Is this barn-find 1968 Shelby GT500 worth $70K?

At the risk of making classic car enthusiasts everywhere shudder at the sight of an extraordinary muscle car being used as a storage shelf, we present the latest super-cool discovery from the diligent dust-fiends at barnfinds.com.

Listed on Facebook Marketplace is this 1968 Shelby Mustang GT500 in Louisville, Kentucky. The seller’s description is minimal, but the photos speak volumes. If they don’t make you wince, perhaps the $70,000 asking price will.

“Assuming it’s the real deal, this is an exciting discovery and just goes to show that there are still serious barn finds out there,” says Hagerty valuation editor Andrew Newton. “This one will need a lot of time and money and looks to be worth saving, but the asking price seems on the high side. Our condition #4 (Fair) value for these is $82,100, but this one is significantly shabbier than that and it’s worth even less with an automatic.”

The Shelby fastback, one of only 1000 or so produced in ’68, is powered by a 428-cubic-inch Cobra Jet V-8, which produced 360 horsepower when new. The engine, as Newton pointed out, is mated to an automatic transmission. All GT500s featured a fiberglass nose and tail section, functional hood scoops, and four side air scoops. Inside, the GT500 featured trim borrowed from the Mustang GT.

The seller of this red-over-tan barn-find Shelby says it is a matching-numbers car that’s been owned by the same person for 45 years, although it hasn’t run in three decades. The sale includes new parts, although the car will require a lot more that. “[It] needs a lot of love,” admits the seller, who lists its condition as “poor.”

The Facebook Marketplace ad includes this sentence, however, which is like catnip to many collectors, particularly those with the skills to do the restoration work themselves: “If you always wanted a barn find, here it is.”

Do you think the car is worth $70K? Is a project that you’d have the courage (and funds) to take on? Let us know in the comments below.