carroll shelby

From Mustang I to 2015 – Evolution of the Ford GT over 50 Years

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Ford and tagged carroll shelby design ford ford gt ford gt40 mustang I sports cars supercars on by (updated 3113 days ago)
By July 1963, the upper intake had been added

By July 1963, the upper intake had been added, courtesy Ford Motor Company Archives

It’s not often anymore that automakers actually get to keep anything completely secret heading into auto show season. Aside, from the Buick Avenir concept which no one really saw coming, the closest thing to a true secret at this year’s North American International Auto Show was the all-new third-generation Ford GT. While rumors had been swirling about this car ever since someone associated with long-time Ford Racing partner MultiMatic mentioned something in passing last summer, there were none of the usual teasers from Ford, no spy photos, nothing at all in fact to indicate what the new Dearborn supercar would look like.

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Friends of Carroll Pay Tribute to the Late Mr Shelby With One-Off GT500 Cobra

This entry was posted in cars and tagged 2013 Shelby gt500 carroll shelby cobra monterey mustang rolex historics rolex motorsports reunion shelby gt500 cobra on by (updated 4513 days ago)

 

Out in Monterrey, California today, Ford board member Edsel Ford II, marketing chief Jim Farley and Shelby American president John Luft took the wraps off a one-off 2013 Shelby GT500 built as a tribute to the late Carroll Shelby. The car, built by “Friends of Carroll” has been dubbed the Shelby GT500 Cobra and is painted in the traditional Guardsman Blue with Wimbledon White stripes that graced many of the original Cobras of the 1960s.

It’s not the just the paint that sets this particular car apart from run-of-the-mill GT500s, that is if you can call a 662 hp Mustang run-of-the-mill! This car’s rear haunches are several inches wider than any standard Mustang that rolls out of the Flat Rock Assembly Plant.

Within those swollen wheel arches are 20-inch wheels that measure 10-inches wide in front and 13-inches wide at the back. Those back wheels are wrapped in 345-section rubber to help put the output of the engine to the road.

Speaking of the engine, the GT500’s already stout 5.8-liter V8 has had it’s normal 2.3-liter Eaton supercharger replaced with a 4.0-liter Whipple blower from the Ford Racing catalog.

The GT500 Cobra will be on display at the Ford pavilion at the Rolex Historics this weekend where the original Cobra is the featured marque this year. It will then go on tour throughout the fall before it gets put to an as yet undisclosed special purpose according to Jim Farley.

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