In the last 15 years or so, the 1967 Shelby Mustang has become one of the most desirable Mustang models ever made. These days most Shelbys are financially out of reach for many, but hey, we can dream, right?
Many movies have had an effect on the allure of cars, but the Eleanor Mustang in Gone in Sixty Seconds seemed to secure its place in recent pop history. After the movie, the demand for cars and parts to convert cars into “clones” skyrocketed. Granted, I’m not a big fan of “clone” ones. I think you should customize your car to be just what you want, heck go crazy. But I really hate to see the market watered down with fake cars. When Shelby builds the ’67 Mustang GT 500 it was a complete makeover. They left little unchanged. In 1967 Shelby threw the big guns with the dual-carb 428! This beefy engine produced 355 horsepower and had the now iconic oval Cobra air cleaner and fresh finned cobra valve covers. As a side note, did you know that a very limited number of 1967 GT 350s had Paxton superchargers? Dare you find one of those in a junkyard. The 67 GT 500 had either the heavy-duty C6 transmission or the top-loading Ford 4-speed.
It doesn’t seem like Shelby did much to even identify the 67 GT 500 as a Mustang, perhaps due to the classic lines they didn’t feel it was necessary or perhaps they just wanted to differentiate it a lot more from the others. traditional Fords. In 1967 they made the front end of the car 3 inches longer using a fiberglass hood and other nose pieces. In the style that would closely resemble the 1969 Mustang Shelby, two driving lights were mounted to the outer edge of the Shelby’s special replacement grille. As with previous models, Shelby also placed a larger opening in the fiberglass front valance to help cool the large block hidden under the restyled fiberglass hood.
The interior of the 1967 Shelby was very similar to the luxury interior of the 1967 Mustang. But even in the interior Shelby will remove direct reference directly to Ford. The door sills on Mustangs read Product of Ford and on Shelbys they were replaced with a plaque reading Shelby American Inc.”. All ’67 Shelbys had a wood-rimmed steering wheel with three-spoke brushed stainless steel interior They also sported a 140 MPH Speedometer and 8000 RPM Tachometer They also had the folding rear seat.
Of special interest was the 427 GT 500. Fewer than 50 1967 427 GT 500s were built with the 427 engine. These certainly are legendary cars, in all my years of working with Mustangs and Shelbys I have never seen one. Count yourself among a select few if you have one in your garage.