Autoblog Video: Looking back on the 1965 Shelby GT350

50 years after its debut, we take a look at the original Shelby GT350 at the Monterey Historics and Pebble Beach to see how it inspires the next hot Mustang.

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The first Shelby GT350 Mustang came out a year after the first Ford Mustang, a collaboration between the carmaker and Carroll Shelby bent on making the Mustang a race winner. Perhaps even better than the car is Shelby’s story behind its creation, when Ford chairman Lee Iaccoca gave him the “impossible job” of turning “a secretary’s car… into a sports car.” Shelby and his cohorts got that job done immediately, taking three SCCA B-Class national championships.

The latest Ford Shelby GT350 is coming a year after the latest Mustang’s debut, and it’s certainly got the specs on paper to look like a track monster, especially in GT350R form. This year the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Shelby GT350 Mustang, and the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance featured the car in a special category. We took the opportunity to look at what makes the old GT350 so special, and why the new one stays true to the legendary name. Check it out in the video above.

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