Crushed and Cubed 1967 Shelby GT500 Destined to Become One Cool Dining Table

Discovered with a tree growing through it in the 1970s, this 1967 Shelby GT500 was turned into a piece of art.

These days, anything with the Shelby name is highly sought-after and likely incredibly valuable, at least in terms of older Mustang-based models. This is especially true of early, first-generation Shelby Mustangs, which have skyrocketed in value in recent years. Thus, the mere sight of this crushed and cubed 1967 Shelby GT500 is a painful one for collectors and enthusiasts alike, but the story behind how it got here does at least make a little sense, as the owner Peter DaSilva explains in this video from Hagerty‘s Barn Find Hunter series.

DaSilva came across this 1967 Shelby GT500 many years ago, but it was in terrible condition, according to him, to the point where it was apparently beyond saving. These days, even the worst first-gen GT500 is worth saving, but of course, that wasn’t always the case, so we might be able to give him a pass here. Regardless, he wanted to do something with the car after discovering it in a junkyard in New York.

“In the mid-’70s I was in a junkyard in New York state,” DaSilva said. “From a distance, I could see what looked to be a Shelby with probably an eight or nine-inch tree growing out of one of the side windows. It had been there a long time. I got up close and it still had the serial number, and I ended up buying the car.”

“One of the most influential movies as a kid was Goldfinger,” DaSilva added. “Being a little twisted, I remember that one segment where they cubed a Lincoln to hide a guy’s body. Being an artist, I thought it would be a pretty cool cube. So I ended up selling the serial number and all usable parts off the car, and found a place in Albany, New York that actually cubed and crushed cars.”

The rest, as they say, is history, and now this car is little more than a 1,100-pound cube and a great story, if not a regrettable one these days, given how valuable these cars are. DaSilva wants to turn the cube into a dining room table, which is a great idea, but he needs to beef up his floor to support its hefty weight first. If he does indeed pull that off, he’ll certainly have one of the more valuable dining room tables on earth, that’s for sure.

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.