Carroll Shelby passed away over a decade ago, but his name will live forever in the halls of automotive royalty. Given his many contributions and achievements – many of which were accomplished in partnership with Ford or via Blue Oval models – it also stands to reason that any vehicle Shelby owned over the years is going to command big bucks at auction. Now, this 1966 Ford Thunderbird is aiming to do precisely that.
Up for grabs at Bring a Trailer, this 1966 Ford Thunderbird Town Landau is said to be one of 10 that were ordered by Shelby American with the full options package and modified with Shelby-Cragar wheels, though of that 10, only nine were sold. This example was retained by Carroll Shelby as his personal driver and demonstrator, at least, until he passed it on to the father of the company’s accountant some time later.
Since then, this special T-Bird has changed hands a few times and was repainted back in 2020, treated to a new white roof, and fitted with refinished trim, new Landau bars, and weatherstripping, along with door panels and trim inside the black leather interior. Power comes from Ford’s 428 cubic-inch V8, which was factory-rated to generate 345 horsepower and 462 pound-feet of torque and is mated to a Cruise-O-Matic three-speed automatic transmission.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see what this 1966 Ford Thunderbird hammers for, given how collectible anything related to Shelby has become over the years. In the past, we’ve seen other Shelby-owned cars go up for auction and command big bucks, including his Cobra Daytona “Cammer Coupe,” the famous 1968 Mustang known as the “Black Hornet,” and nearly two dozen others that went up for grabs at once a few years ago.
We’ll have more cool auction finds like this to share soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Thunderbird news and non-stop Ford news coverage.
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