1968 Ford Mustang

GT350 Convertible

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

8F03J123962

Gasoline

***Please take some time and read over my listing. If you're able to stay awake after reading everything, and you remain interested in my car, please click on the external picture gallery link and view the 170+ additional pictures (exterior, interior, motor, underside, etc..) that I have posted. You can also click on my You Tube link and view an eight minute video of the car that shows the exterior, interior, working accessories & the car being driven at highway speeds. After all this, you are more than welcome to bid on my car or submit an offer to purchase it. I will entertain all reasonable offers (no trades) while this auction is active and the reserve price has not been met. ****If my car does not sell / meet the reserve price during this ten (10) auction, you might want to bookmark my auctions and check back with me on March 10, 2011. On that date, I will be re-listing my car for another ten (10) day auction period and that bidding will start at $1.00. Best of all, there will be NO RESERVE and the car will sell. Please take time during this first (reserve price) auction to ask questions and make any arrangements, if you wish, to have the car inspected. My schedule is pretty much open to accommodate inspections and test drives. I'd like for my car to sell / meet the reserve in this (first) auction, but if it doesn't, I'd like for any interested bidder's to know that the car will be re-listed and auctioned off in a true, no reserve auction format. With the RM Auction (Auction America) taking place here in Fort Lauderdale during the first auction period, and the Barrett Jackson Auction in Palm Beach taking place in early April, I believe that those events (hopefully) should generate further (buyer) interest in the car. Here's the link to the picture gallery. Once there, click on the first picture in the gallery and it will enlarge the pictures. A menu / navigation box will open on the left side of the screen and you can increase (three size options) the picture size and scroll through the pictures by clicking on the forward / back arrows. Any questions or problems navigating the link, please let me know. http://www.myphoto.com/fritzo34/22281 Listed below is a link to my You Tube Video of the car. Standard walk around exterior / interior shots for the first couple minutes, then driving time showing the car at speed and the gauges all working, along with great oil pressure. After the drive, I show all of the lights / turn signals working, top, etc.. It's not too boring. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk-Bu_ki0UQ Please note that this car has only been driven a little less than 8000 miles since in was restored around 1990. The pictures and video will show you that it looks like it was restored within a couple years, not 20+ years. This is a very beautiful / good looking car, inside an out. It's obvious that a lot of time was spent during the restoration to ensure that everything was as correct as possible in the use of parts & fasteners. You can see that the engine compartment is pretty close to concourse correct. Even the underside of the car is as correct looking as you can get. Listed below, you'll see / read that just about every part used for this car was period correct Ford or Shelby production. There is no way that a car of this caliber, could be built today, using the same quality parts, for anywhere close my reserve price. Yes, I know "very well" that the economy currently sucks, but watching Barrett Jackson in Arizona, and Mecum last month in Orlando, Tribute / Clones and resto-mods were bringing in a lot more ($) than previous auction years and in some cases, more than their original counterparts being auctioned off. Go figure that one out? Watch the reruns of those auctions, you'll see basic small block 1967 1968 1969 & 1970 Mustang Convertibles & coupes selling in the upper 20 to mid 30K price range w/o considering the added buyers fee. If you're going to spend that kinda money on a generic / plain jane looking car, you should at least spend it on something that looks a lot more interesting and garners a lot more attention. BASIC INFORMATION / OPTIONS: This 1968 Shelby GT350 Convertible Tribute was created from an original Candy Apple Red "J" Code (302) Mustang. This car retains its original door mounted data plate and VIN tag on the passenger side dash / windshield area. This tribute was specifically built around 1990 by Delonzo Rhyne, the owner / operator of Triple R Mustang Ranch (http://www.triplermustangranch.com/home.htm), in Indianapolis, for a VP from the RCA Victor Company. This Mustang received a no expense spared rotisserie restoration using all NOS or restored original Ford / Shelby parts. Excluding the hood, center console & wheels, all Shelby parts are period correct / original parts. This includes the trunk lid, end caps, side scoops, front cap, seat belts, roll bar, sequential tail lights, fog lights, steering wheel, dash assembly, etc... This car even has the vintage Koni Shocks, just like the Shelby cars. Every item / option on this car functions as it should. Every light bulb (interior & exterior) works, as does every electrical item (clock, radio, horn, fog lights, sequential tail lights, etc..). The AC (converted to 134) blows cold and the heater works too. It has the original / restored jack assembly in the trunk. This car is equipped with Power Steering, Power Front Disc Brakes, AC, Lucas Fog Lights, AM/FM Ford Radio, Power Top, Remote Driver Mirror, Original / restored Shelby 140 Speedometer & 8K Tachometer, Period Correct Koni Shocks, Correct GT-350 Exhaust System, Functional / Original California Smog Option, etc.. ** This car is also equipped with a rare set of 1968 Bucket seats with the built-in headrests. Even more interesting, this car is equipped with the FORD (Mustang, Fairlane, Comet & Falcon) Spring Air Auxiliary Kit. This was a rare dealer installed option that consisted of a set of coil springs with an air bladder inside that was mounted between the rear leaf springs and the upper frame rail. You could inflate the springs to raise the rear for heavy load / towing or for performance. I did not realize that this car had this option until I found the original installation instructions inside the glove box and saw the instructions / notification sticker on the underside of the trunk lid. You can see these air springs in my pictures of the car. The air bladders will still inflate & raise the rear of the car, but will deflate after a period of time. This is most likely a result of age and lack of use while the car was being stored for several years. I will be listing as much prior history on this vehicle as possible as it was related to me. You may also e-mail Mr. Rhyne, at his business link listed above and ask any questions about his restoration / history of this car. Mr. Rhyne is a very knowledgeable and easy to speak with individual. Some of his custom built / unique Mustang / Shelby creations have sold for better than $100K. He's better equipped than I to answer any questions when it comes to certain specific details about the restoration process. HISTORICAL / BACKGROUND INFORMATION: This GT350 Tribute has logged just over 7800 miles in the 20 years since its restoration was completed around 1990. The RCA VP drove it sparingly and kept it stored throughout the 90's at Triple R Mustang. The owner subsequently drove the car down to the west coast of Florida and left the car at his 2nd. residence. Around 2006, the owner became ill and sold the car to a Shelby enthusiast before passing away. That owner was also a seasonal Florida resident who had intentions of making some changes to the car in order to complete the Shelby transformation (center console, dash assembly). He drove the car a limited amount of time and then stored it away for several years inside a warehouse before I purchased the car and had it transported to Fort Lauderdale. Several months were spent going through the car and fixing issues (new gas tank, tires, water pump, rebuilt the transmission, new top cylinders & hoses, new complete exhaust system, AC compressor rebuilt, etc..) that developed from the car being stored and not being driven for a few years. EXTERIOR: This car is totally rust free and features rock solid original Ford sheet metal. The paint is original from around 1990 and is LACQUER. I had it professionally wet-sanded after I purchased the car and it looks like it was just painted. The car holds a great shine. You need to really look very hard to find any tiny chips / issues in the paint that resulted from the car being driven. The original Shelby fiberglass parts are still in great shape, with minimal warping / spacing that is typical for period correct parts. All door / trunk / hood gaps are great. The doors open & close solid / perfectly with no sagging. All exterior metal trim is original Ford. This includes the rocker moldings, wheel well moldings, door handles, etc... The bumpers were NOS from 1990 and still have the Ford parts tag on the inside of them. All glass is in excellent condition. The only parts that show their age are the side view mirror metal housings and the metal trim around the vent windows. They shine & look good, but the pot metal is getting old. The rest of the interior parts show minimal wear from use / storage. The tires are brand new BFG Radial TA's. The Shelby wheels that were on the car when I purchased it were stained and looked old. I replaced them with a brand new set of 15x7 wheels from Branda. UNDERSIDE: The bottom of this car is just as nice as the exterior paint. It is painted in the correct red oxide color and is perfect. All sections of the floor are perfect and all rails are perfect too. There are no signs of any rust at all. It's in amazing condition after 20 years. All I did was use a rag & a little cleaning solution to wipe away the road dirt and the underside looks like it was just painted. The pictures in the above gallery link show all correct style / cadmium color bolts / brackets were used during the restoration and show how clean & solid the underside of the car is. DRIVETRAIN: The original "J" code 302 motor was completely rebuilt to correct stock performance when the car was restored. The car fires right up with the first turn of the key (see video). The motor is very strong and runs great. It does not burn any oil or blow any smoke. The car does not run hot, even with the AC on. Although this car was originally equipped with a a three speed manual transmission (one of 335 Mustangs at that time with a 3 speed & J code according to Marti Report), it was converted, at the owners request, to a C4 automatic transmission at the time of restoration. When obtained, this car even had the correct / restored C8ZF-D Carburetor that was specific to the 4V Auto 302 Shelby GT-350 cars. For personal preference and better response, I'm currently running a Holley 1850C / 600CFM on the car. I have the original / restored carburetor (see pictures) in a box and it will go with the car. This car has the complete functioning smog pump system with the correct exhaust manifolds. The transmission had some leaks from sitting in storage and was removed and completely rebuilt with a mild shift kit installed. The transmission functions perfectly and does not leak. The power steering works great and does not leak. This car has all correct style hoses and clamps. The battery is the original style (new sealed version) Auto-lite Sta-Ful battery. The engine bay is as close to 100% stock looking for a driver as you will get. It even has the correct "junction" box for the ammeter gauge wire that goes to the ammeter gauge in the center console. The exhaust system is new and correct style from Branda for the GT-350. I also replaced the gas tank, sending unit & lines with correct North American made products. The old original tank was trashed from old fuel being stored inside it for three years while being stored. The brakes on the car function perfectly. All fluids were drained and replaced with new fluid. The suspension is great & tight. This car will travel at 75 MPH on the highway in a straight line w/o the need to correct or hold onto the steering wheel. INTERIOR: The interior of this car is in remarkable condition for its age. The only things I added to the car was the correct Shelby dash assembly and the Shelby Center Console. I can only assume that trying to find / locate original center consoles and Shelby dash assembly units were few & far between back around 1990 when the restoration took place. I paid over $1000 for an original restored / correct 1968 dash assembly with the 140 speedo & 8K tach. All gauges function correctly and are accurate. The 2nd owner provided me with the center console when I purchased the car. The only issue with the center console is part of the wood grain decal has an air pocket under it from being stored for several years. Not a big deal. New wood grain is less than $25 from Branda. I removed the original Mustang center console and replaced it with the correct Shelby one and installed the correct style SW mechanical oil pressure & ammeter gauges. I still have the original / deluxe dash assembly that was in the car from when it was restored. That assemby (see gallery pictures) shows the original 7356 miles thaty were put on the car since restoration. The Shelby dash assembly odometer shows around 500 miles at this time. This car is also equipped with a complete set of original / fully restored & functional Shelby Convertible Seatbelts. It has the correct shoulder belts with the retractors built into the rear interior panels and the lap belts along with the rear seat belts. The door glass & windshield are original Ford product and perfect. The side windows go up & down smoothly and seal tight. The door panels are in very good condition. The only thing I would consider changing / adding in the future would be the deluxe lower panels with the built in radio speakers & courtesy lights. This car has an original Ford AM/FM Radio, but only with the mono dash center speaker. It works great (watch / listen to the video), but would sound better & be more correct with that upgrade. As I mentioned previously, this car has the very rare 1968 bucket seats with the built-in headrests. They are in great condition, showing only minor wear. All seat covers are in excellent condition. I did replace the black convertible soft top that was on this car with a US made white soft top. The black top was 20+ years old and was left down for a period of time while being stored. The seal in the two-piece back glass had deteriorated and I thought it best to replace the back glass and change the top color to white as it contrast better against the Candy Apple Red exterior. At the same time, I replaced the two top cylinders and put in a new hose kit. The convertible top functions perfectly (see video). This car is also equipped with functioning correct / original Lucas Fog Lights with the correct FOG Lights on / off pull switch. It also has original sequential tail lights / turn signals that function perfectly (see video). Although this car is driven, it maintains "show ready" condition. Just about every person that sees the car thinks it's an original Shelby and comments about how nice it is. This car can be driven anywhere. It's a pleasure to drive and it drives great at highway speed. It does not run hot or burn oil. There is no reason why a new owner cannot fly in and drive this car home / anywhere. I drove it over 450 miles on a round trip to Daytona (Turkey Rod Run) in November and the car drove great. You can see on the video that I was recently cruising in the 75+ MPH range and was just at, or under, the 3K mark on the tachometer. If you're not overly bored at this point, due to my rambling on about this car, please pay attention to this part. If the reserve price has not been met, and I accept / agree on an offer made to purchase this car, the sales transaction will be completed through the eBay system. This will be done for my benefit & yours. The required $2000.00 non-refundable deposit will need to be placed through Paypal within 48 hours and the remaining balance paid within ten (10) days unless other arrangements are made. Please make certain that you have all of your funding in order prior to purchasing this car. The car is currently fully insured and I can safely store it for a period of time while the new owner makes transportation / shipping arrangements or flight arrangements if you want to fly in & drive home. I will work with your shipper or pick you up at Fort Lauderdale International Airport (FLL) if you want to fly in for the purchase or a pre-purchase inspection. Please keep in mind that this car is being sold in "AS IS" condition and that there is no warranty, expressed or implied, as to its mechanical limitations, functionality or body condition. The car is in great shape and I have described it as accurately as possible, but I encourage any potential buyers to inspect or have it inspected prior to purchase for their own peace of mind. The car is located very close to Fort Lauderdale International Airport and a few minutes away from Port Everglades. Please note that I have a free & clear Florida Title in my name. The title and the car will not be released until all funds have been paid / deposited and have cleared my bank. This goes for certified funds. If you buy the car, and show up with a certified check from your bank, please make certain that there is a branch office of your bank in South Florida. We'll need to go that bank in order to complete the transaction. Bank to bank wiring of funds is best for all parties concerned and might be the best route to take. Thanks for looking over my car and please bid if interested in it. Remember to check my auctions around 3/10/11 should this car remain unsold. That date will be the start of my No Reserve Auction. Thanks again!