Parked In ’85: 1968 Shelby GT350 Barn Find!
UPDATE 12/28/2020 – This Shelby barn find was previously listed with an asking price of $135k. It’s since been relisted, but this time as an auction and bidding is currently to $75,600. If you’ve been on the hunt for a GT350, this one is definitely worth a look!
FROM 11/12/2020 – Sometimes it is the tiniest of things that will see a classic car get hidden away for years. That is the case with this 1968 Shelby GT350. A minor fender bender saw the owner so distressed that he parked the car in a barn in 1985, and that’s where it sat for the next 35-years. It has now emerged from hiding and is just begging for the right person willing to return it to active duty. The Shelby is located in Rockdale, Texas, and has been listed for sale here on eBay. The sale price has been set at $135,000. I have to say a big thank you to Barn Finders Ikey H and Kyle K, who both managed to spot this beauty for us.
Stepping back for a moment reveals the full extent of the damage that distressed the owner so much that he chose to park the car back in 1985. The minor damage to the front fender, the headlight bezel, and the tweaked front bumper is all there is. That sort of damage would have upset me, but I’m not sure that it would have been enough for me to park the GT350 for decades. This is the only damage to the body because the rest of the panels are dead straight. The owner says that the doors close easily, and the gaps look consistent for a car from this era. The Lime Gold paint on the cowl has started to peel, but the rest of it looks like it might respond well to a wash and polish. The vehicle wears all of the dust accumulated over the past 35-years, along with plenty of cobwebs. Below all of this is a classic that also appears to be completely rust-free. The floors look to be in remarkable condition, as do the frame rails and the torque box region. The lower body extremities have also avoided invasion by the dreaded tin worm, which all combines to paint a positive picture for the next owner. Most of the trim and chrome could potentially be restored, while the original Shelby hubcaps appear to be free from any visible damage.
The 1968 model year saw the 289ci V8 superseded by the 302ci unit. The 1968 GT350 was not as “hard-core” as its predecessors, but the engine still pumped out a healthy 250hp. In this case, that power finds its way to the rear wheels via a 3-speed automatic transmission. That makes this a classic that would have been capable of dispatching the ¼ mile in 15.9 seconds when the car was in its prime. The engine bay isn’t the prettiest sight on the planet, but it does have a few plus points. The first is that it is complete. The second is that it is completely original and numbers-matching. The fuel tank has been removed, and it appears that the fuel system was flushed when the car went into storage. That means that there is a possibility that this GT350 might be able to be coaxed back to life with relative ease. However, with a classic as desirable as this one, I would be inclined to check everything thoroughly before turning the key. I also believe that this is a vehicle that deserves the chance to present at its very best. With that in mind, I would probably pull the engine and detail both it and the engine bay to present as they did the day that the car rolled off the showroom floor.
When I look at this photo, my fingers start to itch! The interior of the Shelby is in great condition for a vehicle of this age. The seller identifies a couple of minor flaws, but these should be easy to address. The headliner is hanging in a couple of spots, but it just needs pulling back into place. The armrest side on the console is split, but the seller believes that this is repairable. The rest of it needs a lot of time and patience with some quality cleaning products, but the results should be well worth the effort. There have been no aftermarket additions, and the Shelby comes with its original radio and air conditioning.
Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t imagine parking a classic like this 1968 Shelby GT350 because of such minor damage. I would have bitten the bullet and had it repaired because this is not a car that deserves to be caged for 35-years. The person who buys it will be embarking on a unique ownership experience as they revive the car and return it to the road once again. I hope that this happens soon. This is a classic that has waited patiently for long enough. Its rightful place is out on the open road, not hidden away in a barn.
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Comments
It amazes me that a Mustang GT with assundry bolt on additional parts and the Shelby snake emblem can bring stupid money. And powered by a 250 hp 302?
it the name not the car and even if it was just a mustang fastback it would still be stupid money
Which makes more sense? 100K for a Shelby or 50 Million for a Jackson Pollock?
$50 mil for the Pollack
Fine art is legalized money laundering.
Laundering, Like that’s never ever happened in this hobby. What turnip truck did I fall off of?
About 100000 too much.
Please go buy one for 35, then come back and tell us all about it. And the time machine you built as well.
I was thinking $50000 too high
There’s a fully-restored Highland Green ‘68 GT 350 automatic (no A/C) with the same mileage on Hemmings right now for $115K… The 66 active bidders on this one so far have topped out at $70K. Very interested to see how high this one gets!
Enthusiasts that buy unrestored survivors are generally not interested in restored cars. They are parallel markets with different valuations.
Steve R
Indeed, to me this is worth light years more than a restored one. The irony is that it was parked because of such minor damage, while I’d be proud to drive it as is, with the damage.
I owned a red one same etc. Eish I still owned it. Paid 4800.00 dollars for it earlier 1969.
There is too much money out there for people to waste. The average Joe is out for the count, even the Farther & Son projects. I do like the rear section of this Stang. When I hit the Golden Pot, I’m going to buy several of these models to donate to the people that can’t afford them. Have a great day people.
That’s BS. There have and always will be interesting cars available at prices the “average Joe” can afford. Joe just needs to be realistic and look at what’s available rather than be fixated on a specific make or model, then put in the work to find a car. When I entered the market just out of high school in the early-80’s the cars at the top of my list were priced out of my budget. This is nothing new, rather than wallow in self pity, like some of my friends did (most of which still haven’t bought anything), I did what most people do, I looked at what was available in my price range. Instead of Shelby’s, Hemi’s, LS-6 Chevelle’s, Z28’s and GTO Judges I would buy 383 Road Runners, 390 Mustang GT fastbacks, L-79 El Camino’s and SS Camaro’s. There has never been a better time to find a used performance car at a reasonable price, the factories have produced a wide range of performance cars for the last 30+ years that are near the bottom of the depreciation curve or haven’t started rising in value. They would make the minority of people really happy. They may not be someone’s “dream car”, but those “dream cars” have always been priced well above the market. Anyone that says otherwise is lying.
Steve R
That’s why they call them “dream cars”.
That’s why this old man loves his 2007 Solstice GXP 5-Speed. Reminds me of my bought new 1972 1608cc Fiat 124 Spyder and the 1965 GTO post I should have bought for my first car . I can still walk around that car in my memory. Didn’t realize how absolutely unique that one was but I wanted a hardtop. Rear view mirroring is fine and so is the reality of Bob Lutz’s best dream, and that includes the Viper. I drive my GXP with a tip of the driving cap and a thank you to Bob.
Well Timothy, how about going ahead & putting my name at the top of your list. I want to be the first to get one of those Mustangs if your ship comes in. 😁
The “average Joe” is just that….average. He’s never achieved a higher level than average because he’s less industrious, or less inclined for self-sacrifice to achieve anything more than “average”…..they almost always blame other people for their lack of success, when they need to carry around a mirror to gaze into during the day, so they will remember who to blame. Sheeesh….
Please remember that I gave you a thumbs-up, Timothy!
I’m loving the dog in the photo.
He’s laughing at the price and recent wet tire marking of territory 😉
I agree to high for a automatic small block 🤦♂️
Mike D, the dog, and the Corvette in the background…someone is into fun!
IT’S CAR PORN! At some point, money becomes “irrelevant”. The lore of this car, the Texan who left the concert ticket in the glove box and pranged it in a car wash, obviously had plenty of money to just “park + forget” it in his garage! (The listing goes into incredible detail, even a video of the original owner who parked it, telling his tale.) One of the many reasons I enjoy “Barn Finds” is the story about the car and the “find”. I think I am addicted to “Car Porn”! My wife, who loves her Prius, puts up with me but cannot understand the fascination!
I admit I have my fantasies: Finding that 1966 mustang convertible a car guy bought for his wife or daughter who “didn’t like it”, that Porsche Speedster parked under dusty painters drop cloth, left behind by a young man who tragically passed away 53 years ago, or that mothballed Lincoln Continental outside Havannah, waiting for its Mafioso boss to return to the Casino. I can’t, ever own the collection of cars I would like, so I look at Jay Leno and go “Way to go!” and I read Barn Finds…
You get an Attaboy!
At that price, as the one picture indicates, it is best to let seeping dogs lie.
Thee are 2 yellow labs in that garage! look at pic 3. I had one that did the same thing, would never move just lay there in the hangar.
AND I don’t know HOW the dashboard is not signed by Mr Shelby.
Cant be real…..
I think I have a hot wheel mustang with these hubcaps from when I was little.
Buying something you can afford and enjoy is the basic mentality of any car enthusiast. And fortunately there is plenty to choose from, in all price ranges. For the guy or girl with a 7 figure bank account, dropping 100k+ on a car really isn’t a big deal. For the guy or girl with a 5 figure bank account, dropping 10k to 20k offers him a bunch of really nice cars.
The collector market is what drives the prices of these cars up and makes people associate the same car but lesser model with the high prices that the rare versions of these cars bring in auction.
I cannot count the amount of times someone would see a car I have and say, “wow you can retire on that thing”, implying I could sell it for 100k. I never want people to think I am loaded because I’m not, so I try to school them on the fact that they can buy these cars for under 15k if they shop around and keep their eye on the market. But they just look at me like I’m lying, so I just end up laughing and saying I wish…
I don’t think of any car as being over-priced or underpriced. The price is the price and if there is a buyer that will pay that, more power to the seller and Kudos to the buyer who got what he wanted.
My advice to any buyer is don’t buy a car that will force you to sell it, because you are out of your price range and furthermore upside down. Buy a car that you can hang on to and budget your work on the car annually.
Sounds way too responsible and I can barely do it myself, but I do my best to try. If you still want to drop 10k on a project after having and driving the car for a year or two, it’s a good indication you actually like the car, spending out of the excitement of having something new will most often leave you upside down with a pile of receipts that cannot be turned back into cash.
So just remember, when the average person sees you driving your 25k car down the road, bumping the tunes, many of them will say, wow, those things sell for over 70k, remembering something they saw on tv or on a auction site somewhere, not ever realizing it is not one of the rarer models that the collectors long for, due to the scarcity of that particular car.
Why complain about that, I am sure people don’t think that when they see your daily driver Toyota Tundra, even though it cost more than 25k.
There are so many ‘affordable’ collector cars available, there’s no reason for anyone to think there’s nothing out there. Perhaps many of them won’t appreciate to any extent, but for an enthusiast, that is at the bottom of the list of reasons to buy. Many AMC products, 4 door sedans, and specific brands (my Corvair is one) can be had for 4 figures, you just have to hunt them down, which is half the fun!
I owned a 68 GT350 convertible back in the mid 1970’s. Shelby had nothing to do with these cars, Ford had taken over production by then. The car was nothing more than a stock Mustang with fiberglass pieces added for cosmetic appearance. The car was a dog !! At the same time I also owned a 66 GT 350 (6S089) which was the real deal and a wonderful, fun car. Of course I sold them both in 1980, just before the prices skyrocketed, I try not to dwell on that.
I think the decimal point is in the wrong place on the price!!
I am no mustang expert but I find that ‘302’ highly suspicious being they didnt get dropped into the mustangs until ’70? Especially a 250hp one in a shelby? No way! That ‘J’ code makes sense for a ’70 mustang grande, for which I once had. So I would like to see the Marti report on this.
Disregard, I guess they did make the 302 for ’68. In a GT350, don’t know why it wasn’t a 351 or 352. Just talked w/ my cuz back in Newtown, CT., as he restores only Mustang GT’s & Shelbys for a living the last 37+ yrs & has a nice ’67 GT w/ a 390 & a ’68 Shelby GT500, both near mint. So he said I was mistakin. He said this one here he’d be lucky to get $80k as the market is getting soft on the one-time higher end models. He was offered $200k for his ’68 red Shelby 500 at a show in CT in summer of ’19 & regrets he didn’t take it.
As usual,Steve R is Right as Rain .
That said,this seller is looking for” King of the Road” money,for a peasant on the road,low spec Gt 350.Market value is 70-80k.
People are dreamers. I agree work the guy who said this overpriced by $100,000.
That’s way too high maybe 30 or 40 gs at tops! The owner of this car must have fallen and hit his head!
IMHO, anyone who pays $135,000.00 for a NOT running ‘fixer’ car needs their head examined by a clinical Psychologist.
Least desirable color, least desirable year, worst engine ever offered, and those hubcaps. In four short model years these went from good to garbage. Must be a terror with the air on as what little power it has struggles through that slushbox.
Also wonder why the rear wheel wells have the ugly chrome trim while the fronts do not.
Did the same vendor also sell these do-not-use-a-lugwrench! hubcaps
to Chevy in ’68? I think so.
Is that inside assist strap on the driver’s door stock?
I wonder if there are any dyncorn ’60s shelby stangs out there.
I hope the dog is alive.
It’s awesome. But I really can’t rationalize it over my Viper. It was 70 k with 4900 miles on it. It’s a 2009. I bought it when it was 3 years old. It’s 600 hp and still a drivers car.
This car was featured on a YouTube video when it was unearthed. There are several issues with it – the motor is not the original, the A/C was added in the early 70’s, and the car was previously involved in a more significant accident which took out the entire left front corner. The buyer paid $75k for the car as it sat. Who knows what he has into it now.
The world of early Mustangs and their strong collector following has been strong for decades, highly popular when new and it’s never let up. Shelbys have never been a cheap car for me regardless of horsepower or lack thereof which in my teens goes back to the early eighties. It’s okay though, I got my run of the mill ’66 Mustang coupe to get up okay in high school.
Even really nice ’69 Z/28’s were kind of expensive back then. Nothing has really changed but inflation.
You’ve got to admire the visionary who stored this thing when it was just a used up, unwanted, unattractive, automatic Mustang with a Ford-factory-installed trim package. Brilliant. The temptation had to be there to let this pony go to the glue factory and put something more appealing in its place.
$77k now and reserve not met.
To JoeNYWF64,
Yes, the door pulls are original equipment. They are the same ones as used on the 1967 and 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7 models. They were also used some other Mustang models with certain styles of interior.
Was wondering what the dog sees underneath?
15.9 in the 1/4 mile? That can’t be right, unless driven by a 95 year old granny. My 73 AMX with smog control in place on the 360ci/220hp ran 15.0 all day long.
I’d say it was optimistic, mid 16’s more like it. A real GT 350 from 1965 or 66 with a good 289, not this POS 302 only did 15’s.
Not a drag racer, for that the GT500 will deliver respectable times with the 428. I don’t know if this could muster high fifteens dead stock, even with fresh plugs, ha ha