Rare Finds: Mustangs and Fords

During the 1960s and 1970s, all the major Detroit manufacturers made legendary muscle cars, and Ford was no exception. Shelby Mustangs, Cobra Jet Mach 1s, big-block and Hi-PO GTs, Boss and Talladega prototypes, K codes, S codes, and R codes, all familiar terms to Ford performance enthusiasts. Shockingly, even with how popular many of these models were, there are still long-lost examples turning up in barns, garages, backyards, and yes, pastures.

Some of these lost Mustangs and Fords were forgotten by owners, shuffled between family members, or simply parked to become non-descript garage fixtures. Some have lived hard lives on the street and in competition, and then been neglected and abandoned. Many of these Mustangs and Fords are among the most valuable and collectible cars Ford has ever built. These automotive jewels have been waiting for a dedicated enthusiast to rescue them from obscurity. In order to find these rare rides, collectors have had to do extensive research, fact checking, searching off-the-beaten-path locales, and make hundreds of phone calls.

As the automotive Indiana Jones, Jerry Heasley has been tracking down and documenting the stories of the rarest and most sought-after Mustang and high-performance Ford rescue stories for years. In this follow-up to the top-selling Jerry Heasley's Rare Finds, Heasley has built a collection of his finest stories, including the 1969 Boss styling prototype that was owned by Ford stylist Larry Shinoda, the original 1967 Shelby Mustang prototype that would become several other test cars, and a rare 1965 Shelby GT350R.