With only 1,452 units built, the GT500KR is the rarest Shelby-designed Mustang from 1968 and one of the most desirable iterations of the first-gen pony. KRs are known to fetch more than $200,000 in Concours condition, while one in need of restoration could cost as much as $100,000. But some KRs are rarer than others. This example here, for instance, is one of only six built thanks to a very special interior.
The Shelby you’re looking at is of the numbers-matching variety, but a repainted body prevents it from being an all-original survivor. You see, this KR left the factory in white, but it was repainted black at some point in its life. However, it sports a rare saddle brown interior, an upholstery color that Carroll Shelby put in just six GT500KRs.
And this bit of info was confirmed by the man himself to the previous owner. The story goes that he met Carroll in Las Vegas to have one of the sun visors signed.
When Shelby saw it, he asked about the car because he didn’t make many with a saddle interior. When he found out it’s a GT500KR, he looked into his personal registry and told the owner that only six of them left the shop with brown upholstery. And apparently, he offered to buy the car back.
Long story short, the owner declined the offer and put the muscle car in storage for a few years. It has since been sold, and the current owner wants to find it a new home.
The Shelby still needs some work to become a Concours-worthy classic, but it already received some upgrades in order to become usable on public roads. It has a new gas tank and a new fuel pump, while the original carburetor was rebuilt. The Cobra Jet powerplant starts right up, but it has a blow-by that needs to be addressed.
As a brief reminder, the Cobra Jet V8 in the Shelby GT500KR was officially rated at 335 horsepower. However, it was later found out that its true output was around 435 horses (it was usual for carmakers to reduce output on paper for insurance purposes).
Auctioned off by eBay seller “jasper10354,” this GT500KR has the potential to become a Concours-winning muscle car with a mild restoration inside the cabin and some work under the hood. Purists might want to repaint it in its original color, though.
But like most GT500KRs out there, this desirable classic doesn’t come cheap.
