Beginning as a professional driver in the ‘50s, Carroll Shelby envisioned an American automobile market filled with touring cars like there were in Europe at the time. After his racing career, he opened a customs shop in Los Angeles where he started to develop a relationship with Ford, who was providing parts for his own Cobra models. The success of these cars eventually led to the production of the Shelby Mustang, a third-party, high-performance version of Ford’s popular pony car.
The Shelby Mustang was produced between 1965 and 1970, now becoming one of the most revered American cars of all time. In 1967, Ford and Shelby made a prototype called the Green Hornet to test out new features for the limited-edition California Special Mustang. The Hornet was one of two non-racing coupes ever produced by Shelby (the other being the Little Red prototype).
To pay tribute to the iconic Green Hornet for his own personal collection, Shelby transformed a triple black 1968 Ford Mustang with several upgrades he made for its progenitor. Dubbed “Black Hornet,” this one-off car features a 428 Cobra Jet big-block V8 engine, Mallory ignition system, and 10-spoke Shelby wheels, yet retains the car’s four-speed manual transmission. With just 213 miles on the odometer, Shelby signed over the vehicle to its current owner, who’s selling it through Barrett-Jackson auction house at an event in late January in Scottsdale, AZ.
There’s no reserve or estimate on the Black Hornet, but the Green Hornet prototype reached bids as high as $1.8 million when it crossed the auction block at Barrett-Jackson back in 2013, even though it failed to meet the reserve price.
