The Magnificent Eight: Shelby's Top Vehicles
The latest Mustang GT500 draws us back to Carroll Shelby’s impact on Ford's performance division.
2011 GT500 Cobra
Carroll Shelby (January 11, 1923 – May 10, 2012) is a legend in racing and automotive innovation. His crowning achievement came when he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959 driving for Aston Martin. His racing career segued with the development of the AC Cobra and an eventual partnership with the Ford Motor Company where his team was influential in modifying the Ford GT to endure the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shelby is also famous for transforming the Mustang from a peppy little secretary’s car into a Camaro eating beast. The 2011 Mustang GT500 was sadly the last Cobra build that he was directly involved with.
1965 GT350
1965 saw the reinvention of the Mustang's image as a true pony car. Shelby modified the Mustang’s 289 cubic inch V8 motor with a high-rise manifold and a four-barrel carburetor. Shelby also made additional performance modifications to the air cleaner and oil pan, increasing the sump capacity to 6.5 quarts. The car’s gearbox was swapped for a Warner T-10, which was lighter than the Mustang’s original 4-speed unit. A host of upgrades were applied to the car’s suspension allowing the vehicle to handle better and drive faster.
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1966 Shelby GT350H
The Hertz Corporation purchased 1,000 1966 GT350 Mustangs and marketed them in a ‘Rent-a-Racer’ program. This strategy allowed consumers the experience of driving a Shelby car. When the cars had fulfilled their obligations as rentals, they were then sent back to Ford and sold to the public as GT350H Mustangs. Most of the cars were painted black with a gold racing stripe, however, some of the GT350H Mustangs rolled out with the classic white with blue rally stripe paint scheme.
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1967 GT500
In 1967, Carroll Shelby brought out the big guns with a new, fastback design and a monster of an engine under the hood. The car’s 428 cubic inch V8 powerplant put out 355 staggering horsepower and 420-pound feet of torque. The 7.0-liter engine came equipped with two CFM Holley four-barrel carburetors. The GT500 clocked a 0-60 miles-per-hour at 6.5 seconds and could run a quarter mile at 15 seconds flat. Considering the leap in performance from the original Mustang’s 289 cubic inch V8, the results were jaw-dropping, to say the least.
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1970 GT500
In 1969, Carroll Shelby parted ways with the Ford Motor Company after a business disagreement. As a result, no new GT350s or GT500s rolled off the production line. Instead, surplus 1969 production vehicles were given 1970 VIN numbers and sold as new 1970 models. The 1969 models had already gone through some cosmetic changes with an additional four inches and a new more aggressive styling that would inspire the Mach One models. 1970 was arguably the pinnacle year of the muscle car and the GT500 kept the Mustang a competitive option.
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Ford Shelby GT-H
In 2006, Ford reached back 40 years to celebrate the anniversary of the Hertz GT350H. The Shelby GT-H debuted at the 2006 New York Auto Show and wore the same black and gold paint as the original models. In an unfortunate twist, the 2006 Shelby GT-H was exclusive to Hertz rental cars. Fox Racing offered an FR1 Power Pack performance upgrade that featured a 90mm cold air intake kit and performance mufflers. The upgrade added an additional 25 horsepower to the GT-H. In 2008, a convertible Shelby GT-H went into production.
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2008 Shelby GT-C
Special edition cars are awesome, especially when they only come in Grabber Orange and sold in almost always sunny Californ-I-A. Ford dealers in Southern California requested a special edition Cobra and the company responded with the Shelby GT-C. Only 215 of these cars were sold and all were autographed by Carroll Shelby himself.
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2011 Shelby GT500
The 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 was the last Mustang project that Carroll Shelby was involved in before his passing. The vehicle boasted a 5.4-liter V8 powerplant with a six-speed manual transmission that produced 550 horsepower and 510-pound feet of torque. The massive engine made the 2011 Shelby GT500, 300 pounds heavier than its Mustang GT counterpart.
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2020 Shelby GT500
It’s the newest, the biggest and the baddest Cobra to date The 2020 Shelby GT500 has rolled off the line with a 5.2-liter V8 engine that produces a mind-boggling (and Dodge Hellcat crushing) 760 horsepower and 625-pound feet of torque. The 2020 GT500 clocks a 0-60 mph time in just 3.3 seconds. The newest Cobra to hatch can run a quarter-mile in 10.7 tire scorching seconds.
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