1974 GT4 2+2 or 1966 Shelby 350GT

At Atelier Automobile, both cars are being serviced next to each other! At first sight I would say maintenance on the Shelby would be a lot easier and cheaper as there is lots of room in the engine bay and spare parts are also likely to be less costly. You could also count on numerous upgrades for the Shelby. For the rest, the brakes and chassis of the shelby are from another era: the 400 cars do handle very well even in so-so situations whereas my mechanic told me the Shelby is horrendous with the big engine. The 400 is a luxury car, the Shelby isn't, this shows in the build quality of the interior. In a traffic jam, the 365 air conditioning (with r134a) is useless (400 & 412 are better due to the additional cooling fan). As far as the bodywork is concerned, both cars are gorgeous... Finally the lady will appreciate the refined 400, maybe the kids would vote for the muscle car.

Also bear in mind that a 365 carb is quite a bit of an animal, whereas the later 400i (gen2) and 412 are much more easy to handle. So if you want a muscle car with a prancing horse, maybe the 365 is the way to go, but personally I would say the later evolutions are cheaper, do handle better and are more comfortable (less noisy, better dashboard covering, better seats, better seat belts, and a bit more of air conditioning).

That's a very personal and biased opinion, so take it for what it is worth...

 

Without a doubt, the Shelby. Crude, iconic, and legendary!

I love Ferraris, but from the criteria that you listed:

From a "market" perspective - Shelby Mustangs are legendary and sought after. They will maintain their value much more than a 365 2+2.
From a "drivers" perspective - V12s are incredible. V8s are awesome. The Shelby is smaller and would be more fun to drive (at least to me).
From a "mechanics" perspective - The Shelby has simple, straight-forward mechanicals with endless upgrade options if you choose to go that route.
From the "practical" perspective - The Shelby will be easier to use and less expensive to maintain.

To me it seems like a no-brainer. Of course, in High School, I drew more 911s and Shelby Mustangs than any other car.

2cam

 

As a former 412 5-speed owner, I'd probably vote for the Shelby although I have never driven one. Are you saying you can buy a 1966 Shelby Mustang 350GT for $80k? I thought they were more like $125k. If I can get one for $80k, I might need to consider selling something to make room for one.

 

^ This^

 

Good day 2cam,

You make some very good points. However, I would suggest that "3500GT" drive both and make his decision. I say this, as I sold my 60's muscle (67 Chevelle Factory SS396 4 speed) car as I forgot how primitive the 60's cars were. I am a bit of a stickler for originality, but after owning my Chevelle for while I was looking for some "reversible" upgrades to make the car less primitive... suspension for one, etc. In the end I decided to sell the Chevelle and focus my energies on finding and eventually buying a 365, as it seemed to have the right mix for me... old school analog, carbs, nimble, and although over 40 years old it is not primitive in nature at all.

From a "market" perspective
- A much larger market for the Shelby and so would be potentially easier to sell if one wanted. As to valuation... hard to say. The car market is a bit fickle.

From a "drivers" perspective
- Depends on what you like. As I mentioned above, 60's muscle cars have so-so suspensions for going in a straight line... around curves... well, not so much. Personally I much prefer the sound of a Ferrari engine and especially the V-12 with carbs over any 60's muscle car engines. However, this is subjective and caters to one's tastes.

From a "mechanics" perspective
- Yup, Shelby will be much easier to maintain, repair, etc. Secondly, there are far more mechanics to service and repair the Shelby as compared to the 365. These days finding people who actually understand Webers and multiple Webers at that can be challenge. If one is unable to service their 365 and/or does not have a shop that knows their stuff, then the 365 will be a problem.

From the "practical" perspective
- Does one really consider practicality when buying an old car and especially specialty cars like the Shelby and 365? I guess it would depend on one's definition on practicality.

As I said earlier... best is to try and experience both and decide which one makes the heart beat faster.

Cheers,

Sam

 

+1000

These aren’t necessarily rational choices...

Ruben

 

I have owned my 1966 Shelby GT-350 for almost 40 years. We used to race it years ago and it is currently undergoing a complete restoration. When it comes to replacement parts.....virtually everything is available and can be bought for a fraction of other collector car parts go for.

In regards to how it drives......we had to do a lot of suspension work to get it to handle at high speeds and hard turns. As with most things, restoration tends to remove those things to get it back to the stock form. Still, in stock form.....it was fun to drive and easy to work on.

I paid $1,400 for it 40 years ago and will probably spend 20x that on the restoration.

 

You could also purchase a less sought after 400i and have both horses in the garage...

 

Not sure if you've driven both. I'd get the 365 over the 350. I'm probably biased but I think the 365 is the best of the 365/400/412 series of cars because it's more old school (some might say more raw) then the others.
Here is another thought. The GT 350 is a collectible car and is priced accordingly. You could buy or build a GT350 clone for less than a real one.

 

Remember. The 350GT is still just a Mustang.

Chuck

 

Clearly you don't own a 1966 GT-350 or have ever driven one.......

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/a26269/the-1965-ford-mustang-shelby-gt350-was-a-brute-back-in-the-day/

 

If they didn't have Shelby's name attached to them they would be just another Mustang. I was working for one of the Ford dealers that was a Shelby Cobra Dealer when we were selling these and most of the 350GT buyers were just Cobra wantabes that couldn't afford a real Cobra.

Chuck