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The Most Expensive Mustangs Ever Sold at Auction
From its earliest days over six decades ago, the Mustang was about style and speed at an accessible price. Over 10 million cars (and counting) later, and that’s still what the Mustang is all about, from new ones in the showroom to countless weekend classics.
Not all Mustangs, however, are for the masses. Some, with the right kind of history and configuration, get collectors clamoring. Here are the most expensive ones to ever cross an auction block.
1966 Shelby GT350 Convertible

Sold for $1,100,000 at Mecum Indianapolis 2020
Riding high on his Ford-powered Cobra’s success, Carroll Shelby turned his attention to the new Mustang in 1965, and called his new pepped-up pony car the GT350. The first run of GT350s in 1965 numbered just 562 cars of all types, then Shelby softened the cars somewhat for 1966, and sold a lot more of them. Including the GT350H (Hertz) rent-a-racers, 2378 GT350s were built for ’66. Almost all of them were fastbacks. Almost.
Four “experimental” convertibles were built on the ’66 GT350 platform, in anticipation of a convertible version of the redesigned ’67 car. The four drop-tops were also the last four ’66 GT350s built, all painted different colors (Ivy Green, Red, Sapphire Blue, Springtime Yellow), half automatics, and half four-speeds. They were reportedly the only 1965-66 GT350s fitted with factory air conditioning, too. Chassis SFM6S2375 is the Ivy Green automatic one, the first of the four by serial number, reportedly the only one with its original engine, and has been fitted with a period-optional Paxton supercharger. Its $1.1M sale price in 2020 is several times what a ’66 fastback was worth at the time, but you know what they say about the price going up when the top goes down.
1965 Shelby GT350R

Sold for $1,265,000 at Mecum Monterey 2021 (and for $984,500 at RM Amelia Island 2014)
Of those 562 Shelby GT350s built in 1965, just three dozen were full competition-spec GT350R models. GT350Rs steamrolled the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) B-Production category, racking up multiple regional and national championships, but chassis SFM5R538 is represented as the “winningest Shelby ever.” It took 17 straight victories in 1968-69 with owner/driver Charlie Kemp at the wheel. Through 1971, he reportedly entered 54 races, finished 42, and won 32. In 1968, it clocked 184 mph on the back straight at Daytona, which is apparently the highest known speed recorded by a 289-powered Shelby, including the Cobras.
Kemp re-acquired the car in the 2000s and restored it, then sold it at auction for nearly a million dollars in 2014. It was then restored again before its latest trip across the auction block.
1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake


Sold for $2,200,000 at Mecum Kissimmee 2019 (and for $1,391,000 at Mecum Indianapolis 2013)
The GT500 was the first big-block Shelby Mustang, motivated by a modified version of Ford’s 428-cid Police Interceptor engine. This GT500, though, is no ordinary GT500, and its moniker—Super Snake—became magic words among Mustang fans.
Built in preparation for a high-speed test and promo opportunity for Goodyear Thunderbolt tires, the Super Snake ditched the standard GT500 engine for a lightweight 427 lifted from a GT40 and good for 600hp. After the car finished the promo stunt by driving 500 miles at an average speed of 142 mph, Shelby American hoped for a limited production run, but the project was too expensive, and this car remained the one and only Super Snake.
The Super Snake has held the record for world’s most expensive Mustang not once, but twice. It sold back in 2013 for $1.4M, and it held that record for six years before it dethroned itself at $2.2M in 2019.
1968 Ford Mustang GT Bullitt

Sold for $3,400,000 at Mecum Kissimmee 2020
A year after the Super Snake broke its own record, the world’s most famous Mustang sold publicly for the first time. The original, real-deal hero car from Steve McQueen’s 1968 film Bullitt has quite the story behind it. The Highland Green ’68 fastback not only starred in one of the best movie car chases of all time, it also had a second life with the Kiernan family, who revealed their long-term ownership of the car to Hagerty in 2016 and brought it to car shows around the country for a couple of years before selling it at auction in 2020.
It is also in the National Historic Vehicle Register, cementing its identity as one of America’s most significant automobiles.
1965 Shelby GT350R Prototype

Sold for $3,850,000 at Mecum Indianapolis 2020 (and for $3,750,000 at Mecum Kissimmee 2022)
If the Bullitt Mustang’s record price stayed unbeaten for several years, it wouldn’t have shocked anybody. Instead, the record lasted just a few months. But if any Mustang was going to topple Bullitt from the top, it’s SFM5R002. It’s not only one of those 36 genuine GT350Rs, it’s the very first one. Ken Miles spent hours driving it during testing and development, and so did Bob Bondurant, Chuck Cantwell, Pete Brock, and Jerry Titus.
The car snagged the first-ever win for a Shelby Mustang and won several more. Shelby used it as a factory demonstrator, and it graced the covers of both Sports Car Graphic and Road & Track. It was restored to its original configuration before its record-setting auction appearance in 2020. And although it sold for a bit less in 2022, the car’s two sale prices are still the first and second highest prices anyone has ever paid (publicly) for a Mustang.
Not surprised it was basically Shelby’s on the list minus the one Bullitt.
Such UNbelievably high prices – who could ever afford one, or given their provenance would want to tie so much $ in one basically undrivable vehicle? —-
In contrast, way back in the early ’70s, and used mainly as daily-drivers, we once had a ’66 mustang GT british racing green + black convertible, that got stolen + was followed by a series of three ’67 and ’68 GT500 fastbacks, in various shades of blue, including a GT500KR that was bought for speculation – but none of which ever was bought or sold for more than ~$2,500. Once back then, i even declined to buy a ’65 GT350 for ~$1900, mainly because it had been modified for drag racing. Only to be followed a few days later in my Eleanor-like ’66 GT500 and stopped by a Corvette guy who said he was president of the New England Vet Club but also liked mustangs too, and he wanted to see and make an offer on my ’66 Shelby 428 2-4V. So i told him about that “65 GT350 drag car being for sale nearby, and he went and bought it himself instead. Eventually sold my ’66 GT500 during the ’74 gas crisis to get a new little Mustang II in a vain effort to please a now long-gone former girl friend’s family. And our GT500KR that was bought for speculation was resold for an ~$500 profit, to a smart kid who wanted to put it into deep storage to save for the distant future. Ouch. We all make mistakes – maybe one of these old cars could have been somewhere near the bottom of your article’s over-priced mustang list today.
“Mustang II” Well bless your heart….:-)
That is so cool informations about the Mustang I have had and owened so many 65 mustangs as many as five at one time they are my favorite car .I always wanted to build a fake GT 350 knowing that I could never afford a real one just not rich enough but even a fake one brings good money not sure what color combo I like best the white with blue stripes or the black with gold stripes I love them both thanks Kevin
At least you can drive a fake one and even duplicate the exact feel of the original !
Back in the 70s and 80s I owned a body shop in Connecticut I restored many 65 & 66 mustangs. At one time I had 5 stands for myself got married and the rest is history loved those cars .
Proud to say I was at the Mecum Kissimmee 2020 Auction the day the ’68 Mustang GT Bullitt sold there.
I remember seeing the Charlie Kemp Shelby, #23, on the track back in the late 1970’s. I can see how it got its winning record and reputation. At the head of a straight way, the front end would “lift” and stay that way until he got on the brakes going into the next turn… That was quite a sight (and sound!).
These are for people with stupid money. Would they be enjoyable to drive, even track these days…not when compared to newer muscle. The engineering is far superior to what available back then, even with Shelby’s handiwork.
It’s a completely different experience. Raw, rough, loud, slippery… unique, to say the least, and fun in its own way. Certainly not for the faint of heart, and no place to overestimate one’s own talent.
If I was the MFIC. I would declare it illegal to let a classic muscle sit in a garage without being driven a minimum of 5,000 mile a year. The I would volunteer to do the driving.
You’d be duking it out with the ones who think it should be illegal to treat classics like regular cars.
While I personally tend to agree with the folks you mention, I also believe that if a person can afford to buy it, it is their car – to threat smartly, or stupidly, either one.
Have not heard that term “duking it out” in a long time, and it was fun to hear it again!
What is “MFIC”?
I believe “MFIC” means the usual ” Muther blanker in Charge”, just saying. Oops!
Two of the four GT350 convertibles are in the Brothers Collection at Salem OR. I think its the blue one and the yellow one. One auto and one manual.
Eye watering prices.
Not really, every week cars sell in the multi million dollar range. Not Mustangs, but somewhere there are cars selling for far more than these. In some markets, $3.7 million is chump change.
It’s true, but the profit margins are much greater with these select Mustangs given there cost to produce.
Whatever happened to that “upcoming” documentary series about the history of the Bullitt Mustang called “Little Pieces?” I can’t seem to find anything about it, or the actual series, past a few mentions in 2020. I assume it’s dead by now, sealed in a box, never to be seen. Disappointing, because I’d really like to hear more about its life between the movie and being sold at Mecum.
Where is the Little Red and Green Hornet Shelby prototypes?
Back when the Bullitt Mustang was making its tour, before it was sold, I did a story about it for the local TV station. Im a news photojournalist by trade. The funniest thing was when the reporter and the interviewee were standing by the car, looking in from the drivers side. They suddenly stood up, and I moved from an inside shot from the opposite side of the car, to the roof of the car and put my arms on the roof. I didn’t think anything of it, the car had plenty of patina. The PR guy told me a year or so later that he bout s**t his pants when I did that. The car wasn’t supposed to be touched or anything. Cool car though, I loved the patina, and all the holes drilled in the trunk etc. for the camera mounts.
First reaction to all this could be “more money than sense”. But, there’s always someone else out there that might want such cool cars and be willing to pay even more for them. More power to them. Am I jealous? Of course, but in a good way.
The problem is they are all now trailer queens. None of them will ever be driven again. I bet none of them will even be started up again. It’s a shame that some cars become a piece of art – only to be viewed as and traded as art – and no longer function as a car.
If any have been “restored”,are they really original?
More $$$ than sense. What an understatement. Too bad, out of my price range. There are plenty of old cars out there for very little cash to enjoy. I still like the 1969 Cougar XR-7. They never got the respect they deserved. Some AMCs can be had right.