Posted on 08/18/2018 5:08:24 AM PDT by SkyPilot
Seek and ye shall find. Eventually.
A legendary Ford Mustang that many thought was destroyed 50 years ago has been discovered rotting away in a Texas field. And it could be worth millions.
Affectionately called Little Red, the 1967 model was an experimental car that Ford loaned to Carrol Shelby to use as a test bed for the development of performance parts. Little Red and a later car, unofficially known as the Green Hornet, were the only two Shelby GT 500 notchback coupes of their era, each sporting a snazzy vinyl roof.
Shelby’s crew tinkered with the cars, trying out different body parts, engines and transmissions. Little Red was primarily configured with a supercharged 428 V8 and 3-speed automatic transmission, while the Green Hornet was fitted with a prototype independent rear suspension that never made it into production, but remains on the car today.
Little Red made an appearance at a Ford preview event in Los Angeles, where it inspired the creation of the first California Special Mustang, which aped its styling, if not performance. Shelby eventually sent the cars back to Ford for a date with the crusher, as was standard practice for prototype cars, but they both stood it up.
![](http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/auto/2018/08/17/little-red-1967-ford-mustang-shelby-gt500-found-after-50-years-could-be-worth-millions/_jcr_content/article-text/article-par-5/inline_spotlight_ima/image.img.jpg/612/344/1534538532028.jpg?ve=1&tl=1")
The Green Hornet showed up at a Ford employee auction in 1971 and was resold several times until it ended up in the garage of Barrett-Jackson Auction House CEO, Craig Jackson, about 15 years ago. Little Red just disappeared.
A half-century of failed attempts to find it seemed to back up the prevailing view that it had been crushed. But like any good mystery, all that was missing was the right key to unlock it. Then Jackson got his hands on it.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“Could be”, but isn’t.
The moment I seen the pic the first thing I thought was California Special, I became aware of the California Special from a magazine article about five years ago.
Oh, it may very well be, once it’s media blasted, missing body panels replaced, mechanicals refurbished and restored inside and out. One thing many people don’t seem to realize though, is that desirability and collectability comes and goes with age cohorts. The “hot” collectable cars of today are not those of yesterday, or tomorrow. There was a time when the ‘57 Chevy or T-Bird were stratospheric. Not so anymore, a perfect example still isn’t cheap but they’re not where they were. Same will be true for this. Baby Boomers won’t always be the dominant force, they’re fading already. Cars from the 70’s are starting to take off, for instance the boat tail Riviera, C body Trans Ams, even first generation Cadillac Sevilles. It comes and goes, in other words. Not a good idea to buy the hot collectable car of today for top dollar and hold onto it, in other words.
My dad has a late 70s Seville in fair shape.
It may still run.
Oh, it may very well be, once it’s media blasted, missing body panels replaced, mechanicals refurbished and restored inside and out.
...
I think the real value is the VIN plate. Very little will be original after it’s restored.
A guy in my hometown was a Mustang nut and spent some serious coin at the time to buy a California Special, which was immediately ridiculed by all the local gearheads for its rather limited abilities.
That car led an unhappy life out here on the prairie.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Seesh, do you even know what thread you’re on?
It doesn’t look like it has a rust spot on it. Easy resto.
The post makes sense to me
Amen!
That's as new as the classics are going to get for the most part, I think. Mid-90s cars on really just have no soul. That 89 Firebird growls and rumbles and smells like gas and you can work on it. When will anyone want a 40 year Prius? "Wow, listen to that low-pitch hum! And just look at that lithium battery!"
We live in a use-it-and-throw-away society theae days. Cars are not exempt.
Are those bias ply tires!
Classic junk! Which ones? LOL!
I think they know what thread they are on.
While ‘things” have some monetary or nostalgic value, they, like all temporal “things” are eaten by moth and rust and eventually are dust. This wreck of a car, while worth money, is an example of how earthly treasures fail, and we really ought to be storing up treasures in heaven.
But, hey, in the meantime, many folks enjoy them, hopefully not to the exclusion of real treasures tough.
I suppose it depends on where one’s heart is, as the Lord states, that is where your treasure will be.
“...a snazzy vinyl roof...”
I remember when those things were hot and everyone wanted one on every car. Getting old...
Smaller... "Height=200" is your friend.
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