By Dean Larson

Photos: Seller, eBay

“They’ve all been found or lost.” “There’s none left”… Well that’s clearly not the case for some people and their rare muscle car finds, must be for just you and I. But someone was lucky enough to bag this hulk of a 1970 Shelby Mustang GT500, or what’s left of one anyhow, as the car has been stripped of most of its Shelby goodies, and even converted at some point to a Mach 1 lookalike (weird flex, but okay). Originally a 428 Cobra Jet-powered GT500 SportsRoof in stunning Gulfstream Aqua, this ’70 Shelby begs for a second lease on life, and approximately $31,000 here on eBay.

If this car were in your garage today in concours condition, you’d be looking at approximately $120,000, but this car asks just one quarter of that, making us wonder where it all went so wrong. Unfortunately the Shelby will likely keep many of its secrets, and all we’re told is that the car now lacks its original driveline, fiberglass parts, rollbar, trim and any other Shelby-specific parts. Furthermore, the original paint was covered by a re-spray at some point, and someone set about converting the car to a Mach 1. It seems like they even did some bodywork to eliminate the non-functional air scoops on the rear quarters, which is a real head scratcher.

The 1970 GT500 was really the last of an era, as Shelby Mustangs weren’t produced in this potency and scale again for over three decades. All 1970 models were actually unsold ’69s, that were rebadged with some slight revisions and add-ons, including the front chin spoiler and black hood stripes. In all, 789 GT350s and GT500s were rebadged as 1970s, and just 286 GT500 SportsRoof models were built with the 428 four-barrel.

I think there’s also enough evidence here to say that this is a real-deal Shelby car as well, seeing as the VINs are stamped on the fender aprons, there’s a Shelby GT500 data tag in the engine bay and the seller states that the extra bracing is present on the shock towers. There are also traces of the original Gulfstream Aqua paintwork all over the car, which is as specified by the VIN in the Marti Report.

It’ll take deep pockets to get this Shelby up to spec, but in the end it’s a very rare machine, and desirable to the tune of over $100,000. The seller is asking $31,000 for the car here on eBay, and is offering a 428 ci block with rods, Cobra Jet heads and a C6 transmission if the car sells for the asking price.