Peter Brock and the ‘Original Venice Crew’ rethink the 1965 Mustang G.T. 350R for its 50th aniversary

Posted on May 12, 2023 in Featured | 6 comments

The donor K-Code Mustangs during disassembly. Photos by Randy Richardson, LA SAAC.

Shelby American’s original racing Mustang, the G.T. 350R, captured the SCCA’s B-Production championship from 1965-’67, but its designers still believed the car could have been better. Next month, on the 50th anniversary of the G.T. 350R’s first win, Peter Brock (keynote speaker at the 2015 Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance) and other members of the Shelby American “Original Venice Crew” will have a chance to prove this by debuting a pair of custom-built 1965 G.T. 350R Mustangs at California’s Willow Springs race track.

Brock, Marietta, Sutton and Carling (The Original Venice Crew) with Randy Richardson of LA SAAC.

The idea for the project came about at the 2013 SEMA show, when Brock and colleagues from Shelby American’s Venice, California, days met at dinner to discuss past projects. It didn’t take long for the team to realize that they still had the drive to build the car the original G.T. 350R could have been, and, perhaps remarkably given the team’s overall age (ranging from 67 to 77 years old), they still had the ability to execute such a plan. Preparation began in mid-2014, with the goal of producing two cars in time to commemorate the G.T. 350R’s February 14, 1965, win at Texas’s Green Valley Raceway.

Sutton and Marietta in engine bay.

As competitive as the G.T. 350R proved to be, the car was still designed and built with a tight budget and an even tighter time frame. An independent rear suspension (IRS) was planned, and Ford’s original cost estimates totaled $15,000 for the IRS project. Eager to get word out, Ford’s Competition department advertised that 100 lucky buyers would soon be able to purchase a “Cobra-Mustang” with an independent rear suspension, similar to the one in Ford’s GT40 race car. A closer examination of costs showed that the $15,000 estimate was off by roughly $70,000, so the project was dropped after just a few prototypes were built. Though Shelby American tested an IRS, it never made it into the G.T. 350R models that were raced.

Brock inspects the revised front valance.

Brock believed that the 350R would have been a better car with an independent rear suspension, so that’s just one of the changes envisioned for the “new” 1965 G.T. 350R. Two cars will be built, but only one will receive the IRS, while the other makes do with the traditional live axle; once the cars are tested at Willow Springs, the difference in lap times should answer the question “What if?”

Other changes planned for the cars include a reshaped front valance for improved airflow, altered brake ducts for better cooling, a repositioned front suspension (modified beyond the original’s lowered upper control arm pivot point) and a redesigned Plexiglas rear window that should enhance the car’s top speed, particularly on long straights. All these ideas originated in late 1964, but the original Shelby team ran out of time (and in some cases, money) before the designs could be implemented.

Sutton and Marietta fabricating.

The starting point for both cars will be K-Code 1965 Ford Mustang fastbacks. Each car will be stripped down in preparation for its race car conversion, then each will receive the modifications necessary (such as the fiberglass hood, Plexiglas side and rear windows, roll bar and enlarged front disc brakes) to update the cars to G.T. 350R specifications. As with the original G.T. 350Rs, the output from the rebuilt 289-cu.in. V-8s should be in the area of 350 horsepower, a significant gain over the road-going G.T. 350’s 306 horsepower.

The build is taking place at Brock Racing Enterprises in Henderson, Nevada, and while volunteers (and other members of the Original Venice Crew) will be on hand to assist, the bulk of the work is expected to be done by Brock, Ted Sutton, Jim Marietta and Duane Carling. On February 13, the completed cars will be shipped to California’s Willow Springs circuit for testing, where setup drivers will include former Shelby American stars (or immediate family) Jerry Rick Titus, John Morton and Allen Grant.

On February 14, the 50th anniversary of the G.T. 350R’s debut win, the cars will return to the track to commemorate the occasion, as well as to lead a two-day open track session for owners of G.T. 350Rs and other Ford-badged performance cars.

IRS assembly on hoist

Other plans for the three-day weekend include a Shelby American team member reunion; a Los Angeles Shelby American Auto Club (LA SAAC) car show; a display of cars from the Lynn Park Cobra Collection; and a dinner banquet (with panel discussion) on Saturday night.