Some cars are engineered. A rare few are conjured. In 1967, when Ford widened the Mustang just enough to swallow its muscular 390/320-horsepower big-block, the move cracked open a door. Carroll Shelby, eternal hot-rod alchemist, kicked the slightly ajar door off its hinges. The GT500 arrived as the natural evolution of performance, its Police Interceptor 428 already massaged to 355 horsepower. The public devoured it, outselling the GT350 by nearly double. But beneath Shelby’s trademark Texas grin, another idea was forming - larger, louder, and impossibly ambitious.

And as in so many moments of automotive destiny, it took only a spark to ignite a legend.

Few cars command respect like the 1965–1973 Ford Mustang. Whether it’s a ’65 fastback 289, a Boss 302, a rare and racy Shelby Mustang, or a Mach 1 big block, these icons of American muscle never fail to turn heads.

But once you’ve tracked down your dream project—maybe a dusty barn find or a half-finished Craigslist special—you’re faced with one big decision:

Do you restore it to factory specs, or build a modernized restomod beast?

A Classic Industries coworker told me several months ago to go visit the Segerstrom Shelby Event Center, in Irvine, California, and several times thereafter over the passing months. Every time he mentioned it, I'd make a mental note to myself while responding to him with something like, "Yeah, I gotta go there and check out all the Shelby Mustangs, Cobras, and Shelby Daytona coupes."