This is the 1967 Shelby Mustang raced by Kevin Haig in the OSCA series. Its one of the 26 A/Sedan cars built by Shelby, some of which raced in the Trans-Am series, this one included, driven by Bob Egan.
It was later purchased by New Zealand born Bob Kennet, who lived in the US, and raced a Porsche 911 in the Trans-Am Under 2 litre class. When the 911 was outlawed for the 1970 season, Kennet purchased the Mustang off Egan, and raced it in selected Trans-Am and A/Sedan regional events. Kennet was due to take the Mustang to NZ to contest selected events during the 1970/71 summer racing season, accompanying his friend Joe Chamberlain, who took a '69 Camaro. But time constraints prevented Kennet from achieving this. He did, however, return to NZ to help Chamberlain, and it was then he did a deal with Dexter Dunlop to swap the Mustang for a McRae.
Dunlop raced the Mustang unsuccessfully in some 1972 season events, but with its 5 litre engine, 8 inch wide wheels, and single 4-barrel carb, was out-gunned by the local opposition whose cars were far for heavily modified.
The Mustang then ended up with Kevin Haig who raced it successfully in the OSCA series, winning both the 1974 and 1975 championships. In fact, he'd built such a big lead in the series during 1975, he sold the car to Lawrence Bruce but still won the championship, and Bruce went on to win his class.
The car raced for many years in OSCA, and was eventually purchased in the 1980s by Gary Doyle in Palmerston North, who rebuilt it for classic racing. He later sold it to David Bowden in Australia, where it still resides in his impressive collection.
