Have you driven a $6,970 commemorative plaque lately

[Chris Thauberger]

Ford Mustang Shelby GT Review
P.J. McCombs


Published:  November 26th, 2007

As automakers continue their relentless pursuit of refinement, there's precious little "magic" to be had behind the wheel of a new car. Sit down, and you instantly know where everything is and how to operate it. Start it up and drive and few sensations are overly vivid. In short, most new cars are about as surprising as a toaster. Ford's Mustang Shelby GT is the un-toaster. I recently braved the perils of California's Mojave Desert (e.g. bad road food) to sample the Shelby at the Willow Springs Raceway. The experience was not bland. On the contrary, it was, erm... memorable.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Shelby GT is a for-the-people version of 2006's Shelby GT-H, a special-edition 'Stang available only for rental through Hertz. The same upgrades apply: a one-and-a-half-inch drop, stouter springs, dampers and anti-roll bars, a front strut tower brace, and a freer-breathing intake and exhaust. There's also—wait for it— a numbered and Carroll-Shelby-signed commemorative plaque on the dash. Ooh. Aah. Sorry, just yawning.

Now, this may seem like the umpteenth special-edition 'Stang Ford has released to pump life into its retro pony's sales (Warriors in Pink Edition, anyone?). But the car's pert, chunky lines still draw stares. And while Shelby's visual additions put the "tack" in tack-ons (eighteen-inch imitation "mags," hood pins, billet grille, the usual suspects), they can be taken in good fun. Early in the day, journalists waited in line to drive this car. When's the last time someone got excited about a rental Ford?

I mentioned memorable sensations. The first arrives when you swing open the Shelby's heavy door and drop yourself into the dark, leather-trimmed interior. Half-filling your bunker-slit view is a hood scoop. Not a WRX-style mail slot, but the real dream-cruise deal, racing-striped and stamped into place with rivets. It's nonfunctional, of course.

At the base of the console sits another shameless, self-conscious grasp at the past: a cue-ball-topped Hurst short shifter. Try to grab a gear with this thing and it feels broken. Improbably high effort is required to scritch-scratch the lever through its tiny, gritty H-pattern, as if someone used sand as a lubricant. Stylistically, it gels seamlessly with the rest of the 'Stang's '60s-revival interior décor. And hey, at least the five-speed is a manual; the Hertz GT-H, as some may recall, was auto-only.

The salience of that last point becomes apparent upon turning the key. The noise that issues from the Shelby's exhausts is the stuff of teenage fantasies: dense, rumbly, woofly and loud. Spine tingles come standard. And with a manual at your disposal, this luscious soundtrack inspires all kinds of delightful antisocial behaviors, from unnecessary revving at a stop to unnecessary displays of WOT on the move.

According to Ford, the exhaust and intake combo are good for an extra 19 horses versus the standard Mustang GT, for a total of 319. That's more than enough for serious fun, especially since the 4.6-liter V8 pours on torque thickly and smoothly in the midrange (low-end grunt is surprisingly modest). Zero to 60mph runs take just about five seconds. But the Shelby's dynamics are, um, less than contemporary.

Readers who've driven the standard-issue 'Stang are doubtless already familiar with its light, numb steering, its proclivity to understeer and the general sense of squidge in its suspension. Truth is, the Shelby's starched suspenders don't improve matters much. Body motions are nicely taut, and its stride feels a bit more hunkered-down. But the Shelby still left my neurons reeling as its helm scribed gloopy, too-fast arcs into Willow Springs' sweeping high-speed corners.

And braking? Talk about "memorable." The middle pedal feels weaker than a wine spritzer and mushier than Mills & Boon. Worse, the Shelby GT evinces a spooky live-axle weave when you drop anchor at triple-digit speeds. Its rear end gets loose and queasy as the front end dives to sniff the pavement. I didn't notice any pucker marks on the seat cushion's leather upholstery. Must be tough stuff.

Okay, so the typical Shelby GT buyer isn't looking to run it around a track. More likely they'll use it to cruise the main drag, luring envious glances from other aging rodders. Or maybe they'll canter down a mountain road, reveling in the echo of its exhaust. Under such circumstances, I, too, would surely fall under the Shelby's spell.

But hey, that's easy to do while driving on someone else's dime. The MSRP for this nostalgic bit of blue-oval bluster? $36,970. Seriously. And all of the performance parts are, as they say, "also sold separately." Check 'em off in your Ford Racing catalog and you'll total $2,656. Budget a couple thousand more to have everything bolted onto your $25,840 Mustang GT.

Have you driven a $6,970 commemorative plaque lately? I told you it left an impression.

[98SVT - was 06GT]

That was a complaint at the time. You could build your own for $2,500 but CS was charging 10 grand for the package.
But are these "real" Shelbys in the 65-67 sense where Ford drop shipped the cars at SA. SA then did the mods and sent them to dealers. Ford is listed as the manufacturer and CS was basically acting as a mod/tuner shop. SA was not the manufacturer because there was no Ford Mustang vs Shelby GT350 line that needed to be blurred for the SCCA. Like the early cars all the changes had been developed and approved by Ford engineering. Allowing CS to again build Mustangs (even though it was ala 68-70 AO Smith) was part of the deal he cut to add his name to the SVT developed car that became the GT500. The SA cars say "Shelby GT" because Ford would not allow him to use their GT350 trademark. He could also not use Cobra because Ford only allowed him to use that on 2 seat cars.

In reality that $7,000 plaque is a bargain in comparison to the aprox 40 grand they will charge you for sticking one on a Kirkham Cobra kit.

[FL SAAC Team Leader]

That was a complaint at the time. You could build your own for $2,500 but CS was charging 10 grand for the package.
But are these "real" Shelbys in the 65-67 sense where Ford drop shipped the cars at SA. SA then did the mods and sent them to dealers. Ford is listed as the manufacturer and CS was basically acting as a mod/tuner shop. SA was not the manufacturer because there was no Ford Mustang vs Shelby GT350 line that needed to be blurred for the SCCA. Like the early cars all the changes had been developed and approved by Ford engineering.

 Allowing CS to again build Mustangs (even though it was ala 68-70 AO Smith) was part of the deal he cut to add his name to the SVT developed car that became the GT500.

The SA cars say "Shelby GT" because Ford would not allow him to use their GT350 trademark. He could also not use Cobra because Ford only allowed him to use that on 2 seat cars.

In reality that $7,000 plaque is a bargain in comparison to the aprox 40 grand they will charge you for sticking one on a Kirkham Cobra kit.

So A. O. Smith was the Ford S. V. T. of its times? ( asking for a friend  )

In reality that $7,000 plaque is a bargain

You got that right my brother!

And remember it's all about the C.S.M. #s baby

Future big kash money kars !

[Bill]

Ford Mustang Shelby GT Review
P.J. McCombs


Published:  November 26th, 2007

As automakers continue their relentless pursuit of refinement, there's precious little "magic" to be had behind the wheel of a new car. Sit down, and you instantly know where everything is and how to operate it. Start it up and drive and few sensations are overly vivid. In short, most new cars are about as surprising as a toaster. Ford's Mustang Shelby GT is the un-toaster. I recently braved the perils of California's Mojave Desert (e.g. bad road food) to sample the Shelby at the Willow Springs Raceway. The experience was not bland. On the contrary, it was, erm... memorable.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Shelby GT is a for-the-people version of 2006's Shelby GT-H, a special-edition 'Stang available only for rental through Hertz. The same upgrades apply: a one-and-a-half-inch drop, stouter springs, dampers and anti-roll bars, a front strut tower brace, and a freer-breathing intake and exhaust. There's also—wait for it— a numbered and Carroll-Shelby-signed commemorative plaque on the dash. Ooh. Aah. Sorry, just yawning.

Now, this may seem like the umpteenth special-edition 'Stang Ford has released to pump life into its retro pony's sales (Warriors in Pink Edition, anyone?). But the car's pert, chunky lines still draw stares. And while Shelby's visual additions put the "tack" in tack-ons (eighteen-inch imitation "mags," hood pins, billet grille, the usual suspects), they can be taken in good fun. Early in the day, journalists waited in line to drive this car. When's the last time someone got excited about a rental Ford?

I mentioned memorable sensations. The first arrives when you swing open the Shelby's heavy door and drop yourself into the dark, leather-trimmed interior. Half-filling your bunker-slit view is a hood scoop. Not a WRX-style mail slot, but the real dream-cruise deal, racing-striped and stamped into place with rivets. It's nonfunctional, of course.

At the base of the console sits another shameless, self-conscious grasp at the past: a cue-ball-topped Hurst short shifter. Try to grab a gear with this thing and it feels broken. Improbably high effort is required to scritch-scratch the lever through its tiny, gritty H-pattern, as if someone used sand as a lubricant. Stylistically, it gels seamlessly with the rest of the 'Stang's '60s-revival interior décor. And hey, at least the five-speed is a manual; the Hertz GT-H, as some may recall, was auto-only.

The salience of that last point becomes apparent upon turning the key. The noise that issues from the Shelby's exhausts is the stuff of teenage fantasies: dense, rumbly, woofly and loud. Spine tingles come standard. And with a manual at your disposal, this luscious soundtrack inspires all kinds of delightful antisocial behaviors, from unnecessary revving at a stop to unnecessary displays of WOT on the move.

According to Ford, the exhaust and intake combo are good for an extra 19 horses versus the standard Mustang GT, for a total of 319. That's more than enough for serious fun, especially since the 4.6-liter V8 pours on torque thickly and smoothly in the midrange (low-end grunt is surprisingly modest). Zero to 60mph runs take just about five seconds. But the Shelby's dynamics are, um, less than contemporary.

Readers who've driven the standard-issue 'Stang are doubtless already familiar with its light, numb steering, its proclivity to understeer and the general sense of squidge in its suspension. Truth is, the Shelby's starched suspenders don't improve matters much. Body motions are nicely taut, and its stride feels a bit more hunkered-down. But the Shelby still left my neurons reeling as its helm scribed gloopy, too-fast arcs into Willow Springs' sweeping high-speed corners.

And braking? Talk about "memorable." The middle pedal feels weaker than a wine spritzer and mushier than Mills & Boon. Worse, the Shelby GT evinces a spooky live-axle weave when you drop anchor at triple-digit speeds. Its rear end gets loose and queasy as the front end dives to sniff the pavement. I didn't notice any pucker marks on the seat cushion's leather upholstery. Must be tough stuff.

Okay, so the typical Shelby GT buyer isn't looking to run it around a track. More likely they'll use it to cruise the main drag, luring envious glances from other aging rodders. Or maybe they'll canter down a mountain road, reveling in the echo of its exhaust. Under such circumstances, I, too, would surely fall under the Shelby's spell.

But hey, that's easy to do while driving on someone else's dime. The MSRP for this nostalgic bit of blue-oval bluster? $36,970. Seriously. And all of the performance parts are, as they say, "also sold separately." Check 'em off in your Ford Racing catalog and you'll total $2,656. Budget a couple thousand more to have everything bolted onto your $25,840 Mustang GT.

Have you driven a $6,970 commemorative plaque lately? I told you it left an impression.

To each his own, one mans dream after being taken in by the advertising "Koolaid" (insert rainman voice here: "real, real, it's real..I'm a very good driver..yeah") is another mans folly. We all know CS was a man who could sell ice cubes to Eskimos, these late model cars are no different. Who am I to question how someone spends their hard earned money, although, perhaps some are not as wise in their spending as others. That to is not for me to say as their own posts speak for themselves.

Bill

[98SVT - was 06GT]

So A. O. Smith was the Ford S. V. T. of its times? ( asking for a friend  )

In reality that $7,000 plaque is a bargain

You got that right my brother!

And remember it's all about the C.S.M. #s baby

Future big kash money kars !

Boy do you need a remedial lesson. AO Smith was in no way a Ford engineering entity like Kar Kraft. They were a parts installer for low production cars.

You won't live long enough to see those CSM#s be of any bankable value. The only ones that have increased in value are the one off an prototypes. The driver production cars are still not selling for more than they did when new. With over 150,000 cars having the "Shelby" moniker since 2005 it will be a buyers market for at least the next 20 years.

[Chris Thauberger]

So A. O. Smith was the Ford S. V. T. of its times? ( asking for a friend  )

In reality that $7,000 plaque is a bargain

You got that right my brother!

And remember it's all about the C.S.M. #s baby

Future big kash money kars !

Boy do you need a remedial lesson. AO Smith was in no way a Ford engineering entity like Kar Kraft. They were a parts installer for low production cars.

You won't live long enough to see those CSM#s be of any bankable value. The only ones that have increased in value are the one off an prototypes. The driver production cars are still not selling for more than they did when new. With over 150,000 cars having the "Shelby" moniker since 2005 it will be a buyers market for at least the next 20 years.

I have some swamp land in Florida for sale if anyone is looking for a good ROI...   

the tide is high and I'm moving on

[98SVT - was 06GT]

I have some swamp land in Florida for sale if anyone is looking for a good ROI...

He should buy some to store his "Future big kash money kars !"

[Chris Thauberger]

I have some swamp land in Florida for sale if anyone is looking for a good ROI...

He should buy some to store his "Future big kash money kars !"

I believe he said he lives in Florida doesn't that make him a swamp land owner?

[98SVT - was 06GT]

I have some swamp land in Florida for sale if anyone is looking for a good ROI...

He should buy some to store his "Future big kash money kars !"

I believe he said he lives in Florida doesn't that make him a swamp land owner?

Maybe he wants to upgrade from his sinkhole........

[Don Johnston]

In summary of this discussion, it is not the swamp land that has the value but the licensed name that you add to it. 

[Chris Thauberger]

In summary of this discussion, it is not the swamp land that has the value but the licensed name that you add to it.

Uh huh...

[jerry merrill]

I own a Shelby GT and have run it at Willow springs and the old California Speedway, certainly for its time it its an amazing car that handles excellent. Yes the brakes are not up to the rest of the car but at the California Speedway it was able to out handle most of the same year GT 500s which are pretty fast themselves. There is an old video online from 2011 about the Shelby GT competing with numerous fast cars at an event at Irwindale speedway for online car clubs that were invited to attend. The Shelby GT bested all of them. It is a great car.

[Bill]

I own a Shelby GT and have run it at Willow springs and the old California Speedway, certainly for its time it its an amazing car that handles excellent. Yes the brakes are not up to the rest of the car but at the California Speedway it was able to out handle most of the same year GT 500s which are pretty fast themselves. There is an old video online from 2011 about the Shelby GT competing with numerous fast cars at an event at Irwindale speedway for online car clubs that were invited to attend. The Shelby GT bested all of them. It is a great car.

Jerry,

    As an ex track junky and part time HPDE instructor, I can tell you that sometimes it's not the car, but the driver. In this case, it may bode well for you vs whoever else you were on the track with. Clearly, you have a good head on your shoulders and do not appear to be compensating, like some others.

[98SVT - was 06GT]

I own a Shelby GT and have run it ....it was able to out handle most of the same year GT 500s

I had an 06 GT and was actually impressed at how it handled. Yes down on brakes and of course it needed more hp. Your experience points out the value of front/rear balance in road racing - Shelby GT = 54/46 and the GT500 = 58/42 - yes on the face of it 4 points seems minor but when you look at the total being a 8% difference that's 311 pounds you've moved around.