original 66 shelby gt-350 engine for sale

Ok you asked

Like anything with value and cars it all really depends on the particular buyer.

With anything you do with these cars (within reason) you increase the attractiveness to one and decrease it to another.

IMHO (please do not take this as an insult as it is not meant to be) I’ve never understood why owners attempt to make their fake Shelby more a “real” one by adding parts that came from another car. For me a car with an original Shelby engine might make the car more interesting…… but as a donor car (pull the engine and replace it with something else).

I am sure that you will get other opinions that differ greatly. …. You asked

 

This becomes a very slippery slope...what I am about to describe does not necessarily reflect what will happen, but has happened in the past.

Guy buys car, makes it as close as possible to the real deal, starts telling people about all the Shelby parts on it, etc. car is as close to being the real deal as possible, maybe owner puts one of the repo Shelby tags on it, makes up a VIN (SFM 5 S 579 anyone?) but did not start life as a Shelby, no legit VIN.

Car is sold, new owner takes what he knows (all Shelby parts are authentic, etc.) starts passing car off as legit....

IMHO, cars should stay as they were, clones should be built with repo parts, but that's just my 2 cents.

Mike

 

Personally I would make every effort to reunite the original engine with the car it came from, if it still exists. Howard Pardee is very helpful in situations like this.

 

I strongly second that.

IMHO, when building a clone, you have to do what adds to your enjoyment, not what you think will add value in someone else's mind. The truth is, a well done clone will probably not be as valuable as the time and money that was spent in creating it. I'm not bashing on clones, I'm just trying to make the point that your investment is in your enjoyment of the car (which is a good investment in my mind). If you're looking for an true investment grade car, a clone is probably not the right choice.

If it were me, I would build it with one thing in mind; to have fun building it with the end result being a car that's fun to drive and enjoy. If you plan to sell it when you finish it, I doubt if you'll get a decent return on your investment using NOS or original Shelby parts. It's hard for me not to feel like it would be sacrilege to use real, used Shelby parts for a clone.

I think Mike nailed it... there are a great number of reproduction parts out there that would work great in a clone. Branda has everything you'd need. If it were me and I had an unlimited budget to build a fun driver and I wanted to build period correct car, I'd call Cobra Automotive and have them build me a motor.

Josh

 

I think you and I were typing at the same time. I hadn't seen your post when I was writing mine, so a lot of what I said you had already addressed in the post before. If the car's MIA, and having the heartbeat of the real deal under the hood increases your enjoyment, then by all means go for it. As far as your question regarding future value of the car, I'd venture a guess that you may be better off in the future separating the car and the motor and selling the motor individually, dropping a simple crate motor (or another used motor) in the car and selling it that way.

But if you're not going to sell it until you're in Depends, who cares. Have fun now and enjoy it the way you want it.

 

I would have to suggest that if the original Shelby that engine was in is gone, it should first be used in another '66 GT350 that has lost its original engine.
Believe or not HiPo 289 blocks are getting scarce, especially 5 bolt blocks.

 

I certainly think you have the right to do anything you want, we "Fortunate few" who have Shelby's do not have "rights" to all (or any) of the parts out there.
I tend to look at it from a historical standpoint - I like to see original cars and parts as intended and built "back in the day".
Hell, if you know for certain that the original car is gone, most of the case is a moot point, but Jeff's suggestion that a car in need gets it is valid as well.
I suspect that you could make a nice penny selling to a owner in that situation and build a monster crate engine and put the extra $ in your pocket.

Mike

 

I agree 100% with Mike. Nobody can tell you what to do, but to me, it's not the fortunate few that have rights to the parts, it's the cars that have the rights. Those fortunate few are just the current caretakers. The way I see it, somebody is taking care of my future car right now, and I want them to have as many original parts as possible.

Now, stepping back for a second and putting myself in your shoes... if I had a lot of original parts for a Shelby (or Shelbys), I doubt very highly if I'd be willing to part with any of them. My motivation might be different in that I'd be keeping them with the mindset that I hope to get a car someday, but in the end that's still keeping someone else from having them for a car in need right now. So ultimately, it's good thing you're thick skinned as you say, because people have all sorts of different opinions and some are more willing to "share" them than others. I guess I feel that the cars, not the owners, have rights to those parts, but I also acknowledge that that's an easy thing to say when I'm not the one with a garage full of cool parts.

By the way, not all current owners came to own their cars through good fortune. Some made it a personal goal, and worked very hard to attain that goal. Just ask Mike how he came to own 5 017. I doubt if he'll say luck or fortune had much to do with it... more like hard work and a lot of persistence.

I have a friend who owns a clone that was built by a Shelby restoration shop who had a client with a '66 carryover car who wanted everything replaced with new parts. The shop was wise enough to keep all the old parts and transfer them to a fastback and create one of the nicest clones out there. I'm sure the owner of the real car is kicking himself to this day. Now, hopefully, when my friend gets tired of his car and goes to sell it, he'll offer it to Shelby owners first. That would be the right thing to do in my mind.

Just my humble two cents,
Josh

 

First, I agree with Shelby 6t5, you can do anything you want with your parts.
I agree with Josh, owners of original Shelbys, Cobras or other rare cars are just caretakers or custodians as I call them.

Some owners of original cars are now trying to restore or maintain their cars with correct original parts rather than will-work parts. Will-work parts range from later service replacement parts to current reproductions to close but….

Some owners have had to engineer and manufacture parts as originals are now made of unobtainium.

I would contend that some restoration shops would or could not spend the time and money to properly restore a car with original parts. It would make it too expensive for many customers to pay for that time and labor. It is easier to remove and replace with ‘will work’ parts.

My thought is that a clone, replica, tribute, can look feel and work better in many cases than an original car by using will-work parts.

In some cases I have seen owners of replicas pay more for a part than owners of original cars. Why? So they can say my brand new Cobra is partly original because it has an original brown solenoid that is correctly date coded for the car it’s replicating. Or this is an original ’65 GT350 tach rather than a reproduction.

 

I can't speak from personal experience (too young) or from knowing anyone who actually did it, but I've heard that quite a few Hertz cars lost their original engine in exactly that same manner.

 

I agree with Mike 100 %

 

Not to hijack this post, but since it seems like it is dying down, I am still looking for a few items to complete # 17; Anyone (Daryl!!!) have the following they wish to part with?

Need the following for 12-64 build date.

C5ZZ-14289-G Gauge Feed

C5ZZ-14290-C Headlamp Feed

Front & Rear Bumperettes, NOS

Any NOS parts, especially trim rubber, seals, etc

One KH steel wheel. 15" by 5.5"

Tar top battery, any condition

SX plug wires with Fomoco boots c5zz 12259-a or C40Z-

FoMoCo starter relay

Original 65 GT 350 owners manual

Thanks,

Mike

 

Lots of hertz cars came back with lo-po 289s;still a issue for rental companys
7.3 diesel owners learned a new trans could be had for 29.95 a day from u-haul,I'm always suspect over Shelby branded parts from a "lost" car;I'd buy a good buildable core and go to town;drive the wheels off that mother;my 69 clone is getting injection aod 4 wheel disc brakes so i can drive it every day,my real 69 can chill in my shop go to meets and shows.
my 2 cents
steele