In 1965, Deb Sanders’s father, Pete, did what many 28-year-olds wish they could have done: he went to Lynch-Davidson Motors, the local Ford dealer in Jacksonville, Florida, and bought a new GT-350 Mustang. The car was delivered with steel wheels and without stripes (though he and some friends painted the stripes in the driveway soon after bringing it home).
Shelby #5S545 became the family car, with Deb’s mom driving the car for shopping, dropping the kids at school, and whatever errands needed to be run. It became necessary to install a rear seat when they took the car to upstate New York for vacations. They also installed an air conditioner.
In 1973, the Shelby was stolen from a downtown Jacksonville parking lot and recovered two weeks later, minus the drivetrain. Disgruntled and upset, Pete began collecting parts and disassembled the car for restoration, which was never completed.
He signed the title over to Deb—who was five when he purchased the car—in 2010. Deb became very involved in the car’s reassembly, along with her friend, Phil Murphy. Rather than restoring the car, Deb decided to reassemble the car with as many original parts as possible. The result is a GT-350 with all the character and comfort of a used pair of blue jeans.
In the middle of this work, Deb moved from Florida to New York to Maryland. “It’s amazing that we were only missing a few parts when it was assembled,” she says.
A young Deb Saunders poses next to her dad’s 1966 Shelby Mustang GT-350. The car provided her family with daily driver chores until it was stolen in 1973. When returned, it was minus the drivetrain. Restored, it is now one of the most popular cars at National Shelby meets. DEB SAUNDERS
Deb enjoys the attention the car brings when she attends Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) conventions.