RAW MEAT Shelby Mustang GT500

European refinement not your cup of tea? American muscle more your style? Try a piece of raw red meat - the new 2010 Shelby GT500 Mustang.



The Shelby Mustang is a high performance variant of the Ford Mustang built from 1965 through 1970. Following the introduction of the Fifth-generation Ford Mustang the Shelby nameplate was revived in 2007 for new high performance versions of the Mustang.

1965-66. These cars are properly not called "Cobras", which was the Ford-powered AC-based two-seat sports car also produced by Carroll Shelby during the same period. The confusion arises from the optional "Cobra" valve covers on many GT350s, part of a marketing tie-in by Shelby. All 1965-66 cars featured the "K" code 271 hp 289, modified to produce 306 hp. 1965-66 GT350s were delivered from Ford's San Jose assembly plant as "bodies in white" for modification by Carroll Shelby's operation, originally in Venice Beach and later at Los Angeles International Airport.

All but one 1965 GT350s were painted Wimbledon White with Guardsman Blue rocker stripes. The one exception was blue with white stripes.



Got to drive this 1968 Shelby GT500 (first year of the COBRA)in 1969 for a High School graduation (test drive) gift.



The Mustang was first made famous in the movie Bullitt, a 1968 American thriller film starring Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, and Robert Vaughn. The Shelby GT was made famous in the 2000 movie Gone in 60 Seconds: starring Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie. The movies1967 Shelby Mustang GT500, was code named "Eleanor".

For 1967, the GT 350 carried over the "K" code high performance 289 with a COBRA aluminum hi-rise. The GT 500 was added to the lineup, equipped with the 428 Police Interceptor. These later cars carried over few of the performance modifications of the 1965-66 GT350s, although they did feature more cosmetic changes. In September 1967, production was moved to the A.O. Smith Company of Ionia, Michigan, under Ford control. Shelby had very little involvement after this time. As Shelby's two-seat Cobra sports car production ended in 1967, the Cobra name was applied to Shelby Mustangs for the first time in 1968. In February 1968, the GT500KR "King of the Road" debuted; under the hood was a 428 cubic-inch Cobra Jet V8 which was conservatively rated at 335 horsepower (250 kW).