Owner wanted something special and ended up with a Ford Shelby Mustang so rare it's a 'one-of-none'
- This 1968 Ford Shelby Mustang GT350 is hyper rare
- So rare – in fact – that it’s considered a ‘one-of-none’
- Everything bar its single coat of ‘Calypso Coral’ paint is original
Published on Sep 12, 2024 at 2:59 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Sep 13, 2024 at 11:42 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
This 1968 Ford Shelby Mustang GT350 is located in the western suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, US, and it’s hyper rare.
In fact it’s considered a ‘one-of-none’.
Everthing bar its single coat of ‘Calypso Coral’ paint is original – and that shade was not offered on Ford Mustangs until 1969.
One famous YouTuber went to check out the ‘one-of-none’ beauty.
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1968 Ford Shelby Mustang GT350
With its original 302 CI V8 engine and a four-speed manual transmission, owner Terry Skweres has had the car in his collection since 2002.
Automotive enthusiast and content creator Lou Costabile went to check it out.
Originally in a finish called ‘Lime Gold’, everything bar a single repaint in its eyecatching shade of ‘Calypso Coral’ is as it was the day it rolled off the production line.
Terry explains that, while he’s a fan of the Ford Mustang, he was looking for something a little different.
Deciding the Shelby GT350 was the right fit, he even met Carroll Shelby – who loved the bespoke orange finish – and has collected memorabilia connected to him, including his signature on the dash.
“Driving the car, you feel it in your hands, and then the feet, and then the seat – that’s what I love most with old cars,” said Skweres.
Hyper rare
1968 was a turning point for the Shelby Mustang, with the iconic performance car undergoing a major aesthetic and performance upgrade.
It was also the year that Shelby left Ford, with FoMoCo taking over Shelby Mustang assembly.
However, the last custom build by Carroll Shelby was actually a GT500 Super Snake.
This one-off 1967 Shelby GT500 prototype disappeared for decades.
Back to the GT350, and Ford wanted to push HP performance to new heights, but the International Automobile Federation hadother plans, capping the displacement of racing engines at five liters.
Ford’s solution was a 302-cubic-inch small-block, the 4.9-liter V8 that debuted in 1968.
The force-fed small engine and $465 price for the hardware, meant sales for the supercharged Shelby Mustang were low.
Out of the 1,657 GT350 made for the 1968 model year, 1,235 were fastbacks.
Despite ‘enjoying’ driving it, the Shelby has only 77,483km (48,146m) on the odometer.
It’s also one of only 528 examples equipped with a four-speed manual transmission that’s linked to a 2.75:1 rear differential.
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
