1965 Ford Mustang 289 Sport Coupe (Notchback) Race Car

We’ve got a real penchant for vintage race cars of late here at Coolector HQ and that’s why we’re typically spending undue amounts of time on the site of Silverstone Auctions because they’ve got an amazing bunch going under the hammer soon. One of the stand out lots on their books right now is this stunning 1965 Ford Mustang 289 Sport Coupe (Notchback) Race Car which has a guide price between £44k and £55k.

The 1965 Ford Mustang 289 Sport Coupe (Notchback) Race Car from Silverstone Auctions is a superbly prepared and presented FIA Mk1 Mustang 4.7-litre Historic Touring Car and, as you would expect from a lot as rare as this one, excitement is pretty high amongst classic car enthusiasts. It has been finished to road-car quality in the distinctive Black and Gold of the famous Hertz ‘Rent-A-Racer’ Shelby GT350s from 1966 and will turn plenty of heads at race car meet ups.

Interesting Backstory

It started when Carroll Shelby, ever the salesman, managed to convince Hertz Car Rental to order 1,001 Ford Mustangs which had been modified by his workshop for a “Rent-A-Racer” program in 1966. The Shelby G.T 350H was born (H for Hertz), and the legend grew instantly when these vehicles started hitting the track and drag strip.

Built with the K-code 289 V-8, tuned in Shelby’s Venice, California shop to 306 horsepower, the 1965 Ford Mustang 289 Sport Coupe (Notchback) Race Cars were nearly identical to the standard G.T. 350 and the vast majority were finished in Hertz’s corporate colours of Raven Black and Sunlit Gold, as is this superb example from the guys at Silverstone Auctions.

The majority of the build was done by Heritage AutoWerks of Berkshire and their spec-sheet shows that the Mustang was fully stripped and media-blasted back to a bare shell, new metal let-in where needed, and the body and chassis were lightened, strengthened and fitted with a multi-point cage with door bars before being prepared for paint. The door furniture was taken out and the side window glass replaced with plastic. The car was then painted to a very high, road car, standard and looks superb in Hertz’s attractive black and gold with lots of fresh brightwork.

Amazing Condition

This 1965 Ford Mustang 289 Sport Coupe (Notchback) Race Car from Silverstone Auctions has a heat-treated HiPo crank, Eagle con rods, big-valve heads with NASCAR retainers, ARP bolts, hardened FIA-spec tappets, Crane pushrods and Cobra pistons and cams. The manifolds have been chambered, with the intake being a replica of a ‘65 Shelby and the exhaust feeds into Tech-craft ‘Mega-Flow’ mufflers.

The sump is baffled and the car is fitted with a large capacity oil pump. Fuel is supplied by a Holly fuel pump through high-flow inline filters to a Holly 650 ‘double-pumper’ topped with a K&N filter. At between £44k and £55k, this one definitely doesn’t come cheap but for fans of classic race cars, they also seldom come better.