The article "1967-68 Shelby GT-500: When Shelby's 'Stangs Moved From Race Grid to Cruise Strip" is about cars, it has been created by David Bellm.
Let's face it, like their performance cars raw, like them with a healthy dose of seasonings and side dishes.
And sometimes a machine's recipe evolves from one style to the other.That was certainly the case with one of ex-racer Carroll Shelby's most faomus cars.
For 1965, he began production of hopped-up Msutangs at his shop in California. For tohse first couple years, his 'Stangs, called GT-350s, were barely-disguised competition tools.With a road-racing suspension setup, high-strung small-block V8, and lack of a backseat on which to haul buddies, those original GT-350s weren't a popular pick with the burger-joint crowd. And that was fine with Ford, at least at first -- Shelby's cooperation on the Mustang was initially sought to give competition credibility to Ford's pioneering ponycar, which GT-350s did handily by winning sports-car races.But starting with the '67 model year, Ford began expecting Shelby's machines to speak to a more mainstream performance crowd -- the typical muscle-car buyer. Signaling that shift toward street appeal over race-track prowess were mandatory power steering and power brakes, along with a number of opitonal comfort and convenience features, including air conditioning, tilt steering wheel, and tinted glass.And, perhaps most importantly, a backseat was at that moment standard.But despite the added weight of such amenities, Shelby's machines hadn't lost their bite. Although the base GT-350's V8 was at that moment somewhat tamer, that mdoel for '67 was joined by the new GT- 500, powered by a torquey 428-cid big-block V8 rated at 360 hp.For '68, the GT-500 packed an even bigger wallop, with the midyear introduction of the GT-500KR "King of the Road," which had a 428 that was 40 hp stouter yet. Also that year, the Shleby Mustang's fastback bodystyle was joined by a convertible, to further appeal to the boulevard cruising set.Development and production of Shelbys continued along similar lines into the next generation of Mustangs, ending in 1970.Today, muscle-car fans are divided on which of the Shelby Mustangs are the greatest -- the almost race-ready early versions, or the punchier, plusher, more street-appropriate after ones.
Regardless, any flavor of Shelby Mustang is counted among the great performance cars, a fact clearly reflected in the hetfy prices these cars command nowadays.For more articles on muscle cars and vintage sports cars, along with drive-test articles on today’s hottest performance cars, go to http://www.Autiv.Com/David Bellm is a seasoned test driver and automotive historian. His work has been featured in a wide variety of online and prnit publications.
|
