1960 Caroll Shelby was still a young man found out that he had a bad heart. 1962 Shelby convinced forward to work with him on a run of cars that would combine the companies 260 CID V8 with a light weight British roadster chassis and body. Henry Ford the second was eager to create a world-class race car and be on the same level as the European Enzo Ferrari. In 1962 Carol Shelby introduced first roadster prototype in the New York auto show as the 260 COBRA.. The snake emblem of the name had appeared in a dream that Carol Shelby had as rumor has it. There were about 1000 cobras made through the mid-1960s and now about 51 years later, the name COBRA translates as an ultimate unparalleled performance car. In 1964 Shelby's cobras came within six points of catching Ferrari for the world GT championship, and because of this Ford's new Mustang a shot in the arm for marketing. Carol Shelby began production of the GT 350; it was a name he created when Shelby asked how many feet were between the main assembly line and the engine room in December of 1964. In the first year of production of the Mustang Shelby GT 350s all of them were in white for practicality and to operate as efficient as possible. They figured if they stick to one color so the Ford and Shelby assembly lines could be better coordinated so white was the obvious color of choice since it was assumed that many of the GT 350s would find their way to the racetracks and be painted suited to the owner's taste. In the beginning of the second year of the production of the GT 350 Shelby experience some running changes because of the mass production process. The Ford Motor Company shut down every July for the annual new model changeover but Carol Shelby build his American cars year-round based on his plants output. So before the shutdown Carol Shelby took delivery of 252 1965 fastbacks to be converted into the 1966 models. In 1965 there was a total of 562 Shelby Mustangs. There were 521 Shelby Mustang GT 350s, 34 GT 350Rs, for drag racing versions and one GT 350 prototype. In 1967 the Shelby Mustang took on a whole new appearance package that made the fastbacks look longer and lower than the stock Mustangs by the use of more fiberglass than in previous years. In 1968 Shelby moved its production line to Michigan. The reason was they were using more and more fiberglass components and the quality of fiberglass could not be found quantity near Southern California plus Shelby was losing its lease on the airport buildings. The 1968 Mustang Shelby GT 350 and the Mustang GT 500 had more cosmetic changes and the base Mustang had not changed very much from the previous year. The most obvious upgrade for the 1968 Mustang Shelby was the hood which now features twin scoops running almost to the leading edge of the car. In 1967 the Shelby cobras roadsters stop production so now the emblem's depicting the coiled snake or use a lot more throughout 1968 on the Mustang GT 350 and on the Mustang GT 500 body and the interior. One of the weird things this year in 1968 was Ford's tilt the way steering column, it was not possible to order its specifically as an option you really received it or you didn't. Mustangs ordered with air-conditioning received tinted glass. All the Mustang Shelby's were again equipped with the Mustangs deluxe interior and a padded armrest that killed two birds with one stone as it storage. The 1969 1970 Mustang Shelby, the third-generation Shelby Mustang had gone full circle in relation to the stock Ford Mustang. In 1969 the GT 350 did not resemble the stock pony car in silhouette but mechanically that DNA was purely a Mustang. The 1969 Shelby cosmetic camouflage was accomplished through more use of fiberglass chosen for its lightweight nature and costs less which the whole body panels could be designed and produced. There were a total of 3001 or 53 of the 1969 and 1979 Shelby Mustangs.
1965 Shelby Mustang GT 350 white
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