One to Buy: ex-John Wyer 1966 Shelby GT350 Mustang
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Only a tiny fraction of Shelby’s Ford Mustang-based GT350s made their way across to Europe in period, one of which was chassis SFM6S775 whose first owner was a key player in the GT40 programme: John Wyer.
Having led Aston Martin’s competition department, most famously delivering the 1959 World Sportscar Championship and victory at that year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, Wyer was recruited to head up the new Ford Advanced Vehicles operation in Slough from where the GT40 would be developed. In conjunction with Shelby, Holman Moody and Kar Kraft, Ford Advanced Vehicles created the car that ultimately de-throned Ferrari to win Le Mans four times in a row.
On October 9th, Wyer’s personal GT350 will be going under the hammer at Broad Arrow Auctions’ Zoute Concours d’Elegance sale. Configured in arguably the best colour for a GT350, Ivy Green, chassis SFM6S775 was also ordered with rear seats. The car was invoiced from Shelby to Ford Advanced Vehicles on January 26th 1966 and expensively air freighted to England; at a $400 surcharge, this represented one eighth the cost of an un-optioned GT350.
John Wyer retained the green GT350 until the early 1970s, a period that saw him assume ownership of Ford Advanced Vehicles when Ford pulled out after the 1966 season. Now exclusively under Wyer’s direction, and with backing from Gulf Oil, the re-branded John Wyer Automotive Engineering operation won Le Mans in 1968 and ‘69 as well as 1968’s World Sportscar Championship. Having also successfully campaigned a range of in-house-developed Mirage Prototypes during the late 1960s, Wyer’s outfit was recruited by Porsche to handle its 1970 and ‘71 programme which garnered further success for what had come to be regarded as the world’s premier endurance racing enterprise.
According the Broad Arrow Auctions: “Around 1973, Wyer sold the car to Paris, where it passed to car mechanic Ioannis Tsirnas of Greece, who reportedly neglected to register the car during his ownership due to high taxes at the time. His grandson, Georgios Giaveris living in Sofia, Bulgaria, inherited the car circa 2013 and later sold it to an important Belgian collector with the assistance of the late Claude Dubois—a well-known Belgian racer, former Shelby importer for Belgium, European ambassador for the Shelby American Automobile Club, recognised marque authority, and personal friend of Carroll Shelby.
Solid and free of significant corrosion, the car underwent a comprehensive four-year restoration initiated in 2015 under Dubois's supervision. Bodywork and paint were entrusted to Carrosserie Janssens in Braine-l'Alleud, with mechanical work by marque specialist Miguel Vanluchene of Pittem, with correct components sourced from Curt Vogt's Cobra Automotive in Connecticut. The exacting owner sought to preserve originality throughout. The interior was retained very nearly intact, with only the torn driver's-seat base re-trimmed and some carpeting renewed, leaving a cabin that remains remarkably authentic. A correct HiPo “K-Code” engine bearing proper casting numbers was fitted, and the car retains its exceptionally scarce original Magnum 500 wheels. The no-expense-spared work exceeded €188.000, including the cost of the car, with invoices on file.”
