It's not every day that a ready-to-compete vintage racer comes up for auction, especially one with a story like the Brown Brothers' Mustang GT350 R. It will be up for grabs at RM's Arizona Biltmore sale in January. The legendary Shelby GT-350 R was created as a B/Production SCCA racer with the intention of turning the still-new Mustang from a falcon sedan-based tourer into a performance machine worthy of the name. Only 34 R-models were built, dominating SCCA B/Production racing in their first season. The car being auctioned, however, stands apart. It was sponsored by Vancouver's Brown Brothers and driven by British Columbia's Tommy Hamilton, who's been described as an "unsung hero." In his first year of racing, he captured both the International Conference B-Production and C-Modified Championship titles. Carroll Shelby offered him a factory drive but Hamilton was involved with work and family and gave it a pass. The 1968 season was to become the high point of Tommy Hamilton's road racing career, in which he won five different west coast championships aboard 5R533. In 2005, Tommy Hamilton was reunited with Shelby and his freshly restored Brown Brothers GT 350 R at the SAAC National Convention. Now in his late 70's, he was asked if he wanted to do a few demo laps... Tommy manhandled his old car around the circuit, hitting 165 mph on the straight.