7 Pics of A Cornfield Found Shelby KR Convertible
A family in rural Iowa has been holding onto some vintage GT500 KR Mustangs for decades. Here's a peek at their impressive collection of US auto history.
1. Welcome to the Klodt Farm
Barn finds are probably the closest a car lover can come to what it feels for a paleontologist to unearth dinosaur bones. The American midwest is filled with these vintage auto treasure troves. The Klodt Farm, in heartland Iowa, is one such example. The Klodts have been collecting and restoring vehicles since the 1970s. It's only been recent, however, where the family has welcomed photography of their gems for public enjoyment. The model pictured here is a 1968 GT500 KR convertible.
2. The Klodts are a family of Ford fans
The Klodt family has a collection of rare and prestigious Ford Mustangs. That isn't so surprising, however, when the family's strong ties with the brand are considered. Brad Klodt and his father Clarence have been collecting Fords since Brad was in high school in the mid-70s. Their love for motors resulted in the family starting a Mustang restoration company, at a time where restorers weren't nearly as commonplace.
3. Here's their first-ever KR Mustang
The Klodts have several cars under their ownership, and not all of them are pretty. This was the first Mustang the Klodts ever purchased. KR (short for "King of the Road") refers to Shelby's high-performance variant of the standard Mustang. In the decades since its purchase, it's obviously been reduced to a parts car. Even so, that means this Mustang has died so that others will live, and the broken chassis alone still has more sentimental value than most modern cars being produced today.
4. They bought this KR Mustang for only $1628!
One of the interesting things about car collecting is that people sometimes sell off their vehicles without knowing how valuable and prestigious they'll become a few years down the road. The Klodts bought this car off a teenager whose parents forced him to sell it after getting into some trouble. It was almost brand new, with 1628 miles logged. By a near-crazy stroke of fortune, the seller sold it to the Klodts for a dollar a mile. $1628 for a rare KR Ford Mustang is practically unheard of. It must have been awful for the teen to lose out on his car like that, but because of the sell, the Mustang itself has been taken very good care of.
5. There is definitely scrap among the gems
As a restoration business, it makes total sense that some cars wouldn't get the same immortal treatment. We found it would be interesting to compare the beautiful KR models before with this hunk of metal. Originally a 1964 R-Type Galaxie, time has clearly not been good to this one.
6. The Klodts have preserved Ford history
Although some vintage Ford models have found their way to near-immortality with the help of museums, there's a closer authenticity to the Ford spirit in privately owned models that have been cared for and restored largely due to a passion for the product. The Klodts found a way to mix business with pleasure with their restoration company. Fortunately for the rest of us, both their preserved and restored models look amazing to this day.
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