Shelby Mustang Ultimate Portfolio 1965-1970

Ł19.95

You can't keep a good man down. When Carroll Shelby was instructed by his doctors to give up motor racing in 1960, he was damned if he was going to keep away from the sport. If he couldn't drive competitively he could at least build cars for other people to drive. So it was that he established Shelby American Inc. in Los Angeles for exactly that purpose. It wasn't long before Carroll Shelby was making his name all over again. In 1962, Shelby American took a British AC Ace roadster, crammed a Ford V8 under its shapely bonnet, and produced the first of the AC Cobras – a line of magnificent cars which would dominate SCCA A-Production racing for most of the 1960s. Naturally, Shelby established close links with Ford management at Dearborn during this exercise, and it was only natural for Ford to turn to Shelby when it wanted to develop a hot version of its new Mustang. Shelby certainly came up with the goods. For 1965, he developed the legendary GT350 and its lightweight racing derivative, the GT350R. For 1966, the cars were little changed, with just the addition of an automatic transmission option and a rear seat for those who wanted it. For 1967, the GT350 was supplemented by the GT500 with its 428ci V8; but after that, things began to go downhill. Two things were happening. First, the stock Mustang was becoming more and more of a performance car (which it never had been when first introduced) and second, Ford was bowing to customer demand and making Shelby's roadburners more comfortable and heavier. New safety and exhaust emissions regulations for 1968 did the rest. Despite Cobra badging and the new King of the Road, designation for the GT500KR, power and performance were coming down. At the end of 1967, production was transferred from LA to Ionia, Michigan; and a year later, Ford took it in-house at its Southfield plant. For 1969, you could even get air conditioning as an option. Production stopped in 1970, after only 10,825 Shelby Mustangs of all years had been built. But you can't keep a good car down. In recent years the Shelby Mustangs have become collectable. In order to celebrate his eighth decade Shelby has released a continuation Shelby Mustang GT500. Only 400 will be built, created on restored and uprated classic Mustangs, to include 75 GT500E Super Snakes fitted with a 427 Shelby V8. These cars will be numbered from the last of the originals and accepted by the official Shelby American World Registry. 216 pages, including 15 in full colour. 550 illus. SB. SKU: MUSHUP ISBN: 9781855206335