Twins often have similar tastes, and that's certainly the case with Regis and Raymond Koetter of Floyds Knobs, Indiana. Not only do they have similar tastes, they also have similar dreams when it comes to high-performance Fords. With a pair of '66 Shelby GT350s between them, it all boils down to black and white when these two brothers hit the show field.
The Raven Black and gold stripe GT350H belongs to Regis-one of 1,000 Shelby Mustangs purchased by Hertz for its rental car fleet that year. Regis is in the automobile collision repair business, owner and operator of his own shop. This explains the flawless black finish. The previous owner had just completed a N.O.S. (new old stock) restoration on the Hertz rent-a-racer, but it was damaged by a tornado-the garage roof fell on top of the car. Discouraged, the owner sold the car to Regis in November 2003.
There was damage to the roof and front fender, but Regis, working nights and weekends, soon had it standing tall. This is SFM6S1401. Behind the original Shelby-prepared 289 High Performance Cobra V-8 fitted with a 715-cfm Holley is Ford's Top Loader four-speed transmission. The great majority of the Hertz Shelby GT350s were equipped with the C-4 Cruise-O-Matic three-speed transmission and a 600-cfm Autolite 4100 carb. The car is absolutely correct and was awarded a "Gold" at the Mustang's 40th Anniversary Celebration in Nashville,Tennessee, last year. This car is too nice and too valuable to risk on the open road. It travels by enclosed trailer to every destination.
Regis has been approached by Shelby American, and even by Carroll Shelby, about putting this car on permanent display at the Shelby museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. A brand-new Shelby FIA Cobra would go to Regis in exchange. Which would you choose?.
Brother Raymond has been interested in Ford performance cars all his life. He owns a Wimbledon White '66 GT350. SFM6S362 has its own story to tell. It was delivered new to Broadway Motors in Kansas City, Missouri, in November 1965. In 1992, Ray acquired the car from a collector in Chicago.
Ray's car is completely original except for a repaint in the correct Wimbledon White color. This car is also powered by its original Shelby-prepared 289 Cobra engine. In 1966, it was one of the few non-Hertz GT350s built with an automatic transmission. Only in the Hertz cars were automatics predominant, so each brother has the exception rather than the rule when it comes to transmissions. Although Ray's GT350 is equipped with a C-4, this car has the Holley 715-cfm carburetor rather than the Autolite 4100 found on most other automatic GT350s. The car is outfitted with the Cragar Shelby five-spoke wheels, which are decidedly rare today. This original set is rare due to the black spokes. Only a few sets like this are known to have been produced. In the trunk is the original Goodyear Blue Dot spare. Ray enjoys driving his car a few times a year.
There's little doubt Regis and Ray have two of the nicest first-generation Shelby Mustangs out there. Raymond's car has taken first place in shows all across the Midwest. Regis, with his black GT350H, also cleans up on the show circuit.
We'd like to thank both Regis and Raymond for taking the time to tell us their story, and for their dedication to preserving these historically significant automobiles.