As its name would indicate, the Original Venice Crew is comprised of former Shelby American employees — Jim Marietta, Ted Sutton and Peter Brock — who were intimately involved in creating those historic machines in the ’60s. Last year the OVC set out to construct a limited series of exactingly reproduced, competition-prepped Shelby GT350s based on 1965 K-code Mustangs. Now, thanks to a new deal, those vehicles are available via Shelby Legendary Cars.
With the addition of our Shelby GT350 comp model to the Shelby Legendary Cars showroom, the Caravan, so to speak, is again complete. — Jim Marietta, Original Venice Crew
“We could not be more fired-up by our relationship with Original Venice Crew,” Lance Stander, CEO of Shelby Legendary Cars. “We’ve been extremely proud to offer Carroll Shelby’s iconic Cobra and GT40 based motorcars. By adding the OVC Shelby GT350 to our showroom, our motorsport menu is that much more visceral. Whether you recall this historic era, or simply want to recapture that time and place in your garage, the addition of OVC’s Mustang completes the historic picture, while significantly expanding our offering of cars.”
With the addition of the OVC Shelby GT350 to its portfolio, Shelby Legendary Cars now has its own Cobra Caravan, like the one Carroll Shelby created to commemorate his Manufacturer’s Championship in 1965.
The result is a reincarnation of the infamous Shelby Cobra Caravan, which began in 1965. Not only will Shelby Legendary Cars sell the OVC vehicles, but the crew will lend its drivetrain expertise to the SLC continuation Cobras. OVC’s team members were around for the development of the 427 Cobra, so they know a thing or two about dropping a big engine into a roadster.
“The original Cobra Caravan, which Carroll launched to commemorate the Manufacturer’s Championship win in 1965, included a GT40, Daytona Coupe, Cobra and Shelby Mustang,” said Jim Marietta, CEO of Original Venice Crew. “With the addition of our Shelby GT350 comp model to the Shelby Legendary Cars showroom, the Caravan, so to speak, is again complete. And we couldn’t be happier in our involvement with the continuation Cobras.”
The Original Venice Crew — Jim Marietta, Ted Sutton and Peter Brock — will now offer its Shelby GT350s via Shelby Legendary Cars, and OVC will help SLC by installing powertrains in its continuation Cobras.
Original Venice Crew Shelby GT350 cars are now available via Shelby Legendary Cars’ Irvine, California, showroom. For more information, you can check out the SLC site here.