1968 Shelby Green Hornet Barrett-Jackson Bound
Arguably one of the rarest and most sought after Mustangs, the 1968 Shelby Green Hornet will be hitting the auction block at a Barret-Jackson auction in early January of 2013.
The Shelby Green Hornet is one of the very few factory custom cars from Ford that escaped the crusher, although many believed it to have met that fate. It came about when Ford commissioned the building of a “California Special” Mustang prototype, that was shown off to gauge public reaction and decide whether to move forward with the project or not. In the end, Ford did not approve the program, and sent the car back to Shelby to become a different prototype, the Green Hornet.
Many modifications were made to the car, including an experimental Conelec fuel-injection system, independent rear suspension and a unique rear disc brake configuration. The car was internally known as EXP 500, and became a pet project of Carroll Shelby himself as well as Shelby chief engineer Fred Goodell. Because of this fondness for the car by the execs, it escaped being destroyed and was allowed to slip into the mainstream market.
After all these years, the car has resurfaced, and been fully restored for sale. It comes with a certificate of authenticity from Ford. “The ‘One and only Green Hornet’ as Carroll liked to say, is an incredibly significant piece of Ford, Shelby and muscle car history with a documented provenance verifying its authenticity,” said Craig Jackson, chairman and CEO of Barrett-Jackson. “We couldn’t be prouder to have a vehicle that was so ahead of its time, crossing our block.”
Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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