Carroll Shelby's Personal 1968 Shelby EXP500 CSS "Black Hornet" Being Auctioned For Charity

The man in the Stetson Black Hat, Carroll Shelby has donated his one-of-a-kind 1968 Shelby EXP500 CSS 'Black Hornet' Mustang from his personal collection to be auctioned on Ebay by Restoration Hardware to benefit the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation. The 'Black Hornet' Mustang pays tribute to another one-off Mustang, the Shelby Green Hornet which served as a rolling test mule for new technologies like electronic fuel injection, independant rear suspension, power antenna and four wheel disc brakes. The Shelby Black Hornet Mustang was built by Barry Smith, owner of Legendary G.T. as a continuation Shelby EXP500 under a license from Carroll Shelby Licensing. Barry used an original 1968 Mustang which he painted 'Stetson Black' in honor of the hat worn by Carroll Shelby. The Black Hornet is identical to the Green Hornet just after it received disc brakes but prior to the EFI or independent rear suspension. The car has been owned since 2003 by Mr. Shelby and includes a myriad of custom parts which can be seen below. This is truly a one-of-a-kind Shelby Mustang being auctioned on Ebay for a good cause. The Ebay auction runs from December 2-12 with bidding already up to $105K. Photos and more information can be seen after the jump... 1968 Shelby EXP500 Black Hornet Mustang Created under the direction of racing legend Carroll Shelby, the Shelby EXP500 CSS "Black Hornet" pays tribute to its chrome and green prototype, the Shelby Green Hornet, and is the only approved reproduction. Like its predecessor, the "Black Hornet" sports the famous scoops and stripes, powered by a Cobra Jet 428 V8 engine with a heart-pounding 335 horsepower. The car began life as a vintage 1968 Mustang, and was transformed into an authentic Shelby muscle car worthy of inclusion in the Shelby Worldwide Registry. Titled to Mr. Shelby and donated from his personal collection, the car is being auctioned by Restoration Hardware to benefit the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation™. As a rolling test "mule" for new technologies, the original Green Hornet Shelby GT500 was one of the most important cars in automotive history and one of the rarest Shelby prototypes of all times. Visionary Carroll Shelby challenged his band of hot rodders to out-engineer the world's best. In so doing, every innovation imaginable was tested on this notchback coupe. Over the course of a couple of years, the Shelby American crew used this car to experiment with ground-breaking technologies such as an early electronic fuel injection system on the 428 cid engine, independent rear suspension, a power antenna and four wheel disc brakes. This development mule was far ahead of its time and also served as the prototype for the "GT/CS" model Shelby before being turned into a test car. To commemorate this groundbreaking Shelby, Barry Smith, owner of Legendary G.T., built a continuation Shelby EXP500 under license from Carroll Shelby Licensing using an original 1968 Ford Mustang. Painted "Stetson Black" in honor of the hat worn by the lanky Texan, the EXP500 CSS "Black Hornet" is identical to the Green Hornet just after it received disc brakes but prior to the Colonic EFI or independent rear suspension. Since 2003, the car has been owned by Mr. Shelby. The EXP500 CSS is a car so true to a specific moment in time, it's as if a time capsule was opened to celebrate American ingenuity at its best. It is truly the one, the only, the legendary EXP500 CSS "Black Hornet." The only approved reproduction of the 1968 EXP500 Green Hornet Mustang, modified under Carroll Shelby's direction as the "Black Hornet" Official vehicle in the Shelby Worldwide Registry Cobra Jet 428 V8 Engine Marc Underdrive Pulley System Cobra Jet Manifold Exhaust System Holley High Volume Fuel Pump Mallory Unilight Ignition System Holley 700 Carburetor (new) Edelbrook Aluminum Heads Shelby Intake manifold Shelby Water Pump Shelby Valve Covers Cobra Air Cleaner Griffith Aluminum Radiator Legendary Autometer Customized Gauges Top Loader 4-speed transmission Power Steering/Power Brakes new tinted glass Standard interior without Roll Bar Deluxe Black Interior with Console Original seatbelts Original '68 Cobra Steering Wheel 9" Currie Rear End - 3.25 ratio Original Style AM Radio Shelby 10-Spoke Wheels Goodyear GTII Tires Sequential Tail Lights Lucas fog lights Source: RestorationHardware.com

By AllStangs #1, Posted: 1/14/2009

Wow! Winning bid of $160,100! No question this is a gorgeous car, but it kind of makes me wonder why copy Little Red instead of coming up with something new? Obviously the fact that Shelby himself was involved helped the value tremendously.