562 first-year GT350 cars and 36 GT350R competition variants, while the Shelby American Collection separates 521 production street models before the 1966 changeover. Because period and registry counts differ by how prototypes, company cars, racers, and street cars are grouped, this record keeps both source-backed counts visible rather than forcing one reconciled total.
Authenticity is clone-sensitive. The useful source-backed markers are the Shelby SFM serial format, the 1965 year code and street/race type code, the two-seat GT350 configuration, Shelby-specific body and chassis pieces, and verification against Shelby/Ford paperwork or SAAC-style records. Captions, badges, stripes, and a fastback body alone are not treated as identity proof.