I got this one.....
To answer your question, takes a little bit.....
In 1965, FoMoCo decided it would be good marketing to position their new little "secretary's car" (the Mustang) as a true sports car. Since Ford had entered into to a half-vast
partnership with Carroll Shelby in stuffing SBF's into A/C Cobra's to beat up on European "Gran Prix" cars (roughly the 60's equivalent to today's IMSA cars); then-CEO Lee Iococca turned to Shelby to officially "hop up" the Mustang. The
Shelby GT-350 was the product of that plan. Shelby took delivery of '65 Fastbacks with the 271-horse 289's, massaged the engines, tweaked the suspensions, modified the interiors and bodies and took 'em racing! You could also
buy a Shelby GT-350 at your friendly neighborhood Ford dealer
or even
rent one (a GT-350
H) from Hertz-Rent-a-Car
Oh yeah - somebody decided that the Shelby needed a new model designation to differentiate it from the ordinary Mustang GT.
According to legend, it was 349-1/2 feet from Caroll Shelby's office to the shop where the new "hot-rod Mustangs" were being assembled. Round it up, and you got a Shelby GT-
350. Again, this is the legend; the only guy on here that might know the true story is our resident Shelby expert, Chepsk8
Actually, when the '67s came out, Ford decided to "up the ante" by stuffing FE big-blocks (starting with the 390) into the new body's engine bay, along with the original smallblock engines; and Shelby followed suit. Well, you gotta differentiate between the small-block Shelby's and the big-block Shelby's; so the big-block Shelby's were arbitrarily called GT-
500's. Ford and Shelby went for the 428 Police Interceptor motors for the GT 500's; then copied some hop-up ideas from Bob Tasca of Tasca Ford in Pennsylvania and called them 428 Cobra Jet engines. Bend over, drop trou, and let the Camaro guys pucker up!
Another legend that's most likely true was the build-up of a one-shot prototype with the ultimate kick-in-the-butt; a 427 side-oiler; which sadly never went into full production.
In it's place came the
production end-all, be-all,
primero numero uno (IMHO): the '68 GT500
KR, with more Shelby-Tasca-Ford improvements to the 428; now called the 428 Super Cobra Jet.
Dude, I got to ride in a 'KR at a car-show parade; a convertible - one of 318 built and one of (How many, Cheapie?) still in captivity. The car-show guys were doing burnouts; and when Lou, the car's owner dropped the hammer on that BBF and dumped the clutch, I felt like a 12-year-old with his first copy of Playboy!
(Took me a while to figure out how to get that feeling across without running afoul of the Forum MOD's
)
After that, with the '69 model year, things started to go downhill; Shelby and Ford had split up, the cars were getting too heavy and too fancy. Again, this is IMHO; but it's telling that the '70 Shelby's were re-badged 69's that hadn't sold in the '69 model year.
Since the guy that took me for a ride in his GT-500KR 'vert is a local; that un-restored but beautiful green sweetheart is a mainstay of the local annual car show. When I get to the baseball complex where it's held; I fast-walk around 'til I find her; and, after we've said hello to one another, I can go look at the rest of the cars. And I can't leave without saying "Seeya later"
Yeah, that's a Shelby