Why The SCCA Made 1965 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 Get Rid Of Back Seat

The 1965 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 didn't shed its rear seat because Carroll Shelby wanted to save weight. Rather, it lost it because the SCCA – notable for booting contestants like the C4 Corvette at will — didn't consider Ford's prized pony car as a true sports car. Removing the back seat was the specific fix that changed that classification and kicked off the Mustang's legacy.

When Ford introduced the Mustang in mid-1964, it was an immediate commercial success. What it wasn't, in the SCCA's view, was a sports car. The Mustang's 2+2 layout — a front seat and a smaller rear seat — placed it in a different classification than the two-seat sports cars the SCCA sanctioned for its B-Production racing category. Ford needed the GT350 to qualify for that class to compete against the Chevrolet Corvette and other rivals.

Lee Iacocca, then Ford's president, asked Carroll Shelby to iron out the GT350's hiccup. Shelby arranged a meeting with SCCA Executive Director John Bishop and asked directly what it would take to get the Mustang into the sports car category. The answer was straightforward: remove the rear seat and make the GT350 a true two-seater …

https://www.jalopnik.com/2238074/shelby-gt350-1965-no-back-seat-scca-two-seater-rule/