1966 Shelby GT 350

Documents: Belgian Certificat d'Immatriculation

Chassis No. SFM6S775

Completed in 1966, this Shelby GT350 was supplied new to John Wyer's Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough, England, and is believed to have been personally owned by Wyer himself. The Shelby American World Registry confirms delivery on 26 January 1966 to Ford Advanced Vehicles, with rear seats the sole listed option at $37 and a total price including freight of $3,637.

Ford Advanced Vehicles was the English concern established to build and develop the Ford GT40, and Wyer-formerly of Aston Martin, where he had led the team to victory at Le Mans in 1959-ran it as its director. From the Slough workshops came the cars for Ford's assault on Le Mans, shipped to Shelby in California or to Dearborn for race preparation, while FAV itself entered selected events and supported the private owners who campaigned the production GT40. Wyer remained at the head of the operation through the end of 1966, the year of Ford's first Le Mans win, after which FAV was wound up and its staff re-employed on 1 January 1967 by the company Wyer then formed, J.W. Automotive Engineering, which would go on to take the Gulf-liveried GT40 to further Le Mans victories in 1968 and 1969. Wyer recounts this period in his memoir The Certain Sound, which details his leadership of the Slough operation across those years. It was into this environment, at the height of the GT40 program, that this Shelby was delivered.

Around 1973, Wyer sold the car to Paris, where it passed to car mechanic Ioannis Tsirnas of Greece, who reportedly neglected to register the car during his ownership due to high taxes at the time. His grandson, Georgios Giaveris living in Sofia, Bulgaria, inherited the car circa 2013 and later sold it to an important Belgian collector with the assistance of the late Claude Dubois-a well-known Belgian racer, former Shelby importer for Belgium, European ambassador for the Shelby American Automobile Club, recognized marque authority, and personal friend of Carroll Shelby.

Solid and free of significant corrosion, the car underwent a comprehensive four-year restoration initiated in 2015 under Dubois's supervision. Bodywork and paint were entrusted to Carrosserie Janssens in Braine-l'Alleud, with mechanical work by marque specialist Miguel Vanluchene of Pittem, with correct components sourced from Curt Vogt's Cobra Automotive in Connecticut. The exacting owner sought to preserve originality throughout. The interior was retained very nearly intact, with only the torn driver's-seat base re-trimmed and some carpeting renewed, leaving a cabin that remains remarkably authentic. A correct HiPo "K-Code" engine bearing proper casting numbers was fitted, and the car retains its exceptionally scarce original Magnum 500 wheels. The no-expense-spared work exceeded €188.000, including the cost of the car, with invoices on file.

The Shelby's history file is quite extensive, comprising the original Shelby American Vehicle Order form and the factory invoice to Ford Advanced Vehicles, a Shelby American Automobile Club registry report and serial-number verification letter, a period photograph of the second owner with the car in Paris, restoration invoices from Carrosserie Janssens, Miguel Vanluchene and Cobra Automotive, correspondence with Claude Dubois, a volume of documents recounting the car's history and restoration, and its current Belgian registration. The present owner has covered only some 500 sunny kilometers over two years, maintaining the car meticulously, including four new tires fitted recently. On a recent inspection, the consigning Broad Arrow specialist found the car to drive beautifully, its torquey 289-cubic-inch V8 and four-speed manual well matched and the whole exceptionally well-balanced.

Few Shelby GT350s can claim an original delivery address as evocative as this one, and in its carefully restored and well-sorted state, this car offers both the driving character of the model and a tangible connection to the Slough operation at the center of Ford's Le Mans effort.