'Broken. Broken. Broken:' Woman Gives a Tour of Her 1964 Shelby Mustang. You Won’t Believe How Much Money It Cost to ‘Restore’

Don’t roll the window down. Don’t slam the door too hard. Don’t touch the switches. The Shelby Mustang featured in a viral Facebook Reel might be the most fragile muscle car on social media.

Overworked owner Sarah Kraffty packs the video with one-liners and Borscht Belt humor as she shows off what looks like it was once a prized automobile but is now more of a labor of love for her family.

A sampler of some of her jokes:

“If you sit on this tan [convertible cover], an orphanage will spontaneously combust somewhere.”

“This thing's so old, it has an ostomy bag for my grandpa.”

“We found some parts at the junkyard, and we just made 'em work. Duct tape is a good thing.”

The Facebook Reel is less a restoration diary and more a roast. Rather than celebrating polished chrome or track-day stats, Kraffty leans into the endless quirks that make owning a 60-year-old muscle car both maddening and hilarious.

Each line doubles as stand-up material: the Mustang “takes diesel,” has “gills because it’s a Super Shark edition,” and features switches no one in the family dares touch. In turning these frustrations into punchlines, Kraffty joins a growing wave of creators using humor to share the highs and lows of classic-car ownership.

Sorting Fact From Fiction

In the Reel, Kraffty calls the car a “1964 Shelby Mustang,” though longtime Mustang fans will know that’s not technically possible. Ford unveiled the Mustang in April 1964 as a sporty coupe and convertible, and while those early models are often called “1964½” cars, they were titled as 1965s. Carroll Shelby’s high-performance GT350, built at his Venice, California, shop, didn’t debut until the 1965 model year. That means the car in the video is almost certainly a first-year Mustang that has been customized or restored with Shelby-style parts.

That detail might seem minor, but in the world of classic cars, authenticity makes a huge difference. A genuine Shelby with paperwork and provenance can command six-figure prices at auction, while a modified Mustang with similar styling cues will usually trade at a fraction of that. For casual viewers of the Reel, however, it doesn’t matter whether the car rolled out of Shelby’s Venice garage or a family driveway, since the humor lands either way.

The line that resonates most with viewers is Kraffty’s admission that the family has put about $200,000 into a car worth maybe $22,000. That sounds like hyperbole, but restorers and collectors know it’s not as wild as it seems. A ground-up restoration of a first-generation Mustang can easily cost six figures once you add in professional labor, sheet metal, paint, and period-correct parts. Even simpler projects tend to spiral out of control when a cracked panel leads to a rust repair, which in turn necessitates a full repaint, ultimately resulting in a complete interior overhaul.

And then there are the upgrades. Many owners swap drum brakes for discs, add electronic ignition, or replace suspension pieces for drivability and safety—all modifications that boost enjoyment but do little to increase resale value. That explains the disconnect between what Kraffty’s family spent and what the car is “worth” on paper. As sector experts like American Collectors Insurance point out, value isn’t just about the sum of receipts; it’s about market demand for cars with documented history, originality, and finish quality.

Are Restorations Worth It?

So why spend six figures restoring a car that might fetch a fraction of that at auction? The answer is rarely rational. For many families, cars like the Mustang represent shared identity and tradition. The Mustang was the car that launched America’s pony-car era and became an icon almost overnight, with appearances in movies like “Goldfinger” (1964) and later “Bullitt” (1968). Owning one, even in less-than-perfect condition, is a way of plugging into that heritage.

In Kraffty’s case, the Reel doubles as a family scrapbook. She tells a story about losing the brakes while backing into a mailbox, only to be grounded for months until her father also experienced the same failure. That memory becomes part of the car’s mythology, as much a reason to keep it alive as horsepower or paint codes. Social media has amplified these stories, letting enthusiasts bond not only over gleaming restorations but also over the frustrating, funny, and sometimes humiliating sagas that come with them.

For anyone inspired to take on a project of their own, experts caution that cost depends heavily on scope. A light “driver-quality” refresh that includes fixing rust, refreshing paint, and making the car safe to drive might range from $20,000 to $40,000. A professional “frame-off” restoration with concours ambitions can easily top $100,000, and in cases where the car has significant rust or needs major bodywork, $150,000 or more is not uncommon.

That doesn’t include ongoing expenses. Insurance for classics can run higher than standard coverage, parts for rare models may need to be custom-fabricated, and even storage becomes a factor when you don’t want to leave a freshly painted car out in the weather. It’s no wonder many owners joke that a restoration is never “done.” As Kraffty’s Reel makes clear, even after hundreds of thousands invested, there are still switches no one understands and windows that shouldn’t be rolled down.

The bottom line for would-be restorers: treat it as a passion project, not an investment. The memories, stories, and laughs are what make the ordeal worthwhile.

Motor1 reached out to Kraffty via direct message.