Dennis Collins is on a mission to track down even more of the Holy Grail Ford Mustang | Taza Khabre

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• Dennis Collins decided to find the best and most famous examples of Ford Mustangs, particularly the 1965-1970 generation.
• Collins is particularly interested in 1967 Shelby Mustangs, including a mysterious engineering car whose history is shrouded in mystery.
• At the event, Collins explores a variety of rare Mustangs, including a black 1967 Shelby GT350, a Brittany Blue GT500 and a dark blue GT350 with a special history.

Dennis Collins knows a thing or two about finding rare vehicles. One of his favorite cars of all time is Ford Mustangin particular, the generation of 1965-1970 muscle car. His latest YouTube video shows him heading to the Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) meeting where he hopes to see some of the most incredible Mustangs in the world.

He tries to find some of the best and most “holy grails”, such as examples Ford Mustang from this event. In particular, he wants some iconic 1967 Shelby Mustangs. It’s a mission that Collins wants to succeed with because of his love of muscle cars, even though he’s already found some amazing Mustangs in the past.

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Collins works hard to find incredible mustangs

What makes this engineered Shelby GT350 so mysterious

• Used in commercials with the late Carroll Shelby
• Its history is a mystery because of its developmental nature
• The car was probably originally painted a deep candy red
• Moss green is the color this car was most famous for

Collins is looking for several Mustangs, one of which is already the Mustang he has his eye on. The first Mustang he looks at is a 1966 model that he and his friends don’t know the history of, although they believe it’s an engineering machine. This is a car that will evolve, making various changes throughout its life. It is more difficult to find out what role this Mustang played in the development of the muscle car.

This car was painted in Moss Green from new and there are photos of the famous Carroll Shelby with the car and it also appeared in commercials. There is a famous photo of Shelby with a Mustang in a promo shot that shows this Mustang with the creator of the Shelby Mustang. After advertising, the car appeared at the Detroit Auto Show in late November 1966. The placement of the emblems on the front fenders, which is different from the usual production examples, indicates that the car in the promotional image looks like a Detroit Mustang.

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Collins and his team want to find out what the machine did after its PR duties were over. They see that the 1969 and 1970 Mustang parts are now on the car. Figuring out whether they are factory additions or from the previous owner is a completely different task. The car has a supercharger emblem on the side of the fenders. However, Collins and company aren’t sure if this is an owner addition or genuine, and that the car had a supercharger at some point in its life.

Dennis reviews some of the best mustangs at the show

1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 Engine Specifications

(Technical specifications are provided Heacock Classic)

This potentially supercharged Mustang isn’t the only example of a muscle car Collins is trying to get more information about. Among the incredible muscle cars on display is a black 1967 Mustang Shelby GT350, an early Shelby model. This is car #51, it spent most of its life in Peru. What makes it so special is that it is finished in black, which already makes it rare, and is the GT350’s four-speed manual transmission in black. Only 20 examples of the GT350 were ever made in this color with this transmission.

In total, there were only 31 automatic GT350s and only three GT500s in black, with two of them four-speeds and one automatic. Moving on from Shelby Black, we move on to the Brittany Blue GT500, an example of one of the most desirable colors for any Mustang of the era. The black GT350 had a flat tail panel. But the blue Mustang has an embossed dash. The rise of the panel was done so that the lights were illuminated further back, so owners could easily remove the spare wheel.

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The Mustang also has a fiberglass hood and hood and has been beautifully restored by its owner. Moving away from the bright Brittany Blue, there is a stunning Lime Gold/Green car that catches Collin’s eye. Some of them originally had a bronze color, and then changed to lime green. It was a popular color, with about 25 percent of Shelby Mustangs coming in this unusual green color. Lime Green is also the most frequently changed factory color of any Mustang. The owners do not feel such love for the color as for blue or black.

A dark blue Shelby GT350 catches Collin’s eye

What makes this one owner Shelby GT350 so special

• It has been a one-owner car since its introduction in the late 1960s
• The owner wanted a Moss Green Shelby, but the seller ticked the wrong box
• It has 8,000 original miles from new
• Carroll Shelby personally assisted the owner in racing the car

Collins then moves on to a really nice example of a GT350 in navy blue and was lucky enough to speak with the owner. This is a truly special specimen and has only had 8,000 miles on the clock since new. The owner has had this car since it was new and since he was only 19 years old, giving it a special history. The owner worked in the high performance department of the Shelby dealership in his youth, receiving and servicing cars.

The owner ordered the car, and on the day of unloading from the dealer, he did not even suspect that it was his car. He ordered a Dark Moss Green car, but the seller ticked the wrong box. Despite this, as with the new Mustang GT3, he wanted to race and Mr. Shelby himself told the young teenager that he would help with that. So in the trunk he found an intake manifold, an extra carburetor, and many other racing components. Shelby provided them himself, free of charge, to allow the young man to race his new GT350.

A red 1968 Shelby is another exhibit at the show

Pricing

(Price data provided classic.com and Car and driver)

Collins is looking at a beautiful Shelby GT500 KR in red with white stripes, and it was the only air-conditioned example sold in the midwestern United States. Only 16 examples of the legendary Mustang GT500 KR muscle car left the Ford factory, and this example has undergone a major restoration to bring it to pristine factory condition. Collins was pleased to learn that it’s also a four-speed manual, which is the most enjoyable of the transmission options. The interior is immaculate, a credit to its owner and a friend who helped restore it.

Source: Dennis Collins YouTube Channel, Heacock Classic, Car and Driver