ALMOST MYTHICAL Pony
Unicorns — these mythical creatures have enchanted children and adults alike for centuries. The collective noun for unicorns is a ‘blessing’. Scotland’s national animal is the unicorn, an association that dates back to the 12th century and not, as I imagined, the result of a late-night brainstorming session liberally fuelled by whisky.
Despite their frequent appearance in popular culture unicorns remain famously difficult to spot in the wild. I hadn’t seen one until I was invited into the presence of Malcolm’s original-condition 1966 Shelby GT350 — one of the real unicorns of the car world, alive and well in Wellington.
My only previous sighting had been of one in captivity at the Shelby museum and factory in Las Vegas. This car’s badge of authenticity is its chassis number, 6S349: ‘6’ stands for the year, ‘S’ stands for street version — as opposed to the racing version — and ‘349’ was the original number of this car when birthed. It even has a period-correct Paxton supercharger.
The first Mustang was released on 17 April 1964. The two original body styles were coupé and convertible. The ‘fastback’, as many people call it, was released in August 1964. Ford actually called this body style the
