Isham C. Shelby, Jr of South Carolina, known as "JR", wrote to us back in March in an effort to learn what he had unearthed in a shop. On the surface, it looked like an old abandoned racecar. Turns out he had found 5R09K125001 - the first '65 fastback ordered from the San Jose (Milpitas), California plant. Date code was 20H (20 August 1964). It was the most unlikely of finds, buried in the rubble of an auto repair shop.
Since our last post on this car, JR has completely stripped the car down and has it in paint. His objective is pretty much what the car has been all of its life - a 1965 vintage racecar. He has tastefully reworked the body and laid down paint. We like the super retro teardrop hood so common on Ford racecars from the period made legendary by Galaxie, Fairlane, and Mustang.
JR is heading into the home stretch of his car-building project including a complete engine and driveline rebuild. Pure luck was discovering the engine, transmission, and rear end were all matching number original pieces. All JR needed to do was knock this stuff down and freshen it up.
We will be featuring 5R09K125001 in Mustang Monthly in the year ahead. Fortunately for us, Mustang Monthly Editor, Donald Farr, is from Union, South Carolina not far from this extraordinary find. Donald is expected to shoot this car when he's in South Carolina next. Look for this one in Mustang Monthly.
Eager to hear about your finds. You are welcomed to email me at Jim.Smart@sorc.com or thesmart67@msn.com.