BORN TO RACE: 1966 Shelby Group II Mustang Built For Legendary Driver Ken Miles

Created by independent automotive journalist Steve Statham

1 of the saddest features when a lifestyle of accomplishment is cut small is thinking about what could have been. That issue has surrounded the daily life of racing driver Ken Miles for decades. There is no respond to to such musings, of class. What is still left for the persons who knew and beloved him, and the racing lovers who adopted his occupation, is a peaceful appreciation for what he did carry out — and that was a good deal.

Miles was the winner of many athletics motor vehicle races in the 1950s and won the 1961 United States Vehicle Club (USAC) Highway Racing Championship. He was a Shelby-American staff driver and main test driver in the 1960s. He gained the 24 Several hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 1966 24 Hrs of Le Mans in actuality, if not formally. These achievements placed him at the leading of his sport, and Miles has gained a effectively-deserved reintroduction to a young generation of racing admirers thanks to the 2019 motion picture “Ford v Ferrari.”

This 1966 Shelby Group II Mustang is a further chapter in the “what could have been” tale of Ken Miles, and it will be made available with No Reserve at the Barrett-Jackson 2023 Scottsdale Auction. According to the Shelby American Car Club (SAAC), Shelby American World Registry and Carroll Shelby himself, which is documented in the Unique Collector’s Version of Mustang Every month January 1995 magazine, this Mustang was created for Ken Miles to race. Tragically, Miles died in a crash while screening the Ford J-automobile, the next evolution in the GT40 method, at Riverside Intercontinental Raceway on August 17, 1966. He would in no way have the possibility to travel the Mustang that was in the Shelby pipeline specially for him to race.

It is interesting to think about what Miles could have attained behind the wheel of this car. The Group II Mustangs ended up built largely to race in the freshly produced Athletics Motor vehicle Club of America (SCCA) Trans-American Sedan Championship. Ford was interested in the Manufacturers’ Championship the new collection presented and approached Shelby American about developing Mustangs to race in the Trans Am’s Around 2-Liter course. Shelby built 16 notchback 1966 Team II Mustangs, and this auto is the well-regarded 12th motor vehicle from that batch.

The Team II cars were being developed essentially using the GT350 R-Design blueprint, although there are dissimilarities between the two. Though modified to racing specifications by Shelby, the autos carried Ford serial figures. The Mustangs were crafted to conform to FIA Group II principles, so compared with the Shelby GT350 R-Models, they were being necessary to preserve the steel hood without the need of a scoop, all 4 seats in location and factory glass windows, amid other specifics.

Even though we can ponder what Miles may well have completed with the car, we don’t have to visualize the racing heritage of the Mustang alone. It was raced as intended and has a long record of achievements to its credit score. Its initial proprietor was driver John McComb, who competed extensively in SCCA activities. He drove the car or truck to the SCCA A/Sedan Midwest Division Championship in 1966. McComb’s victory at the Green Valley, Texas, Trans-Am race (with co-driver Brad Brooker) served Ford secure the Manufacturers’ Championship in its course in the very first yr of the Trans-Am series. McComb bought the motor vehicle in 1967, but it continued to be raced into the early 1970s.

In 2014, this Group II Mustang was despatched to Famous Motorcar in Halton Hills, Ontario, for a thorough concours restoration. It was disassembled and stripped to bare steel, restored to correct Shelby specifications and refinished in its authentic manufacturing facility Wimbledon White paint with blue Le Mans stripes. It has the range 41 painted on the hood, trunk lid and doorways, a quantity that McComb employed to indicate the SCCA’s Region 4, and his 1st Spot complete therein.

The automobile is run by an period-proper Shelby American racing 289 Hi-Po V8 engine. It has been outfitted with the correct Hi-Po heads, Tri-Y headers, aluminum hello-increase intake manifold #S2MS-9424-A, Holley 715 cfm carburetor #S2MS-3510-A, steel valve addresses with specially fabricated breathers and 7.5-quart Cobra finned aluminum oil pan. The motor is teamed with an period-suitable BorgWarner T10 close-ratio 4-velocity handbook transmission with a make date of July 27, 1965. The power is transferred to a Ford 9-inch Detroit Locker rear stop with 3.89 gears.

The interior is outfitted with a Shelby-suitable 4-point roll bar, 3-inch opposition lap belts, 16-inch 3-spoke steering wheel and six Carroll Shelby gauges. The suspension and brakes are legitimate period Shelby components, with a 19.1 brief steering box, 1-inch sway bar, override traction bars, KONI shocks, 11.3-inch front disc brakes and 10&#2152.5-inch extensive rear drum brakes. The vehicle sits on the suitable 15&#2157-inch American Racing magnesium wheels that present some patina, with wheels wrapped with appropriate-fashion Firestone Indy 9.20&#21515-inch tires.

This Team II Shelby Mustang is a rolling background lesson and a important component of each Shelby and Ford Motor Company’s racing legacies. As these kinds of, it has been signed by Carroll Shelby, John McComb, Shelby GT350 Venture Engineer Chuck Cantwell and Shelby mechanic Terry Doty. This Shelby was also showcased on the include and inside of Sporting activities Automobile Graphic December 1966 magazine which was signed by John McComb. This journal along with intensive documentation is included with the sale.

Appear January in Scottsdale, there will be two varieties of Shelby fans in the viewers — individuals who bid, and people who question what might have been. Register to bid to see this storied auto cross the block at the Barrett-Jackson 2023 Scottsdale Auction, January 21-29.