Tag Archives: 1965

Falcon Mk II

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1965 Falcon Mk II

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Online | March 27, 2021

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Falcon Shells produced kit cars and fiberglass sports car bodies in England between 1956 and 1965. The Mk II was, well, their second model, and it was a take on the Ashley, which company founder Peter Pellandine produced before starting Falcon.

The model was on sale from the get-go, as the company introduced a hardtop in 1957. The Mk II was really just a body that you’d buy and fit to the chassis of your choice. Their next car, the Competition (or Mk III) was sold as a full kit.

This one is based on a Ford Prefect and is powered by a 1.2-liter inline-four. It’s a cool piece of 50s sports racing history and should sell for between $35,000-$42,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

’65 GT350 Fastback

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1965 Shelby GT350 Fastback

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 15, 2021

Photo – Mecum

Since 1965, there have been quite a few Shelby-branded products that weren’t Cobras. And this is the best of them. They were built around the early, light first-run Mustangs. The first-generation GT350 was technically built in 1965 and 1966, but the ’65s are better.

All 562 first-year GT350s were finished in Wimbledon White, and most had Guardsman Blue Le Mans stripes. Power is from a 4.7-liter (289) V8 rated at 306 horsepower. This particular car was originally used as a Shelby factory demonstrator.

It has less than 7,000 original miles, having pretty much sat in storage with every one of its many owners of the years. Mecum estimates it to be worth between $400,000-$500,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $500,500.

Panhard PL 17 Wagon

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1965 Panhard PL 17 Confort S Break

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebeau, France | December 17, 2020

Photo – Osenat

Panhard’s PL 17 was one of the company’s final passenger cars, and it was introduced in 1959. In 1963, they introduced the Break, or the five-door estate state wagon. Production wrapped in 1965, when the PL 17 was replaced by the two-door-only Panhard 24.

Power is from an 848cc air-cooled flat-twin that developed 50 horsepower, which was routed to the front wheels through a four-speed manual gearbox. The cars were praised for their road holding and fuel economy, but dinged for their gearbox (no first gear synchro) and heavy steering.

The wagon variant is the rarest among PL 17s, with only about 2,500 examples produced. Chances are you’ve never seen one in person. No pre-sale estimate is available, but you can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $29,269.

De Tomaso Sport 5000

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1965 De Tomaso Sport 5000

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 7-17, 2021

Photo – Mecum

We’ve previously detailed the long and complicated history of the car that became the De Tomaso P70 aka the Ghia De Tomaso aka some race car that Carroll Shelby, Pete Brock, Medardo Fantuzzi, and Alejandro de Tomaso all had a hand in creating.

After Shelby bailed on the project to go run the GT40 program, Pete Brock sort of lingered around and talked de Tomaso into becoming his North American distributor for the P70 race car, 50 of which were supposed to be built. De Tomaso modified the design of the P70 slightly and built a second car, this one, and called it the Sport 5000.

It’s powered by a 4.7-liter (289) Ford V8 rated at 475 horsepower thanks to aluminum cylinder heads and four Weber carburetors. The car never got its competition career off the ground, only competing in a single race: the 1966 Mugello Grand Prix round of the World Sportscar Championship. But it broke on the first lap with driver Roberto Bussinello behind the wheel.

After that, de Tomaso put this car in storage, where it remained until his passing in 2003. It remains pretty much as-raced (except for whatever broke in 1966). You can read more about it here and see more from Mecum. In Florida. During a pandemic. Here. Good luck.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $600,000.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2022.

GT350R Prototype

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1965 Shelby GT350R Prototype

Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | July 10-18, 2020

Photo – Mecum

The GT350 was the most badass 1965 Mustang. But how do you take that up a notch? You turn it into a factory race car, of course. That’s what Shelby did with 34-ish of their launch-year GT350s. The R was built for SCCA B-Production competition.

This car is the first GT350R built and was used by Shelby American as a factory race car, racking up 10 B-Production victories in 1965, along with the national championship – the latter with driver Jerry Titus. It was also the test mule for Shelby before they built the 34 customer cars.

Famed drivers Ken Miles, Bob Bondurant, Chuck Cantwell, and Peter Brock all also drove this car in period. It’s been restored and retains a 4.7-liter 289 V8 that made somewhere north of 300 horsepower. Mecum bills this as the “most historically significant Shelby Mustang in the world” which might be a little much. In any case, it’s likely to be among the most expensive. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $3,850,000.

Update: Sold, Mecum Kissimmee 2022, $3,750,000.

Checker Marathon

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1965 Checker Marathon

Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | July 12, 2020

Photo – Mecum

I think we can agree that the styling of cars changed a lot more between 1960 and 1980 than it did between 1980 and 2000. That right there is why the Checker Marathon is so interesting. It was introduced in 1960 for the ’61 model year, and remained in production – virtually unchanged – until the end of Checker production in 1982.

And there’s a good reason why that was the case: don’t mess with success. It’s the “classic” New York City taxi – so why would they update it? Built right alongside the taxi versions were the passenger versions, like the car shown here. Yes, that’s right, these were sold as regular old passenger cars too.

Power is from a 3.7-liter inline-six that was rated at 140 horsepower when new. A V8 was optional, as were a station wagon and a limo. Only 6,136 Checkers of all types were built in 1965. This car is in obvious original condition. It will be an affordable entry into the world of bizarre cars of the past. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $6,600.

Jensen CV8 Convertible

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1965 Jensen CV8 Convertible

For Sale by Classic Automobiles Worldwide Ltd | London, U.K.

Photo – Classic Automobiles Worldwide Ltd.

The Jensen CV8 was one of the fastest four-seat cars of the early 1960s. A two-door grand tourer, the CV8 was produced in three series between 1962 and 1966. Only 500 were produced, all but two of which were hardtop coupes.

The factory produced two non-coupes: a targa-like Sedanca and a single convertible, which is the car you see here. This car started life as a Mark II chassis and received some of the Mark III touches before it was completed.

Power is from a 6.3-liter Chrysler V8 that made 330 horsepower. The car is now offered in London and has a long detailed story that you can read more of here.

Porsche 912

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1965 Porsche 912

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Online/Somewhere in Europe | June 3-11, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This is a car I like. Comically undervalued until recently when their prices started to climb, the 912 was an entry-level model situated below the 911 and was built between 1965 and 1969. Porsche built over 32,000 of them during that time.

It’s a 911 look-a-like powered by a 1.6-liter flat-four, instead of a flat-six like the 911. With 102 horsepower on tap, the 912 was lighter than the 911 and was a great handler. We’ve actually featured a 912 prototype, which was based on a 356, the car whose gap the 912 filled in Porsche’s lineup.

They aren’t rare cars (although the Targa variant is rarer than the coupe by some margin), but they carry all of the contemporary 911’s attractive lines at a steep discount. This one is estimated at $57,500-$79,500. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $61,699.

Griffith 200

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1965 Griffith 200

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Elkhart, Indiana | October 23-24, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

RM has rescheduled the sale of this monster Indiana collection for late October instead of the beginning of May. But that’s not going to stop us from talking about some of these great cars now! That is partially because this is more or less the only auction catalog available anywhere on the internet at the moment.

The Griffith is an awesome little beast. They have a short wheelbase, a lot of power, and are notoriously difficult to drive at the limit. It’s kind of like a Shelby Cobra – a British sports car (in this case, a TVR Grantura) with a big Ford V8 stuffed under the hood marketed by an American company. Jack Griffith was a TVR repair guru in the U.S., and he initially tried to shove a Cobra’s V8 into a Grantura.

Eventually, he figured it out and started selling 289-powered Griffiths. This car is actually the only one ever built with a 260ci (4.3-liter) Ford V8. Only 261 examples were ever built, 192 of which were supposed to be U.S.-market cars. The rest were branded as TVRs in the U.K. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $134,400.

Neckar Mistral

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1965 Neckar Mistral

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Essen, Germany | March 26-27, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

NSU was a German car company founded in 1873 to produce knitting machines. They turned to motorcycles in 1901 and cars in 1905. Based in Neckarsulm, Germany, the company was acquired by Volkswagen in 1969 and merged into Auto Union. This was sort of the genesis of the current Audi brand.

I told you that to tell you this: in 1932, NSU’s first run at automobile manufacture failed, and their Heilbronn factory was sold to Fiat. Between 1929 and 1957, cars produced at this plant were called NSU-Fiats. In 1957, the Fiat-designed cars produced at this plant were sold under the Neckar brand. This lasted until 1971.

The Mistral was the Neckar-branded version of the Siata 1500 TS, which itself was a Michelotti-styled derivative of the Fiat 1500. Power is from a 1.5-liter inline-four that made 94 horsepower. Like its Siata twin, this is a rare car today. It’s now offered at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $12,031.