By Katherine Helmetag

Atomicalex

I “found” these shots in a friend’s photobucket account. Plenty more after the jump…

Continue reading "More Shelby GT500 Shots" »

Earlier this week I showed you some new spy shots of the 2010 Mustang. Well, the folks at Car and Driver just scored some great pics of a Shelby GT500 Convertible. These are the best shots I’ve seen yet of the new Mustang–they give a really good idea of what the new car will look like. See the full pics–front and rear shots–and get more details over at Car and Driver.

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…

Continue reading "Driving Shelby’s Potent Pony Cars" »

This week’s Showroom Showdown was definitely close. For those of you who might call me biased, feel free to go back and count the comments yourself. Challenger SRT8 wins, but only by about 5 or 6 votes. And the Challenger would have pulled even farther ahead of the GT500 if Dodge had offered a manual tranny for 2008. It should be noted that the Camaro did quite well, too, even though it wasn’t formally included in the contest. Anyway, thanks for playing, and tune in next week for another Showroom Showdown.  

I keep hearing people compare the Mustang to the new Challenger, but that doesn’t seem fair, cause the Challenger SRT8 available now is quite a bit more expensive than the Mustang GT. But the Shelby GT500 is only about $2k more than the SRT8, so that seems like a closer match (of course, people have been paying way over sticker for both of these cars). With the Shelby you get 500 horses and a standard 6 speed manual. The Chally gives you a real back seat and IRS, but you’re stuck with an automatic (for now, anyway). So, which would you choose?

While walking through the halls of Ford this morning, one car in their stable really caught my eye: the Ford Shelby KR500. From the 19" wheels to the hood screws to the wicked cue-ball shifter, this thing really exudes performance. Let us also not forget that this pony is pushing 500+ fun filled horsies to boot. Now, keep in mind that the Mustangs over the years have never had the best interiors and the KR is no exception, BUT—and keep in mind that this is a very big "but"—Ford had to cut corners somewhere in order to the keep the price respectable, and interior was clearly what took the hit. With the soon-to-released Dodge Challenger and upcoming Chevrolet Camaro, Ford really needs to do something to keep their pony-car rivals at bay. This bad-boy Mustang, in my opinion, seems to be just the ticket.

Ok, the new ZR1, GT500 and Challenger are all cool. But, come on, $1 million for ZR1 #1? $650k for GT500 #1? $400k for Challenger #1? Seems like the only reason anyone would spend that kind of coin on a new car is if they thought it was a good investment. But do you even think these will be good investments? Or is it more about bragging rights?

Apparently back in 1967, Carroll Shelby built this crazy Mustang known as the GT500 SuperSnake. This monster had the same engine as the GT40, a 427 with aluminum heads that was good for 520hp. Shelby and his chief engineer Fred Goodell later took this car on a Goodyear Tire test run, traveling 500 miles in a single day at an average speed of 142mph. The true purpose of building this car though was to sell 50 of them at $7,500 a pop. Sadly, the car never made it into production and this is the only one ever made. Well, now this bad pony has made its way onto eBay–take a wild guess at what it’s worth! All I know is that even Nicholas Cage won’t be able to get his hands on this SuperSnake.

When we reported on speculation that the latest incarnation of KITT might be a Mustang, opinions were decidedly mixed. Well, it’s either time to celebrate or medicate, because the cat is officially out of the bag: Ford has confirmed that Knight Industries will be dropping its fancy hardware into a Shelby GT500KR. The "KR" branding actually dates back to the ’60s—it actually stands for King of the Road—but Ford seems pretty stoked about the coincidence. When production models arrive in showrooms, hopefully salesmen won’t have to spend to much time explaining why it doesn’t talk. Initial plans are only for a two hour movie, but if it proves successful, NBC might look to launch a new weekly series. Of course, the Hoff will be involved, but the lion’s share of screen time will probably go to his "long-lost" son. What do you think? Will the movie sink or swim?      

MrTheKid managed to get a Shelby GT500 out of Unique Performance before they filed for bankruptcy. I guess he’s a lucky kid. And I’m guessing he got out of the ticket, too.