Test Driving 1967 Shelby GT500 Tribute 390 V8 Mustang Fastback

This 1967 Mustang fastback isn’t a real Shelby GT500 — it’s something arguably more interesting: a meticulously built tribute running a 390 V8, five-speed Tremec, correct Shelby wheels, and a documented Marti Report confirming its original California sale. Every detail, from the subframe connectors to the fiberglass Shelby hood, was chosen to replicate the real thing without the real-thing price tag. One viewer called it a screaming deal even years ago. Watch the full test drive and walkaround to see why.

Call it a tribute and some enthusiasts immediately lose interest, assuming it means a lesser car wearing someone else’s legend. That reaction misses exactly what makes a build like this one worth watching. This isn’t a Mustang with a few decals slapped on — it’s a fastback built around a documented, verified history and a spec sheet detailed enough to make plenty of genuine Shelbys look under-optioned by comparison. One viewer’s reaction to the price alone tells you everything about how this car stacks up against what it’s paying tribute to.

What Tribute Actually Means on This Car

A Shelby GT500 tribute build starts life as a standard Mustang fastback and gets built to replicate the look, feel, and specification of a genuine Shelby without carrying the Shelby serial number or the price tag that comes with it. Done well, as it clearly has been here, a tribute build lets an owner experience nearly everything that made the original special — the stance, the drivetrain character, the driving dynamics — without competing in the six-figure market that real numbers-matching Shelbys now occupy at major auctions.

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The Numbers Under the Hood

This particular fastback runs a 390 cubic-inch, four-barrel V8, backed by a five-speed Tremec manual transmission — an upgrade over the original four-speed manuals Ford offered in 1967, giving the car an added gear for both highway cruising and more usable acceleration. Behind that sits a 9-inch Ford rear end fitted with a 3.70 Traction-Lok limited-slip differential, a well-regarded combination among Mustang enthusiasts for balancing strong acceleration with genuine street driveability rather than pure drag-strip gearing.

Chassis and Stopping Power

Power steering and power disc brakes round out a driveline package clearly built for real-world usability rather than pure nostalgia, while subframe connectors tie the front and rear chassis sections together to reduce flex — a common and highly effective upgrade on unibody Mustangs from this era, whose factory chassis rigidity wasn’t originally engineered around the horsepower levels a build like this one puts down through the rear wheels.

The Details That Separate a Serious Build From a Basic One

Correct Kelsey-Hayes/Shelby aluminum wheels, wrapped in Goodyear Eagle GT-II radials, sit at each corner, paired with a Flowmaster dual exhaust system finished in chrome tips — period-appropriate wheel styling combined with a modern exhaust setup that balances sound and drivability. Inside, a tilt steering column and a correct Shelby three-spoke wood-rimmed wheel complete a cabin built to feel authentic rather than like an aftermarket afterthought bolted in during a weekend project.

Bodywork That Goes Beyond Cosmetic

The fastback wears a correct Shelby fiberglass hood and front grille, components that not only replicate the visual identity of a genuine GT500 but also shave meaningful weight off the front end compared to steel factory panels — a functional benefit as much as a styling one. Getting these panels correctly fitted and finished is one of the more labor-intensive parts of any tribute build, and it’s exactly the kind of detail that separates a genuinely serious build from a superficial one.

A Documented History, Not Just a Good Story

This car reportedly comes with a Marti Report — a production-record document sourced directly from Ford’s original build data — confirming it was originally sold in California, giving the fastback a documented factory history distinct from the tribute modifications layered on top of it later. Having that paper trail matters even on a tribute build, since it verifies the base car’s authenticity even though the Shelby-spec components were added afterward by whoever undertook this project.

Why the Price Reaction Says So Much

One viewer’s comment on the video sums up the build’s value proposition better than any spec list could: calling it a “screaming deal” at $48,000 — “even in 2013,” acknowledging how much further that price advantage has likely grown since as genuine Shelby values have continued climbing well beyond what most enthusiasts could ever justify spending on a single car.

The Case for Driving a Tribute Instead

Tribute builds like this one occupy a growing and increasingly respected corner of the Mustang market specifically because they let genuine driving enthusiasts own and use a car that looks and performs like a period Shelby without the anxiety of putting real miles on a six-figure numbers-matching original. Where an actual GT500 owner might hesitate to drive their car regularly for fear of depreciation or wear, a well-built tribute like this one exists to be driven exactly the way its inspiration was meant to be driven.

Weighing a Tribute Against the Real Thing

For a buyer weighing this fastback against a genuine Shelby, the calculation ultimately comes down to what matters more: the six-figure premium attached to an authentic serial number, or a build this thoroughly specified, documented, and ready to drive hard without a second thought about resale value. For a growing number of Mustang enthusiasts, that answer increasingly favors the tribute, especially one executed with this much attention to period-correct detail throughout.

Why a Test Drive Video Matters Here

RamblinAround’s format — a real test drive and walkaround rather than a static photo listing — gives viewers a much better sense of how a tribute build like this actually behaves on the road, from exhaust note to shift feel through that Tremec five-speed, information no spec sheet or set of photographs could ever fully convey. That’s a meaningful advantage for anyone genuinely shopping this segment of the Mustang market, where the difference between a good tribute and a great one often only becomes obvious once you’ve heard it running and felt how it drives. It’s the kind of detail that separates a genuine buyer’s guide from a simple sales pitch, and it’s exactly why videos in this format tend to earn more trust from serious enthusiasts than a standard classified listing ever could on its own. Watching it in motion is simply a different kind of evidence than reading a description ever could be. That’s a distinction worth remembering the next time a tribute build gets dismissed sight unseen simply for not carrying an original factory serial number.

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