1965 Shelby GT350 for Sale at Richmond Auctions
Richmond Auctions will offer the Tony Townley Collection for sale at the end of this week, a stunning assortment of high-quality, significant collector cars. One of the most interesting lots set to be auctioned is a 1965 Shelby GT350, one of just 562 built by Shelby American that year. It stands out as a stripe-delete car with unique factory equipment including steel wheels and a trunk-mounted battery.
This car, SFM5S257 also known as #257, last sold at a public auction in 2022 at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction where it brought $687,500. Keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at how the first-year GT350 has performed in the market over the past five years.
Five Years of Market Trends
The 1965 Shelby GT350 has experienced notable value fluctuations over the past five years with a modest overall appreciation, somewhat tempered by market volatility, alongside a significant jump in the value of the most exceptional examples that have seen record-breaking prices at major auctions.
The five-year period from 2020 to 2025 has witnessed a compelling upward trend in 1965 Shelby GT350 values. Average auction prices started out in 2020 at $401,000 with a roughly 16% year-over-year increase by 2021 with the average price increasing to $467,500. The market maintained a steady upward momentum through 2023 and 2024 with average values coming in around $522,500.
The most dramatic appreciation in value took place in 2025 with the average value climbing to $745,000 – a truly remarkable increase of 42.6% compared with 2024. This was driven by the SAAC Gold Concours-winning example that was sold for $990,000 at Mecum’s Kissimmee auction, a new record for non-competition spec GT350s.
Significant Sales
- March 2020: $401,000 (RM Sotheby’s Amelia)
- August 2021: $362,500 (RM Sotheby’s Monterey)
- September 2022: $400,000 (Bring a Trailer)
- May 2023: $319,000 (Mecum Indy)
- September 2023: $522,500 (Mecum Dallas)
- January 2024: $500,000 (Mecum Kissimmee)
- January 2025: $990,000 (Mecum Kissimmee)
- August 2025: $500,000 (RM Sotheby’s Monterey)
Conclusion
The 1965 Shelby GT350 has demonstrated exceptional investment performance over the past five years, with average values increasing 86% from $401,000 in 2020 to $745,000 in 2025. The record-breaking $990,000 sale in January 2025 established new benchmarks for street-version examples and underscored the model’s position among America’s most valuable muscle cars.
For collectors and investors, the 1965 Shelby GT350 represents a blue-chip asset in the American muscle car segment. The emphasis on originality, documentation, and condition suggests that only the finest examples will continue commanding premium valuations. As Barrett-Jackson demonstrated in 2022 when they sold #257 for $687,500, the car being offered by Richmond Auctions certainly stands out from the crowd, even alongside most other first-year GT350s. While it’s unlikely to break the record set by Mecum in January, this example is expected to perform very well when it goes under the hammer on October 25.