The Shelby Mustang: A Legend in Racing and Performance

The Shelby Mustang was made famous by legendary car builder and racer Carroll Shelby when he developed the first Shelby Racer in 1965. Today, the Shelby name is strong once again as Shelby Automotive is producing a modern version of the vintage Mustang Racer.

The early Shelby Mustangs were original Ford Mustangs modified by Carroll Shelby’s company. The program was backed by Ford in an effort to compete with the Chevrolet Corvette on America’s road race circuit. Shelby’s company modified Mustangs from 1965 through 1967 while Ford produced the 1968 through 1970 version known as the Shelby Cobra GT.

The Shelby brand is alive and well once again with the 5th generation Ford Mustang produced since 2007.

The 1965 & 1966 GT350 Shelby Mustang was assembled in Dearborn, Michigan. The car was equipped with a 289 V8 and either a 3 speed automatic transmission or a 4 speed manual transmission. Body styles included 2 door coupes, 2 door fastbacks, and a 2 door convertible.
By 1966, the Shelby Mustang was offered in new colors: red, blue, green, and black. The original white color scheme was also available. The early Shelby Mustangs had black engines. The ford blue engine was introduced in the 1966 Shelby.

A total of 2,378 Shelbys were produced in 1966 including 1373 fastbacks, 1001 Hertz fastbacks, and four drag cars. Four of the Mustangs were convertibles and two were prototypes. Hertz Corporation purchased 1000 Shelby Mustangs for their rental fleet. Shelby produced 50 in Wimbledon White, 50 Candy Apple Red, 50 Ivy Green, 50 Sapphire Blue, and 800 in Raven Black.

All of the Hertz models were painted with Gold Le Mans stripes and gold rocker panel stripes. The Hertz GT350H cars are very rare and some have been sold to collectors for well over $100,000. Initially, the Hertz cars were produced with a factory 4 speed manual transmission. However, the cars were constantly in for repairs to the clutches. Therefore, later versions were produced with a 3 speed automatic transmission.

Additional modifications to enhance the handling performance of the Shelby Mustang included larger brakes, brake ducts, suspension bracing, and staggered shock absorbers to prevent wheel hop.

The GT350 was equipped with a high performance 289 cu in V8. The additional HP was generated from a 715 CFM Holley carburetor mounted on top of a COBRA aluminum high rise intake manifold. For added power, a Paxton supercharger was available as an option.
The 1968 Shelby Mustang GT500 was available with a police interceptor 428 cu in power-plant. Driving up the HP were 2 Holley 4 barrel carburetors and factory headers.

The 1969 and 1970 model years were the final production years of the Shelby-Ford partnership. Carroll Shelby ended the agreement with Ford in 1969. The 1970 models were actually just leftover cars from 1969. The 69/70 model GT350s were equipped with a 351 cu in V8.

Almost forty years later, Ford re-introduced the Shelby model in the modern body style. The 2006 Shelby GT-H was delivered in the original Hertz Colors with the gold Hertz strip on a black body. The 2006 Shelby was equipped with a 325 HP and a 5 speed transmission.

In 2007, Hertz offered a GT-H convertible as a rental in honor of the 40th anniversary of the original GT350H.

Shelby and Ford teamed up in 2007 to produce the Shelby GT500. The GT500 is a supercharged 5.4 liter V8 producing 500 HP. With a 6 speed manual transmission and that much HP, this is a fast hot rod. Handling is also enhanced with a suspension tuning kit, a body kit, and 18 inch racing wheels.

Plans are already in motion for the 2010 Shelby GT500 Mustang, a super car to take on the Dodge Viper and Chevy Corvette. The new engine will produce 540 HP and 510 FT/LBS of torque.