3. Shelby GT350 R
As you already know, Shelby started building Mustangs in 1965 as fire breathing machines that brought Ford much needed recognition and performance credentials. But, the cars that were responsible for its racing success were 34 “R” models Ford produced only in 1965. And they sold them to privateers and racing teams all over America and the world. Those cars were not street legal and were purely for racing purposes, something that they did extremely well.
The GT350 R had numerous modifications and it was lighter, faster and sharper than the regular GT350. The R version was powered by the same 289 V8 as the regular Shelby GT350 but it had close to 400 HP and numerous racing modifications. The car was light, well balanced and proved extremely fast. And, it won numerous races in America, as well as in Europe and South America.