When the first Shelby Mustangs rolled off of the assembly line, few people could have imagined the legendary cars that they would become. Real Shelby Mustangs are now among the most prized and highly collectible cars from the 1960’s, and a well-taken care of example can fetch upwards of a quarter-million dollars or more.

But how do you price a Shelby Mustang that needs a complete restoration? That is a much harder task to do, and as a recent eBay auction for a 1970 Shelby GT500 shows. It can be difficult to assess the pre-restoration value of such a prized project car.

The auction in question is for a 1970 GT500, which would make it one of the last Shelby cars produced in that era. The 1970 Shelby GT500’s were actually model year 1969 cars updated with parts from both Ford and Shelby. This particular car was equipped with a 428 Cobra Jet engine and a four-speed manual transmission. It was painted Pastel Grey when it was built, though at some point it was painted blue, and subsequently stored and forgotten for several decades.

This is clearly a car requiring a complete restoration; however, everything important, including the entire drivetrain, appears to be there. The interior also appears to be mostly intact, though the floors have what is described as surface rust, and the driver’s door suffered some unspecified damage that is not plainly evident from the pictures.

That could be why the final bid on this Shelby project car stalled at about $43,600, only three-quarters of the $59,900 asking price. Even fully restored, 1970 Shelby’s usually sell for around $100,000, which could explain why the bidding didn’t go higher. What do you think is a fair price for a project Shelby like this?