By Dean Larson

Photos: Seller, Craigslist

The odds were slim and I was pretty convinced at the outset that this was someone’s old Shelby tribute washed up after years of neglect. But a guy can dream right? And a tattered old Mustang in Wimbledon white and guardsman blue waiting to be found on Craigslist was far too intriguing to scroll past.

Initial specs were encouraging, as the auction company’s ad description was fairly basic, listing manual transmission, front disc brakes, black interior, etc. The car also looked like it had been sitting around for some time, possibly stashed in someone’s garage waiting to be discovered. What would be one of just 562 GT350s built by Shelby in 1965, you better believe the sky’s the limit, as most see the early Shelby Mustangs as the purest of the breed.

But at more than a casual glance, things start to get a little fishy, and the prospect of a barn-find Shelby on my local Craigslist starts to feel a bit foolish. Right off the bat, you’ll see that the hood is steel, instead of fiberglass, with the scoop added sometime after the fact, and it still has the pot-metal medallions spelling F O R and D across it. I wouldn’t call it the smoking gun though, as a lot can happen in 55 years, and who knows what kind of replacement parts people were sourcing for an old race car way back in the day.

Things get tougher in the interior though, where the steering wheel is wrong, along with the wood-grain center console and there’s a back seat where there shouldn’t be one. The gauge cluster sitting in the cardboard box also doesn’t match the genuine article.

Without a serial number, which the auction company hasn’t provided, we’re still looking for the smoking gun though, as again, a lot can happen in 50 years, especially as far as lights, grills and bumpers are concerned in old race cars. But a detail that’s pretty hard to ignore are the taillights. Instead of the small taillights found on the ’64.5 to ’66 cars, this car was clearly fit with larger lights, likely from a ’68 model.

Overall, there’s a lot wrong with this car, probably a few too many things to look past if you’re holding your breath for a Shelby-caliber diamond in the rough. But hopefully this Mustang will find new life with its next owner, and things are looking up with roughly $5,900 bid on the car already. And just to be sure, we inquired about the VIN with the auction company, because a guy can dream right?

See the Mustang here on Appleton Craigslist.