product Mustangs for 1967 were larger , impenetrable , and more " styled , " which imply that Shelby maker Carroll Shelby ’s ne plus ultra Mustang , the GT-350 , would have to change . To keep the weightiness of the 1967 - 1968 Shelby GT-350 and GT-500 down and its appearing distinctive , Shelby architect created a custom fibreglass front end to complement the production Mustang ’s longer bonnet .
They also put two eminent - beam headlamps in the center of the grille opening . ( Some later cars have these lamps impress to the tabu ends of the grille to comply with state motor fomite requirements specifying a minimum distance between headlamps . ) The 1967 Shelbys had a larger hood scoop and sculptured brake cooling scoops on the sides . Another set of scoop on the rearward - quarter roof venire acted as interior air separator . The rear end receive a spoiler and a large bank of taillamps .
As a total innovation , the 1967 Shelby was sensational . It look more like a racing railcar than many all - out racers ; there was still nothing like it on American route .
sure changes also reflected customer feedback indicating a predilection for a more realizable , easy - to - drive car . Power steerage and power brakes , for example , became required selection . The ' 67 DoI received special appointments not shared with the product Mustang , let in a classifiable racing direction bicycle , additional bore , a genuine rollbar , and inertia - Virginia reel berm harness .
In 1967 , Ford offered a 390 cid V-8 for its standard Mustang as its top performance engine . In typical Shelby style , Carroll hold out Ford one better , with a 428 three-dimensional - incher and a new modelling , the GT-500 . It was a popular move , for GT-500s outsold GT-350s by intimately 2 - to - l. The GT-350 still carried the Mustang ’s stock high-pitched - functioning little - pulley , but without the former steel tube exhaust header .
What Shelby had created by 1967 was a combination of performance and luxury , rather than a elevator car that emphasized carrying into action above everything else . Since auto manufacturer adopted more button-down horsepower military rating in 1967 – mainly to keep the insurance companies at bay – the GT-500 was only rated at 355 bhp , although it certainly get more than that . The GT-350 was rated as before at 306 bhp , which is unmatched , because without the special headers and square - through mufflers , its output was likely somewhat lower , probably unaired to that of Ford ’s own 271 - bhp high-pitched - carrying into action 289 .
Still optional for the 289 was a $ 549 Paxton supercharger , which likely increase HP to around 400 , though no official paygrade was ever published . A few GT-500s were special - rank with a 427 V-8 of 400 bhp . Despite the add muscle , no attack was made by the manufactory to cannonball along the 1967 models . Altogether , 3,225 were built .
For detail on the 1968 Shelby GT lineup , come home on the next page .
For more information on cars, see:
Continued
By 1968 , Carroll Shelby , maker of the 1967 - 1968 Shelby GT-350 and GT-500 , was beginning to tyre of the business organization he ’d make . He had won the Manufacturers Championship and had overseen the Ford GT effort , culminating with profits at Le Mans in 1966 and 1967 . He had also figure many close friends misplace their lives on the race track . Meanwhile , competition had grown and new racing engineering science made it impossible for most specialists to grasp the many new principles and utilize them successfully . Racing , Shelby said , was n’t fun anymore . It was business , and building one ’s own car had lost much of its original attracter . Ford was now doing most of the Shelby product planning .
At the ending of the 1967 good example run , production was moved from Los Angeles to Michigan , where the A.O. Smith Company had contracted to bear out Shelby conversion of Mustangs . The cars were rename Shelby Cobras ( now that the original two - prat Cobra sports car was no longer being built ) , and Ford handled all packaging and advertising .
With the new name came a new look : A redesign lens hood brought the twinned air scoops up to its leading edge , while the grille , which now carried rectangular ( rather than round ) driving lights , became a large , gap mouth bisect by the slim bumper . In back , serial turn signals ( adapted from the ' 65 Thunderbird ) supplant the previous plain lenses .
Also new was the first Shelby convertible , featuring a build - in rollbar wearing an attractive plastic cover . GT-350s now used Ford ’s new 302 - cid engine , but it had few gamey - performance delicacy than the old 289 , and put out a relatively anemic 250 bhp . The Paxton supercharger option was again offer , and Shelby brochure now carried a rating for the winded engine : 335 bhp at 5200 rpm . opulence features like automatic transmittal , air conditioning , tilt steering rack , tinted crank , and AM / FM stereophony dominated the options list , all of which signal that Shelbys were no longer the hard - core sports machines they once were .
At mid - year , the GT-500 ’s 428 railway locomotive ( rat at 360 bhp for ' 68 ) was supplant by a 428 Cobra spirt , which had made a name for itself in drag racing . Although the new CJs wore the gamy - carrying into action intake manifold and cylinder heads from the mighty 427 , advertised H.P. somehow dropped to 335 – though genuine yield was doubtlessly mellow . car with this engine were called GT-500KR ( " King of the Road " ) . Due to a shortage of 428s , a few GT-500s were fitted with 390 - cid V-8s ( much to the chagrin of their proprietor ) , while a few others once again got the 400 - bhp 427 .
As in 1967 , the vainglorious - block Shelbys were more democratic , outselling the GT-350s by 2 - to - l. full 1968 product was 4,450 cars , which would prove to be the Shelby ’s best gross sales yr .
Get the specifications of the 1967 - 1968 Shelby GT-350 and GT-500 on the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
1967-1968 Shelby GT-300 & GT-500 Specifications
Near the end of its run , the 1967 - 1968 Shelby GT-300 and GT-500 featured luxurious interior options at the expense of intemperate - core sport performance .
Specifications
Engines : all ohv V-8 : 1967 GT-350 289 Criminal Investigation Command ( 4.00 × 2.87 ) , 306 bhp ; 1968 GT-350 302 Criminal Investigation Command ( 4.00 × 3.00 ) , 250/335 bhp ; 1967 - 68 GT-500 390 cid ( 4.05 × 3.78 ) , 335 bhp ; 427 cid ( 4.23 × 3.78 ) , 400 bhp ; 428 cid ( 4.13 × 3.98 ) , 335 - 360 bhp
Transmissions:4 - focal ratio manual ; 3 - speed automatonlike optional
Suspension front : upper and low A - arms , coil springs
suspension system fanny : live axle , leaf springs
Brakes : front magnetic disk / rear drum
Wheelbase ( in.):108.0
Weight ( lbs.):2800 - 3200
Top velocity ( mph):120 - 130
0 - 60 mph ( sec):6.2 -7.8
Production:1967 GT-350 1175 ; GT-500 2,050 ; 1968 GT-350 fstbk 1,253 ; cvt 404 ; GT-500 fstbk 1,140 ; cvt 402 GT-500KR fstbk 933 ; cvt 318
