H. B. Halicki was a used car salesman who wanted to make a movie. With a little money, one big idea, and a 1971 Mustang Mach 1, he made Gone in 60 Seconds. And in that particular way that movies, especially '70s movies, can be, it wasn't all that good, but it was awesome. Fast forward to Michael Bay's remake in 2000, and the Mach 1 was replaced by a 1967 Shelby GT500. When we got a call offering us the actual car from that movie for the weekend, we felt obliged to say yes... and then drive it like we stole it. The verdict: Eleanor is the hottest piece of car we've spent a weekend with in quite some time.
When we drove the Shelby GT500KR at Miller Motorsports Park last May, we were impressed with the steps that Ford and Shelby had taken to make its new King of the Road a special vehicle. Not only was the KR a huge improvement over the GT500 (which led to the development of the 2010 GT500), but the car featured trick items like a carbon fiber hood and lightweight wheels wrapped with R-compound tires. At that time, Shelby also proudly told us that none of the KR-specific parts would be available for sale separately to ensure that owners of lesser Mustangs could not make shadetree replicas that might compromise the KR's image. Of course, all of this exclusivity and performance came at a price: $79,995 to be exact.
$18,400 for a new hood, $3,392.50 for a front spoiler, and $632.50 for a set of hood pins Unfortunately, as one GT500KR owner has learned the hard way, replacement parts for this pony car can be surprisingly dear. After an unfortunate incident with a critter on the road resulted in a modestly damaged front end, the owner in question was shocked to learn about the high cost of his vehicle's replacement parts. And as is increasingly the way these days, he aired his displeasure on the web. That initial report has since touched off a firestorm in the online Shelby community, with the issue spreading to numerous forums and chat rooms.
So just why were these replacement parts such a contentious issue? In the main, it's a numbers thing. As in $18,400 for a new hood, $3,392.50 for a front spoiler, and even $632.50 for a set of hood pins, among other things. Further, the disgruntled owner informed a forum member that Shelby requires any damaged KR parts to be returned to their facility in Las Vegas before new replacements can be sent out.
Obviously, a bit of due diligence was needed to verify the claimed replacement pricing and parts return policy, so we got on the phone with Jim Owens, vice president of marketing and communications at Shelby to get the straight scoop.
Retrobuilt's 2007 meets 1969 Shelby Mustang – Click above for high-res image gallery
Want the muscular, retro look of a 1969 Shelby Mustang without any of the rust, engine problems and, well, cachet of a 40-year-old classic? Then fire up the eBay and check out what Retrobuilt has wrought.
What you see is not a 1969 Shelby fully restored to better-than-new condition. Nor is it a 1969 Mustang Fastback retromodded to look like said Shelby. The car you see is listed on eBay as a 2007 Shelby Mustang GT 350 custom-made by Retrobuilt to fool most casual observers into thinking the car is 38 years older than it is.
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In a truly heroic effort that's not only daunting in scope but utterly jealousy-inducing in execution, the hot shoes at Motor Trend have once again teamed up with pro-racer and 24 Hours of Daytona winner Randy Pobst to put ten of the hottest performance cars currently on sale up against each other at Laguna Seca to determine which is best. Last year, the winner was given the title of "Best Handling Car," though this year they are switching the name to "Best Driver's Car." That works.
Without getting too much into the metrics they used (it's an eighteen page article), MT went with a combination of outright speed, braking performance, lateral acceleration data and subjective seat of the pants driving impressions (plus Pobst's excellent feedback) to rank all ten cars in order. Without giving away the winner, we will say that we enthusiastically agree with their findings.
Ahh, Barrett-Jackson. What would it be without a charity Mustang going up for auction? In the case of the upcoming event in Palm Beach in April, there will actually be three historic Mustangs going across the block with all proceeds being donated to worthy causes. First up is lot #665, the first retail 2010 Shelby GT500 that was initially supposed to be auctioned at the Scottsdale event back in January. The car comes in Kona Blue with white stripes, a color combination specifically chosen by Carroll Shelby.
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Remember Unique Performance? Of course, how could we forget the sordid tale of a company building licensed replicas of the Shelby GT500 Eleanor featured in Gone in 60 Seconds, only to be shut down by the police after its shady business practices were uncovered before most cars were delivered. More than a few ex-customers that lost out on their prized vehicles surely haven't forgotten about the deposits they put down on the cars, and last year, a group sued Carroll Shelby in an attempt to recoup their investments. To help smooth things over, Carroll Shelby Licensing Inc. has agreed to a new licensing agreement with two auto shops in Texas so that the series of continuation GT500SE and GT350SR cars can be completed. Each finished vehicle will get an official serial number from Shelby along with inclusion into the Shelby Worldwide Registry. While the offer is being made royalty free, customers will still be required to pay for the completion of the cars.
One of Ford's biggest buzz vehicles this auto show season has been the Mustang. From the debut of the redesigned 2010 model at the LA Auto Show last November to the reveal of the 2010 Shelby GT500 at the Detroit Auto Show last month, Ford has managed to steal back much of the muscle car spot light that's been occupied by the Dodge Challenger and Chevy Camaro for the last couple of years. The 540-hp Shelby GT500 is the new reigning king of production Mustangs, and one person more than any other is responsible for its visual transformation from family friendly Mustang GT to I'll-eat-your-children-without-chewing Shelby GT500. His name is Rob Jensen, and he earns points from this peanut gallery for keeping his own blog at RobJensenDesign.com. Jensen recently sat down with our friends at idsketching.com for an interview and revealed some salient details about the Mustang's design process, as well as offered advice for budding industrial designers. He also handed over a digital stack of early GT500 sketches that shows the design's gestation from a unique perspective.
Tonight at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, California, Carroll Shelby and Co. unveiled what is by far the most radical Mustang ever built for the street. Named after Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, who drove a top fuel car for Shelby in the 1968 season, the new Shelby features a 750 horsepower (over 800 on race fuel) version of the GT500's 5.4-liter V8 thanks to an upgraded Kenne Bell supercharger. Other modifications include a custom fiberglass full tilt front end, a Shelby rear drag wing, eight-point roll cage, six-piston front brakes, rear seat delete, coilover springs, custom Bogart wheels, and much more. Did we mention it's STREET LEGAL? Pricing comes in at a stout $99,995 to upgrade a currently titled car or $149,995 for a complete car. Production will be limited to just 100 examples.
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What's the price of fame? When the subject turns towards famous movie cars, a vehicle's presence on the silver screen invariably adds some intrinsic value to the vehicle's worth, and there are few movie cars in recent memory more recognizable as Eleanor, the 1967 Ford Mustang fastback from Gone in 60 Seconds. According to the studio, a total of eleven Eleanors were created for the flick, and only three of those machines made it through filming unscathed. The car you see here is one of those machines, used for close-ups with Nicholas Cage. In this case, the car's sundry list of components isn't all that important, but for those that care, there's a 351 cubic-inch Ford V8 underhood, mated to an automatic transmission. The gavel fell, fees were tallied and the car's new owner was exactly $216,700 poorer after Saturday night's bidding was finished.
If you were watching the Barrett-Jackson auction on SPEED on Saturday evening, you might have noticed that a fairly important car wasn't shown crossing the block - the first retail production 2010 Shelby GT500. Did they auction the car off during a commercial? Nope, in fact the car wasn't auctioned at all. We, among many others, were disappointed not to see the car sell, especially with the first Camaro selling earlier in the evening. We asked around, and the official word from Barrett-Jackson is that Carroll Shelby caught a cold in the last few days and was unable to make it to Scottsdale. Since both Ford and Shelby wanted Carroll to be there when the car was auctioned off, the sale was rescheduled for the Palm Beach event in April. By that time production GT500s should be rolling off the assembly line, so instead of the winning bidder buying the rights to the first car, Carroll Shelby will pick out the options and colors and sell the actual vehicle. Will it be the same Grabber Blue with Red stripes like the car we saw in Detroit? Something tells us it will be something more conventional. Until then, get well Carroll!
