theedge67

I say that it is not a Shelby in any way because neither Carol Shelby, nor Shelby Motors Co had anything to do with the car, other than putting their name on it. They did not design anything on the car, SVT did. They did not build any part of the car, the Ford factory did.

In the past, the Shelbys were built at the Ford factory, then sent to Shelby Motors for modification. Shelby did design and build (or had built) aftermarket parts to improve performance, looks, etc. They would add different wheels, brakes, do engine modifications, etc.

The recent Shelby GT's did this, and while I wouldn't have bought one due to them not being a very significant upgrade over the standard GT's, I at least acknowledged the fact that they were a Shelby Mustang.

The Shelby GT500's though never touch Shelby's facility, nor have had any part or piece designed or built by Shelby.

eci

I can't believe this is still an active subject. Is it 2006 again?

S7MS

68 to 69 were manufactured by Shelby Automotive at the A.O. Smith plant in Ionia Michigan. This has been beat to death. The constant drum beat of "If it says Shelby on it than it's a real Shelby to me" is sad, really. Sorry, but some chick telling me that she's Megan Fox doesn't actually make her so (though I'd might like to believe it).

SINBUSTER007

, but some chick telling me that she's Megan Fox doesn't actually make her so (though I'd might like to believe it).[/quote]


so would this make her a "fox" body?? sorry i know its stupid but had to say it.

very hard debate about the "shelby", "not a shelby" thing. and yes while the statement was true shelby did in fact do a lot more mods to the cars back in the 60's than today. both in appearance and performance. the problem today is that there are sooooo many things you can do and all the products are very readily available (i.e. shelby, saleen, roush, etc) that anyone can put anything on their car and call it whatever they want to. only the cars that have specific VIN's and such can be considered their own. yes the GT500 falls under this as a shelby built by SVT. i saw a guy at a car show that had everything you could put on a mustang to make it look like a shelby but in fact it was just a regular v-6. nothing shelby about it. and that is how everyone is today. they mod according to their tastes. if the cars would come from ford and shelby would tear down some sheet metal and replace with modified pieces and have his unique performance upgrades, then yes i would admit that it was a genuine shelby. you could only buy replacement parts if you had the special VIN code for your car and it was authenticated by shelby auto. then you have a true shelby. if i read correctly that is how it was done in the 60's (sorry not old enough to have seen it in person, but maybe some help here on this to make sure my fact is true)

jsaylor

I agree that this is ridiculous, but not because the cars somehow falsely wear the Shelby badge. Shelby and Ford are so inextricably linked at this point that it is difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins, and the truth is that it was like that for much of the 1960's as well. I'll let Ford and Shelby worry about what is and isn't 'real', and continue enjoying the cars they produce whichever of the two 'brands' appear on the side.

Roy

as far as names go there are very very few cars built today by the founders family. Ford is one can you guess the other two ?

SteelTownStang

If it says Shelby, then it’s a S H E L B Y. Who cares whether Caroll Shelby did or didn’t have any direct involvement. Think about it... most everything that you use everyday is called something that is not made by the manufacture whose name is affixed to the item. A Craftsman wrench is not made by Craftsman, a Ralph Lauren shirt is not made by Ralph Lauren, a lot of the parts in a Ford car is not made by Ford... This argument is ridiculous. Do you seriously think that the car is worth more or worth less if Caroll Shelby actually designed the car, or simply put his name on it? The answer is, no. It simply doesn’t matter.

1 COBRA

You are mostly correct but a couple of important credits are due which greatly influenced the recreation of the GT500. The least you can do is to be fair and give credit where credit is due.

You missed mentioning the royalties received in exchange for the rights to use its model name as agreed per its contract and the fact that according to Amy Boiler, Mr. Shelby did make a major contribution with the suggestion of wider tires than originally planned by Ford plus Mr. Shelby sat on the passenger seat during a test drive lap around a track and participated on the subsequent photo shoot.

Without any of the above mentioned requirements there would have been no GT500 instead we would have been stuck with another Cobra product designed and engineered by those incompetent SVT street ricers... I mean, racers.