After 34 Years, Retiree Starts Restoring His Shelby
Who doesn’t love a good restoration journey? We found this one on Facebook and we knew we just had to share it with you.
James Desana has owned his share of cool Mustangs. Back in the early 1980s, before these cars were exceptionally valuable, he squirreled away a respectable collection that included a 1969 Cobra Jet Mach 1 and a 1970 Boss 302. He would later sell those cars, but for a good reason – we’ll get to that shortly.
According to Desana, he’s owned over 20 first generation Mustangs, six Fox bodies, and even five Lincoln LSCs. He paid just $4,200 for the Boss back in the day. He sold the Boss and the Cobra Jet to build a garage and fund the restoration of another dream car, the 1968 Shelby GT500 seen here.
Desana posted this car in a Facebook group titled “1967-1968 mustangs Lovers.” The GT500 is a retirement project for Desana, now 65. He spent many years restoring cars as his job, so it’s a worthy end to an illustrious career. Desana states that this is an early 1968 build, serial number 1590. He’s owned it for 34 years, patiently waiting for the time to restore it.
When the Time is Right
Desana purchased the Shelby out of a garage in Michigan all those years ago. It had an Oklahoma title and plates at the time. Someone with information from the Shelby registry reached out and provided some info about the car’s early history. It was originally sold on October 7, 1968 at Dub Richardson Ford in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The car was originally Lime Gold, but was repainted red at some point before Desana bought it. Desana did a great job preserving this car over the past 34 years, even though it sat in storage during that time. All of the metal is original, except for the passenger side rear quarter panel. Seeing it stripped to the bone, it’s remarkable to see an original, largely undamaged car like this. The fiberglass front valance was thankfully salvageable despite some cracks.
No restoration is ever easy, but this should be a straightforward one for Desana. All of the original, hard-to-find Shelby-specific parts are there. We can’t wait to see it finished, and we wish James many years and many miles of fun enjoying his Shelby. It’s been a long time coming. This really motivates us to get out into the garage and work on our projects!
Photos: James Desana via Facebook
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