Shelby GT350R-C: The Rarest Mustang You’ll Ever See

You can’t legally drive this Shelby on the street, but you can lay some serious smackdowns on the race track.

The modern Ford Shelby GT350R was introduced for 2015 as the most road course-capable Mustang ever, so it came as little surprise when Ford Performance followed up the GT350R with the GT350R-C. The GT350R-C was designed to participate in the Grand Sport class of the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and they were built by Ford’s motorsports partners at Multimatic Engineering. Only two of these cars were built for 2015 and this is one of them, having been used in competition for 2015 and 2016.

Today, it is preparing to head across the Mecum auction block during the Monterey Auction on the weekend of August 23.

#76 IMSA GT350R-C

The 2015 Ford Performance Shelby GT350R-C Mustang shown above was one of just two built for that year. While it wears #76 today, it started its life as the #158 car driven by Jade Buford and Austin Cindric.

Those two ran the car in 2015, winning the class at Mosport, but come 2016, it was repainted with the #76 livery shown here and driven by Paul Holton and Pierre Kleinubing. While the car didn’t win a race during 2016, it had several strong finishes, helping Ford to win the manufacturer’s championship for that season.

Details

This 2015 Ford Performance Shelby GT350R-C Mustang is powered by the same 5.2-liter flat-plane V8 that motivates the road cars, but a race-tuned PCM and a stainless steel exhaust system work together to lift the output to 536 horsepower. Helping the Mustang to get through the turns is Multimatic’s DSSV suspension system with unique springs, a lower ride height, adjustable dampers, adjustable anti-roll bars and 18-inch BBS wheels wrapped in road racing tires. Behind those wheels is a set of Brembo brake calipers with slotted rotors.

Finally, in addition to the beefed-up suspension and braking system, this Mustang meets all of the IMSA safety regulations, with a seam-welded chassis, a roll cage, a 21-gallon fuel cell and a built-in fire suppression system.

Like all of the Ford Performance race cars, this car is sold with a bill of sale and a serial number rather than a title and a VIN number. This means that the car is not approved for street use in the United States, so it cannot be registered. However, it would serve as one wicked track day toy or for someone who wants to haul a car around in a trailer, this Shelby Mustang will most certainly turn some heads at the local Cars and Coffee.

The estimate selling price range is $150,000-200,000, so it is far from cheap, but if you are a hardcore Mustang lover who wants to go road racing, this car will be auctioned off in less than two weeks.

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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