Ex–Carroll Shelby '66 Ford Thunderbird Is Today's Bring a Trailer Pick
The mid-Sixties Ford Thunderbird was a full-on luxury cruiser.
It's about as far as you can get from a Shelby Cobra or even a Shelby Mustang.
And yet this T-Bird served as Carroll Shelby's company car, with documentation to back that up.
The names Ford and Shelby are no strangers to each other, especially when followed by the word Mustang. Carroll Shelby was nothing if not an inveterate pitchman, and he made sure that his brand would be all over Ford's high-performance offerings (and later, a bunch of turbocharged Mopar machines). But evidently even Ol' Shel liked to take a break from fire breathers and kick back in a luxury ride, like this 1966 Thunderbird.
For sale right now on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos), this T-Bird served as Shelby's company car right around the time his team was working on the GT40s that would win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in such a dominant fashion in 1966.
This machine is a much different breed, however. The fourth-generation 'Bird was a long way from the original two-seat neo-sports car. It was a personal luxury coupe with a cushy suspension, a standard automatic, and a long list of available options. Even so, you could still get a big engine under that long hood. In this case, that was a 428-cubic-inch V-8 good for 345 horsepower and 462 pound-feet of creamy torque.
Ten of these cars were ordered as a promotional deal, and they were shipped to Shelby American in Los Angeles. This one came with a heavy-duty suspension, air conditioning, power windows, cruise control, leather seats, and an AM radio with a power antenna. Total price was $6278.13, the equivalent of about $65,000 today. Shelby American's modifications were minimal, just tweaking a set of 15-inch Shelby-Cragar alloy wheels to clear the factory T-Bird brakes.
After Shelby was done with his demonstrator, it was sold to the father of one of the company's accountants, then later acquired in an estate sale in 2018. It's been comprehensively refurbished, including some pretty extensive cosmetic work. With the Shelby 15-inch wheels refinished, it looks brand new and ready to roll.
You can just imagine Ol' Shel at the wheel of this bright red Thunderbird in his shirtsleeves and sunglasses, cruising along Los Angeles highways dreaming of how to embarrass Enzo's racing machines. Mileage is currently at 57,000 on the odometer, which means this is one of Carroll's rides that you can actually drive around on the weekend.
Here's an usual way to live out your Ford v. Ferrari dreams and do so in elegance and comfort. With no reserve, someone's going home with Carroll's own highway cruiser.
The auction ends on September 8.
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