Tony Fucci driving in the 1968 National Championship, New England Division, at Watkins Glen, New York.

The story of this Mustang starts five months before it was assembled in Ford’s San Jose plant. In 1965, the SCCA announced a new “Sedan Racing” series. This professional race series was to become what we now call the Trans Am series. SCCA desired the involvement of manufacturers in their new race series. So, in the first years of the Trans Am series, it was solely a manufacturer’s championship. The SCCA did not add a driver’s championship to the Trans Am series until years later. Ford decided that they wanted to win the inaugural sedan racing championship series in 1966.

With the manufacturer’s championship as their goal, Ford’s General Office purchased this notchback coupe and commissioned Shelby American to build a race car that conformed to the FIA Appendix J specification for Trans Am sedans. At Shelby American, the Mustang was taken directly into the Competition Department. Work began on the first four sedan racers on March 2, 1966. See complete History (6.7mb PDF).