| Let's face it, some like their performance cars | | | | including air conditioning, tilt steering wheel, and |
| raw, some like them with a healthy dose of | | | | tinted glass. |
| seasonings and side dishes. And sometimes a | | | | And, perhaps most importantly, a backseat was |
| machine's recipe evolves from one style to the | | | | now standard. |
| other. | | | | But despite the added weight of such amenities, |
| That was certainly the case with one of ex-racer | | | | Shelby's machines hadn't lost their bite. Although |
| Carroll Shelby's most famous cars. For 1965, he | | | | the base GT-350's V8 was now somewhat |
| began production of hopped-up Mustangs at his | | | | tamer, that model for '67 was joined by the new |
| shop in California. For those first couple years, his | | | | GT- 500, powered by a torquey 428-cid big-block |
| 'Stangs, called GT-350s, were barely-disguised | | | | V8 rated at 360 hp. |
| competition tools. | | | | For '68, the GT-500 packed an even bigger |
| With a road-racing suspension setup, high-strung | | | | wallop, with the midyear introduction of the |
| small-block V8, and lack of a backseat on which | | | | GT-500KR "King of the Road," which had a 428 |
| to haul buddies, those original GT-350s weren't a | | | | that was some 40 hp stouter yet. Also that year, |
| popular pick with the burger-joint crowd. And that | | | | the Shelby Mustang's fastback bodystyle was |
| was fine with Ford, at least at first -- Shelby's | | | | joined by a convertible, to further appeal to the |
| cooperation on the Mustang was initially sought to | | | | boulevard cruising set. |
| give competition credibility to Ford's pioneering | | | | Development and production of Shelbys continued |
| ponycar, which GT-350s did handily by winning | | | | along similar lines into the next generation of |
| sports-car races. | | | | Mustangs, ending in 1970. |
| But starting with the '67 model year, Ford began | | | | Today, muscle-car fans are divided on which of |
| expecting Shelby's machines to speak to a more | | | | the Shelby Mustangs are the greatest -- the |
| mainstream performance crowd -- the typical | | | | almost race-ready early versions, or the punchier, |
| muscle-car buyer. | | | | plusher, more street-appropriate later ones. |
| Signaling this shift toward street appeal over | | | | Regardless, any flavor of Shelby Mustang is |
| race-track prowess were mandatory power | | | | counted among the great performance cars, a |
| steering and power brakes, along with a number | | | | fact clearly reflected in the hefty prices these |
| of optional comfort and convenience features, | | | | cars command nowadays. |