Yet Britain has a few tricks up its sleeve for 2011's final quarter, including at Historics of Brooklands based in Kent. Among the seller's highlights for its October 22 auction is this stunning American classic...
Built by Shelby American from 1965 through to 1970, the Shelby Mustang is a high performance variant of the Ford Mustang.
This GT500 was added to Shelby's production line-up in 1967, in the same year that production was shifted to the AO Smith Company of Ionia, Michigan, and Shelby America reduced its involvement in the car's production.
 This Shelby Mustang had a full restoration at the Mustang Workshop in 2008 |
The GT500 carried over few of the performance modifications of the 1965-66 GT350s, although it boasted a number of cosmetic changes.
According to Historics at Brooklands, this Mustang started off originally as a Ford Mustang GT 390-4V-S code engine car (1967 specification) and was registered on August 30 1966. This is all stated in the car's documentation.
The car has been treated to a full nuts and bolts restoration in recent years, completed in March 2008 by the Mustang Workshop in Hampshire, UK, at a cost of £130,000. Their remit was to "build the best car they could and with no expense spared" says the auctioneer.
The results apparently exceeded the owner's expectations. The car has been lovingly cared for thereafter, having covered only 1,400 miles since 2008.
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 The car's 'hard to describe' Ford Police Interceptor 428ci, 7.2 litre V8 engine |
Beneath the car's high-quality painted metallic blue exterior is a Ford Police Interceptor 428ci, 7.2 litre V8 engine. Oddly, the Mustang's lot notes say its performance is "hard to describe", which is presumably a good thing.
Supplied with its V5 document and a MoT test certificate valid until April 13, 2012, this Shelby Mustang will appear for sale with a £70,000-£80,000 pre-sale estimate - proof that you don't need to travel all the way to Pebble Beach to bid on an impressive motor.
Watch this space for more news on the sale.
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