Shelby Mustang would be nice...

Depending on who you ask the last "real" Shelby Mustangs were built in '66 or '68. '66 was the last year of the race ready GT350. '68 was the last year that Shelby had control over design or production of the cars. No one disputes that the the GT 500 or GT500KR were Shelby cars. They just weren't road racers and were more street oriented than the earlier cars.

While they are cool, the '69 and '70 models were done in house by Ford designers. Interestingly, Shelby did prep some of the cars for Fords race teams in '69 and '70, but they were Boss 302s.

As for a new Shelby or GT 350 or 500, those names are part of the Mustang's history and would be as appropriate as Mach 1 or Boss 302.

Not to nitpick, but production of Shelby Mustangs moved from the Shelby American facility in Los Angeles to the A.O. Smith Company in Livonia MI before 1968 production was begun. All 1968 Shelbys were built in Michigan under Ford's direction. The switch supposedly was forced by a combination of a lack of high-quality fiberglass in the L.A. area and an expiring lease at Shelby's airport plant. So the 1967 Shelby is commonly considered by enthusiasts as the last of the "real" Shelby Mustangs. It's all semantics at some point, as they were all pretty special cars all the way through 1970. Even Carroll himself, after initially snubbing the 68-70 as having become more luxo-cruiser than performance car (which tells you right there that Ford had a HEAVIER hand in determining what the cars were to be after 1967) says these days that his disdain for the later cars has softened, and he admits that for driving and enjoying he actually prefers driving his '70 GT500 the most. The 1965 was definately the most bare-bones race-car-like, and they got more civilian friendly with each passing year after that.

Ricks,
Thanks for clearing up exactly when the production move changed. I knew it revolved around the '68 model year, but I was not sure it it was at the beginning or end of the year.

As with anything automotive, there is plenty of room the discuss Shelby Mustangs. I agree that all of the cars were and still are special, but the earlier, lighter cars will always be my favorite.

It is funny that we still think of the late '60s cars as being soft/heavy when pretty much every new car on the market, even extreme sporting machines, have airconditioning, stereos, and power everything.