SHELBY

GT 500

The Shelby GT 500 was the big-block heavyweight of Carroll Shelby's Mustang program, introduced for the 1967 model year to sit above the nimbler, small-block GT350. Where the GT350 was a road-racer at heart, the Shelby GT 500 was built for effortless American muscle, powered by a 428 cubic inch big-block V8, initially the Police Interceptor unit fitted with a pair of four-barrel carburettors and rated at 355 horsepower. Shelby American gave the car a distinctive fibreglass nose, bonnet scoops, racing stripes and sequential tail lights to set it apart from a standard Ford Mustang, and the 1967 cars in particular, with their aggressive twin-headlamp grille, are among the most coveted of all. For 1968 the legendary Shelby GT 500 KR, standing for "King of the Road", arrived with the new 428 Cobra Jet engine, conservatively rated at 335 horsepower but enormously strong, and a convertible body style joined the fastback. Production moved from Shelby's own premises to Ford contractor A.O. Smith, and the cars grew steadily more luxurious through the 1969 and 1970 model years, the last of which were simply re-titled and lightly restyled leftover 1969 cars. By the time production ended, around 6,700 examples of the Shelby GT 500 had been built across all four years. Immortalised on screen as "Eleanor" in the film Gone in 60 Seconds, the Shelby GT 500 is now one of the most valuable and sought-after of all American muscle cars.