$2.2M 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake is most-expensive Mustang ever sold at auction

A one-of-one 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake just sold for $2.2 million, making it the most expensive Mustang ever sold at auction. And it had to dethrone itself for the record.  

The first GT500 thundered out from Shelby American in 1967. The new model packed a Shelby-tuned 428-cubic-inch Police Interceptor under its triple-striped hood, making it a potent package. Buyers stampeded to dealers and lassoed 2048 of the then-top-dog muscle car. First-year GT500s have been valued in the six-figure range for years, but this car is different. And that’s why it set a record auction price not once, but twice.

The key to this pony’s  history are the last two words of the model—Super Snake. This is no average production Shelby, receiving special attention from the Shelby team due to its planned participation in a Goodyear tire promotional event. A lightweight 427-cu-in racing sits up front, and the rest of the drivetrain got its own set of upgrades.

It went on to run at the promo stunt for 500 miles at an average speed of 142 mph, all in an effort to prove Goodyear’s Thunderbolt tire was the ideal tire for the late-’60s tire buyers. Shelby American’s goal was working to drum up enough buyers to fill a limited run of GT500 Super Snakes. The project never moved forward, mainly due to the Super Snake carrying a price double that of a base GT500.

Given its rarity and generally fantastic performance, this record-setting Super Snake is the pinnacle for both a Mustang and Shelby collector. The car previously sold at Mecum’s Indianapolis auction in 2013 for $1.3 million. Just six years later it easily eclipsed that record with a $2.2 million sale at Mecum’s Kissimmee sale. Almost a million dollars in growth over that short of a time span is seriously impressive.

Is there a Mustang still out there that can eclipse this wild horse for highest auction price? We’ll never say never, but unless something crazy comes out of the woodwork, this Super Snake will be sitting pretty for some time.