• The first production 2015 Ford Mustang GT fastback for a retail customer will be offered on Saturday at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Ariz.

• Both vintage and contemporary Mustangs have fetched up to $1 million and beyond when sold at auction in recent years

• The proceeds from many of the most valuable Mustangs have gone to charities, including JDRF and the Brain Injury Association of America

Collectors hoping to own the first retail production 2015 Ford Mustang GT will be placing their bids on Saturday at the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company event in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The new Mustang, which goes on sale this fall, has been receiving rave reviews since its Dec. 5 reveal, and when the bidding closes it will likely join the long list of Mustangs highly prized by collectors. The first 2015 Mustang GT fastback for a retail customer will be the fourth special pony car offered up by Ford since 2008, with proceeds going to JDRF, the country’s leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes research. Ford Motor Company has been a supporter of JDRF since 1983.

These cars have been among the most valuable Mustangs ever sold at auction, including the first 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca, the 2009 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet prototype and the first of 1,000 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KRs.

Mustang has symbolized freedom and independence for millions of people for nearly 50 years, making it fitting Ford Motor Company will auction off a new Mustang to help advance the goal of providing more independence to people whose lives are affected by diabetes.

The list of high-dollar Mustangs includes both vintage and contemporary Mustangs for street and track, as well as one-off concepts and prototypes. In addition to the first 2015 Mustang GT, the custom 2014 Mustang GT hero car from the upcoming action film “Need for Speed” will join the ranks of charity vehicles at the Barrett-Jackson auction in April.

Adding up the prices for just 10 of the most valuable Mustangs ever sold comes to nearly $7.6 million, with more than $1.7 million of that benefiting nonprofit groups:

1.    1967 Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake fastback
$1.3 million, Mecum, Indianapolis, May 2013
This one-of-a-kind GT500 was powered by a 427-cubic-inch V8 from the Le Mans-winning GT40 race car. Unfortunately, the $8,000 new price in 1967 meant that the planned run of 50 cars was canceled, leaving this unique prototype as the most valuable Mustang ever sold at auction.

2.    1967 Ford Mustang Eleanor fastback coupe from the 2000 film, “Gone in 60 Seconds”
$1.07 million, Mecum, Indianapolis, May 2013
Mustangs have appeared in movies and television shows more than 3,200 times since 1964. The modified hero car from the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds” has inspired numerous replicas over the past dozen years and currently holds the record for all silver-screen Mustangs.

3.    1965 Ford Shelby GT350R fastback
$990,000, RM Auctions, Monterey, Calif., August 2012
Shelby American built only 34 race-prepared versions of the first model year GT350, and this example is one of the most original, having accumulated only 4,900 miles in its brief competition career.

4.    1969 Ford Shelby GT500 convertible
$742,500, Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, Ariz., January 2008
Any Mustang that has had the Carroll Shelby treatment is generally worth more, but it’s exceedingly rare to find an example that was owned by Mr. Shelby himself. This red 1969 GT500 convertible was one of only two 1960s-era cars Shelby kept over the years, the other being the very first Cobra. Shelby clocked more than 70,000 miles on the GT500 before putting it up for sale in 2008.

5.    2007 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang coupe No. 001
$648,000, Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, Ariz., January 2006
The first production unit of the all-new 2007 Shelby GT500 Mustang coupe pulled in $600,000 for the Carroll Shelby Children’s Foundation. At its introduction, the 2007 GT500 was the fastest and most powerful production Mustang ever built with 500 horsepower and 450 lb.-ft. of torque.

6.    1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429 Sportsroof coupe
$605,000, Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, Ariz., January 2007
The most valuable Boss 429 is one of the first batch of 50 cars built with a rare 820-S NASCAR stock car race engine.

7.    2007 Ford Shelby GT Mustang coupe
$600,000, Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, Ariz., January 2007
Based on the limited-edition Shelby GT-H that Ford and Shelby American built for Hertz in 2006, the Shelby GT was available with a five-speed manual rather than the automatic transmissions that went into the rental cars. The proceeds from the first production unit went to the Carroll Shelby Children’s Foundation.

8.    2008 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR coupe
$550,000, Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, Ariz., January 2008
The first production example of the King of the Road coupe was offered by Ford for a charity auction to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

9.    1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429 Sportsroof coupe
$550,000, Mecum, Monterey, Calif., August 2013
Not quite matching the price paid for the record-setting Boss 429 in 2007, this all-original example of the big-block V8 drag-race special had only 902 miles on the odometer and still had the factory plastic wrap on the seats.

10.  1965 Ford Shelby GT350 Supercharged fastback
$528,000, RM Auctions, Amelia Island, Fla., March 2007
Another one-of-a-kind Shelby prototype, this 1965 GT350 fastback featured some visual changes that would go onto the 1965 production model, including new side scoops and Thunderbird taillights. However, the most unique elements lie under the hood, where a Paxton/McCulloch supercharger was added to the 289-cubic-inch V8 engine, bringing its output to 306 horsepower.

Honorable mention: the 1968 Shelby EXP 500 “Green Hornet” was put up for bid at the January 2013 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Ariz. The bidding on this experimental prototype got to $1.8 million before stalling, falling shy of the reserve price and failing to sell. This particular car is unique among Mustangs of the era. Shelby American engineers had installed fuel injection on the engine, rear disc brakes and an independent rear suspension.

(List compiled with assistance from Hagerty Insurance and Drew Phillips)

2015 Ford Mustang
The all-new Mustang is the most advanced version yet of the iconic pony car. The sleek new design of Mustang Fastback and Convertible is backed up by world-class performance from a range of available engines, including a new turbocharged EcoBoost^® 2.3-liter and an upgraded 5.0-liter V8 with more than 420 horsepower.

In addition to state-of-the-art connectivity systems, Mustang features available advanced driver-assist systems, track apps, launch control and more.