History of the Ford Mustang

Eleanor

Vintage mustangs spark the interest of many different car collectors throughout New Jersey! Do any of our followers enjoy vintage mustangs as much as our co-owner, who has a collection of mustangs ranging from the 1980s to 2013?

Depending on your age, the name of the car equated with the mustang will bring two different images to mind. The original “Eleanor” was a fully custom 1971 Ford Mustang that was featured in the 1974 film “Gone in 60 Seconds.” Out of the millions of movies ever made, Eleanor is the one car that people remember specifically as the star of the film. The image of the 74′ Eleanor stood for 16 years until the film was remade in 2000 and the world got a glimpse of the new and improved version of the classic star. Although, many will argue that it is impossible to ever re-make such a classic as the 74’ Eleanor.

Chances are if you mention the Ford Mustang to a car enthusiast, they may acknowledge its manufacturing importance, but add the name Shelby to that conversation and their excitement level immediately increases.

Shelby had a stint as a flight instructor during the Second World War, but soon enough he found himself behind the wheel of a range of race cars.

After piloting a flathead Ford V8 hotrod in his first competition – a quarter-mile drag race – Shelby went on to claim three U.S. national sports car championships

Hailing from Leesburg, Texas. Carroll Shelby covered more motor sport ground and was often acknowledged as the U.S. equivalent of Italy’s Enzo Ferrari. He won the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Aston Martin DBR1, set numerous land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, and was twice named Sports Illustrated “Driver of the Year.”

Sadly he was forced to retire from competitive driving in 1960, but Shelby quickly focused his talents on automotive design and manufacture, where the first Shelby Mustang was born.

Having earlier proven himself with the success of the Shelby AC Cobra, Ford approached Shelby to create a performance car of their 1965 Mustang. His company, Shelby American, gladly accepted the job, and on January 25th, 1965, the Shelby GT350 Mustang was born. The racing version of this beast, the Shelby GT350R, secured its first SCCA race in the following month, competing with cars such as the corvette.

From that day on car lovers and connoisseurs were able to enjoy the Shelby Mustang.

Here at Cash for Junk Autos NJ, we pride ourselves on being car connoisseurs. If you have a vehicle for sale, that is not junk, please give us a call at 973-699-6005. We will personally come out and evaluate the vehicle free of charge.