Driving Shelby’s Potent Pony Cars

The Shelby GT350 and GT500 are American automotive icons. As we come out of the Fourth of July weekend, I want to attempt to settle the long-running debate of which is better.

An Olympia-area collector let me decide for myself. He gave me the keys to his 1968 GT350 and 1967 GT500 and told me to drive them back-to-back–and drive them hard!

First I made myself at home in the blue GT350. The interior is like “Mr. Ford goes to Italy,” with a combination of the standard Mustang spacious fake woodgrain-trimmed accommodations and Shelby-only Ferrari-like bus driver-angled wood-rimmed wheel, rollbar and racing harnesses.

I depress the clutch and turn the key. The V8 comes to life with a roar… and a whir. This GT350 has a Shelby-Paxton supercharger, a rare and ultra-desirable option offered by both factory and dealers.  Forced induction added 100 advertised horsepower over a standard 1968 GT350 302ci engine’s rating of 250 hp. Getting that power to the wheels is a four-speed tranny with a shifter throw that is as long and vague as presidential debate closing comments. Continue reading…

In curves, the 350 is full-on sports car, with zero typical Mustang body roll. My happy foot sends the tail out, but this is remedied with cautious throttle and steering corrections. To say the brakes are touchy when cold is like saying Naomi Campbell has a tendency to get angry. My first squeeze of the brake pedal at slower speeds nearly causes me to eat the steering wheel.

Though similar to the GT350, the interior of the GT500 uses metal for the dash and there’s no center console. Despite nearly identical dimensions, different seat placement means less leg and headroom. The steering wheel also is more vertical.

I put the automatic shifter into low gear and punch the accelerator. The GT500 surges ahead with a deafening roar. If it isn’t enough that a stock GT500 with dual-quad carburetors delivers 400hp (advertised was a laughable 335hp) a previous owner completed a popular swap, ditching the 428ci plant in favor of the same 427ci "side-oiler" used in the Cobra.

More mass above the front axle actually translates to more steering weight and feedback. The GT500 is exceptional in the twisties, however, just not nearly as nimble on quick transitions as the GT350.

For cars that look so similar, they are completely different experiences. The GT350 is thoroughly involving–a beast to be tamed by the brave, then thrown down s-curves with reckless abandon. In contrast, the GT500 is a more traditional Y-chromosome muscle car with a “here I come” exhaust note and faster, tire-liquefying straight-line acceleration. It’s might be easier to master, but it certainly isn’t a poseur’s car.

So which is the best? Both!