5 Ford Mustang Variants You've Never Heard Of
The Mustang's long and illustrious history has seen the pony car nameplate appear with many different variations, many of which most of us have forgotten about.
1980 Ford Mustang McLaren M81
In one of the coolest collaborations in the history of automobiles, Ford and McLaren came together to create a very special version of the pony car: the Mustang McLaren M81. With a hugely successful pedigree in the world's premier stages of racing, McLaren brought their expertise to the muscle car platform. Powered by a turbocharged 2.3-liter, the orange Mustang is as cool as it is rare.
1965 Shelby Mustang GT350 R
The beginning stages of the long and storied history between the Mustang and Shelby include the ultra-rare 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350 R. The first of the bunch, the GT350 R had a limited production of just 34 units. These pioneering performance Mustangs rarely make appearances in collector car auctions. But when they do, seven-figure sums are to be expected.
2007 Shelby GT
Another product of a Ford-Shelby collab, the 2007 Shelby GT is a lesser-known fifth-gen Mustang. This served as a rejoining of forces between Ford and Shelby in what would become a strong relationship once again. The Shelby GT was sold as the equivalent of the Hertz Mustang, which was created to commemorate IndyCar.
1969 Ford Mustang E
The first ever Mustang E was actually built by Ford specifically to compete in the Mobil Gas Economy Run. The competition was a race/rally combination that was held from 1936 until 1968, and was canceled the year that Ford intended to bring the Mustang E. A minimum of 50 units of the more fuel-efficient Mustang needed to be built in order to qualify. And that's exactly as many as Ford sold. Few of these rare 'Stangs still remain today.
