CarTech® CT572 - 1968 Shelby Mustang GT350, GT500 and GT500KR: Muscle Cars In Detail No. 3

Although road-going Mustangs were considered sporty, they were not officially sports cars, at least according to the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). And Lee Iacocca knew that on-track performance led to showroom performance, so he needed to go racing. Enter Carroll Shelby. Shelby worked with the SCCA to modify the Mustang to meet the SCCA's requirements and enter the racing arena. The result was the now-legendary Shelby Mustang.

In 1968, Ford sought to take over much of the process of producing Shelby Mustangs and increased that production dramatically to meet anticipated sales demand, so it was a bit of a transition year. In an effort to appeal to muscle car fans rather than race fans, the cars were losing their edgy race car feel and were becoming more high-end performance road cars with a long list of performance and comfort options, including 428 Cobra Jet engines, automatic transmissions, and air-conditioning. They may have no longer been sports cars, but they were now fantastic muscle cars.

Table of contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1:

• Understanding Carroll Shelby's Mustangs
• Peace, Prosperity and Performance
• Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday
• Declaration Denied
• From "Secretary's Car" to Sports Car
• GT350s for Road and Track
• A Sedan Racer No Longer
• The Process Explained
• Special Orders

Chapter 2:

• Evolution (into less revolutionary)
• Selling Out Means Selling More
• Style over Substance, by Design

Chapter 3:

• Planning the Most Prolific Shelby Yet
• Top Down, Popularity Up
• Appearance Was Paramount
• But Performance Still Mattered
• The "Shelby Cobra" Lives On (sort of)
• Change of Venue
• A Perfect Storm
• A. O. Smith
• The Vision Becomes Reality
• Production Begins, Slowly
• "Ding In Roof"
• It's the Economy, Stupid

Chapter 4:

• The 1968 Shelby Cobra in Detail: The Same. But Different
• Keeping It Simple(r)
• Cookie-Cutter Consistency
• Roger Miller, the Cobra Jet and the King of the Road
• The Snake is Quicker than the Bowtie
• Gold (non) Standard
• More Color Curiosities
• A Reduced Rent-a-Racer Revival
• More Appropriate for the Masses

Chapter 5:

• A Shelby Cobra Hardtop (sort of)
• Camaro, Firebird and Javelin Made it Happen
• CS (but not for Carroll Shelby)
• Built for California, in California

Chapter 6:

• Legacy and Legend
• Explaining (or trying to) the Unexplainable
• Affordability Begets Unaffordability
• The Price Pyramid
• Extraordinary within the Mundane
• The Numbers Game
• Trust. But Verify
• Shelby's Mustang, Redefined

Appendix A:

• Comparative 1968 Shelby Cobra Performance Data

Appendix B:

• 1968 Shelby Production Numbers, Colors and Prices

Appendix C:

• 1968 Shelby Numerology: VIN Codes and Tags

Greg Kolasa
Greg Kolasa is known to enthusiasts as a contributing Registrar for the Ford GT40 and Hertz (Shelby Mustang) Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) Registry. Greg has been researching the subject of the Shelby Mustangs for well over a quarter of a century and has access to original factory documentation as well as the personal insights from notable personalities of the day. He is the author of The Definitive Shelby Mustang Guide: 1965-1970, published by CarTech Books, as well as co author of Shelby Mustang GT350: My Years Designing, Testing, and Racing Carroll's Legendary Mustangs, with GT350 Project Engineer Chuck Cantwell, published by David Bull Publishing.