Hi Again Folks & Welcome to FLAT OUT!
It’s time the Ford folks got some love, so here’s…
The Shelby Mustang
1965-1971
I’ll concentrate on the first generation Shelby Mustang with a nod to the modern versions later. In 1962 racer Carroll Shelby set up the Shelby American company to import and modify the aluminum-bodied British AC Ace sports car with Ford V-8 engines and transmissions. The end result was the extremely lightweight Shelby AC Cobra, first available with a 260 cu. in. engine, then a 289, and finally a 427.
In 1965 Ford was in a racing war with Ferrari and enlisted Shelby to help with their racing program. When tasked with making a race car out of the Mustang, Shelby responded to Lee Iacocca with “So, Lee, you want me to make a racehorse out of a mule?”
The mule-turned-racehorse was the very first Shelby Mustang: the 1965 Shelby GT350. Ford would ship stock Wimbledon White fastback Mustangs from their San Jose CA Assembly Plant (VIN code R) to Shelby’s Venice, CA plant with a 271 HP HiPo K-Code 289 V-8 and a Borg-Warner T10 4-speed manual to Shelby American, who modified them with larger Holley 715 CFM 4-barrel carbs on a hi-rise intake manifold, a functional hood scoop to accommodate the manifold and Try-Y headers for a horsepower boost to 306 and a higher torque rating of 329 ft. lbs. A one-inch Monte Carlo stiffening bar completed the under-hood modifications. The exhaust was a side-exit dual exhaust design with glass-pack mufflers. Shelby felt that the new GT350 needed more braking power for the added 35 HP and installed larger rear drums with metallic linings sourced from the Galaxie and Kelsey-Hayes front disc brakes. Shelby also installed 15 inch low-angle nylon cord Goodyear “Blue Dot” tires that were rated up to 130 MPH on either silver-painted steel wheels or special cast-magnesium center “Cragar Shelby” wheels with a “CS” emblem in the center. Rocker panel stripes in Guardsman Blue with “GT350” announced that you were driving no ordinary Mustang. Only about 28% of ’65s came from the factory with the dual Le Mans-style racing stripes running from the hood to the trunk that one contemporary reviewer feared would make the GT350 a target for police. These stripes were so iconic that nowadays you would be hard-pressed to find a restored or repainted GT350 without them. The GT350 also had relocated A-arms and over-rider traction bars, so named because they reside over the leaf springs instead of underneath.
The first 300 of the eventual 513 ’65 GT350s came with the battery installed in the trunk, a nuisance for drivers as fumes from the lead-acid battery found their way into the passenger compartment. Shelby’s initial solution was to fit the battery with caps and hoses that forced the fumes out through holes in the trunk, but eventually they just moved the battery into a normal position under the hood.
The ’65 GT350 was a stripped-down car with few convenience items or creature comforts, but the GT350R was a Shelby Mustang created to comply with SCCA racing rules. Shelby produced 35 of these race-ready GT350s with an outrageous for a small-block at the time 360 HP. Ken Miles drove the GT350 to its first SCCA victory on Valentine’s Day 1965, and the GT350 held the SCCA B-Class title for three years.
In ’66 the GT350 lost the Mustang tag that was present on the ’65 and was marketed as the Shelby GT350. Gone were the white-only cars, you could now have one also in blue, red, green or black. Rear quarter-panel windows replaced the factory vents of the ’65. Functional brake scoops helped cool the brakes. An optional Select-Shift 3-speed automatic and Paxton supercharger that boosted horsepower to an astonishing 440 were available. The dual exhaust now exited at the rear and the over-rider traction bars were gone. The factory Ford fold-down rear seat was optional. Early ’65 models had black engine blocks but the ’66 and onward models had standard Ford blue blocks. The Shelby-modified K-Code 289 still powered the ’66.
The first 252 ’66 models began as ’65 K-code Mustang fastbacks specifically ordered by Shelby for conversion. Four experimental GT350 convertibles were produced for testing purposes, anticipating a mid-year 1967 convertible.
1373 regular ’66 GT350s were produced by Shelby, but an additional 1003 (including 2 prototypes) GT350H models were produced for the Hertz rental car company. The GT350H sported a custom paint scheme: black with gold stripes. The first 85 GT350H models were produced with manual transmissions, advertised by Hertz as “Rent-a-Racers”, but after a few of them actually ended up at SCCA events and came back with roll bars welded into them Ford and Hertz re-thought that decision and the remaining H models had automatics.
After Hertz was through with the GT350H cars, they were returned to Ford, refurbished and sold to customers. Imagine walking into a Ford dealership in 1966 and seeing a back-and-gold GT350H for sale, used or no. Carroll Shelby himself kept an automatic-transmission ’66 GT350H.
1967 saw the K-code 289 get a “Cobra” aluminum high-rise manifold, but the big news for ’67 was the introduction of the GT500. The GT500 got you a FE Series 427 cu. in. Police Interceptor engine (labeled 428) with two 600 CFM Holley carbs atop an aluminum mid-rise intake manifold producing 355 HP and gobs of torque, 420 ft. lbs. to be exact. This was funneled through a 3-speed automatic transmission.
The idea of a mid-year convertible model was scrapped for 1967. Production, supply and financial issues at the LA facility in late 1966 forced this decision. By October Ford took over control of engineering and purchasing, and in May ’67 the California based Shelby operation was terminated. A small staff and the remaining cars were sent to Ionia in August. The newly formed Shelby Automotive, Inc. had less and less involvement with Shelby Mustangs from that point on.
The redesign in ’67 had a new front and rear fascia as well as a longer fiberglass hood. There were some initial fitness problems with the hood that were remedied by an outside contractor, Shelby not having much experience with fiberglass. The changes made for a more aggressive-looking car and a substantial difference in appearance from the plain ’67 Mustang, something Shelby had wanted from the beginning but was only now becoming reality. The steering wheel was wood-rimmed and behind it was a gauge cluster with a 140 MPH speedometer and an 8000 RPM tach. This was needed because the 306 HP 289 in the GT350 revved high, achieving a peak torque of 329 ft. lbs. only at a then-lofty 6000 RPM. A dual exhaust with a crossover exited spent gasses and power was delivered through a 4-speed, single dry clutch manual transmission or an optional 3-speed automatic. Power assist was standard and braking duties were handled by large discs up front and drums in the rear.
Both the the GT350 and GT500 got the “Shelby Cobra” name for 1968 as Shelby Automotive was no longer producing AC-based Shelby Cobras. Other than that the changes were minimal from the ’67. The new big-dog GT500 was the GT500KR, standing for “King of the Road”. The KR got the 428 Cobra Jet engine under the fiberglass hood, advertised as 335 HP but later found to be 435 HP, and putting out a monster 440 ft. lbs. of torque. It also received die-cast aluminum valve covers with “Cobra LeMans” on them, celebrating Ford’s FE engine wins over Ferrari at the famed racetrack in 1966 and ’67.
In 1969 the GTs lost the “Shelby Cobra” designation, returning to simply GT350 and GT500. Another heavy front redesign was present, the cars gaining some 4 inches in length. The GT350 now had a 351 engine to replace the 289. Carroll Shelby terminated his agreement with Ford in the summer of ’69.
There was no “official” 1970 GT350 or GT500, but unsold ’69 models were given 1970 VIN numbers and sold as ’70 models. Two cosmetic differences from the ’69 were a front chin spoiler and two black hood stripes, and the distributor was a 1970.
The newer generation Mustang from 2005-present also got the Shelby treatment in various guises; the 2006-2007 Shelby GT-H, an update of the Hertz Shelby GT350s with Ford’s FR-1 Power Pack, adding 25 HP over the stock Mustang, the FR-3 Handling Package, a new exhaust system and a 90mm cold air kit. 500 of these were built to honor the 40th anniversary of the original Hertz Shelby.
2007-2008 Shelby GTs got a 4.6 liter, 319 HP V-8…19 HP above the stock Mustang GT, no rear spoiler, a cold air induction system and performance tuning. In 2008 2 new models were available, 215 of the GT-C (Southern California) signed by Carroll Shelby and 100 Barrett-Jackson GTs in black with a “Barrett-Jackson Red” hood and side stripes.
2011 saw the return of the GT350 name for another run of Shelbys with either a 525 or 624 HP supercharged V-8, running until the 2013 model year. In 2014 the name was back to Shelby GT with a normally aspirated 430 HP V-8 or the supercharged 525 or 624 options of the GT350.
2015-2016 Shelby GTs got more aggressive styling. Shelby resurrected the Super Snake name with a 650 HP normally aspirated or 750 HP supercharged V-8. They also brought back the GT-H for the 50th anniversary of the original with the Ford 5.0 liter “Coyote” engine and also produced it in 2017.
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It’s Jeff Despicable Boofer
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