A Ranking; The Shelby "Food Chain"

Charley's Superslug needs to be in the top three IMHO and Shelby built four 1965 GT 350 drag cars and four carryover 66 GT 350 drag cars that need to be included somewhere on that list I would think?

 

We seem to have forgotten the Sunbeam Tiger's and we also forgot the
Shelby Maverick's as well. His involment might have been brief, and those vehicles are definitly on the bottom of the list but I'd own 1 of those before
Any of the Mopar cars. Heck I'd love to have 1 of the Maveric's just as a
conversation piece.

 

What about this j code 68?

 

Dont for get the Mexican Shelby's and the Europe 1971 Shelby's, and I hope that when the Tribute Edition Shelby's (1994 to 2005 models) make it on the Shelby Registry that you might include them on the list as well. Also, #19, the 12 1966 cont. Convertibles should be higher up on the list.

 

By the way does anybody have pics of the Shelby Mavericks????

 

You have to be kidding. This over a CSX?

 

A real engine, better handling, a Shelby name badge, and all the babes in
Go Go boots you can handle. Why in the name of GOD would ANYONE
want a CSX?.... The things a step away from being a "K" car.
Besides Carrol didn't have half as much input on most of the Mopars as he did
the Fords. Putting a Turbo on a 4 cylinder is like puttin a Band-Aid on a bullet
wound. Now just imagine what the Viper could have been.....
if Shelby was left in TOTAL control of it's creation
Besides that what kinda babes flock to a Dodge Omni ?

 

Man...... thats just cold.

 

Any Shelby with a 427 or 428 CJ. The rest are just trying to be like these.

 

I'll give you Go Go boots. Better Handling? No Way! Real Engine? Matter of preference only. Shelby name badge? Better yet, the CSX was built by Shelby.

A "P" body is at least two steps from a "K". But what is so bad about that? A "K" is of the same build quality of a Falcon or Maverick.

The input is little to none on the post '67 Fords. Iacocca gave Shelby plenty of room to engineer a competent performer of the Chrysler FWD fleet.

Real Car Babes - Not Paid Bimbos!

 

Your missing the MOST important fact of ALL......
Who in their right mind would want a Shelby Omni,Horizon,K-car,Charger.....
The CSX was NOT built by Shelby it was designed by him and produced by Dodge,as were ALL of the Shelby Mopars.
and as a matter of preference? a 4 cylinder...are you serious???????
Next thing your gonna tell me is a Honda could beat a Shelby in a drag race.
Mr. Shelby only had input on 2 models that bore his name according to
SAAC, I ONLY hope he was paid real well for letting them use his name.
as far as handling I've NEVER seen a CSX in a SCCA event... 1 day maybe
they'll use them for "drifting" competitions, but I doubt it. Ooh by the way
Shelby had input all the way up till 72', his company did not produce them after 67' but all design aspects were run past him before they could bare his name. I must admit I would LOVE to see what would have happened if he had
FULL control over the development of the Viper, now that car should have
his name on it !

By the way....what's wrong with Go Go boots???????????????

 

It seems as though Mr. Shebly himself does...quess you haven't read his quote about what he says about his own GLHS OMNI.

Funny, I remember my car along with the CSX being completed at a Shelby facility in Califonia much like the 65 Mustangs were..

Please....most of us Shelby Dodge boys have been stomping Honda @ss since 1985...


And as far as your comment of the Maverick being a babe magnet, I can assure you it wasn't. I owned a 72 Grabber (302 V8) during my high school years back in 80 - 82 timeframe, it may have won races but it was was concidered butt ugly back then. Keeping a working front suspension on the thing was just as much fun as installing a new head gasket on a GLHS Omni.

 

Guys,
The 289 k motor is the engine that brought fame to the Cobra and Shelby name, how many big block Cobra and Shelby's were actually raced???
not that many...

I believe only 1 427 factory race Cobra was built....if my memory is correct..

65/66 shelby GT350 ruled B production for years....
The only big block cars that carried the racing banner really were the Gt40's!!

I have owned both big block and small block Shelbys....How come you mostly see the big block cars for salel!! The small blocks are far better drivers, and have you ever seen the dyno numbers on a stock 428......what 220hp.....

Check the 1/4 mile times for a 66 Shelby with a Paxton....14.0...I believe that was the fastest time of the Shelby's in their day...and you did not have 500 lbs more weight in the nose...

I prefer a small block 67 over a big block anyyear,,,the big block is a nose heavy beast, and in the rain is a handful to drive....I have had too many friends who will agree....but to each is own....

The "Gone in 60 Second II" movie cars were smallblocks....DUH

 

More Mopar bashing by Ford guy...how suprising.

 

No one dragged raced a small block in 69-70....the height of the mucsle car era....DUH?

HEMI car's dominated until 69, when Ford finally got the message.

 

If you want to talk about Drag racing, Shelby fielded small block Cobra's...Dragon Snakes!!!!Not 428 cars.....I believe 1 427 '67 Shelby was built as a drag car, but I have never seen anymore additional info on the car....The small block Cobra's cleaned house in their classes....I do not remember any 69/70 Shelbys, in my old HotRod books at the drag strip...too heavy a car, most still sitting on the dealers lots, while the Boss 302 was kicking butt on the Trans-am tracks...

The Daytona coupes ran 289's, the only American car to win the World Manufactures Championship....Not a big block..

By 1969, Shelby was probably already in Africa...shooting Giraffes...


The topic was on Shelby's.....
I had a 69 GT500, worst handling Mustang I have ever owned...
Read the road test from the magazine in 1970...the Boss 302 was the Best Handling car from Detroit...The 69 GT500 is gone...I still own my Boss 302..Great car!!!

 

I think this could be a fun project and have a running vote to order the cars #1-??? Including prototypes, 1 of 1's etc...

Randall? Anyway we can get a running vote based on members inputting or ranking their favorite Shelby's?

Gotta have the Green Hornet and the one 67 GT500 Convertible way up there with the Supersnake.

Also, no one mentioned the 26 1967 Notchback Coupes built for Trans Am Racing. I saw one of the 12 remaining recently. See link below.

http://people.freenet.de/pony/bdjonne.htm

All the 68 Dealer Specials, see below:
http://www.geocities.com/mustangs68.geo/specials.html


Gotta love the 67 Notchback Shelby beating all the Porsche's below!!


And last but not least the Gt500E Supersnake convertible. C'mon, they are only making 7 and I have 1 of them. I have to throw that in there!!! Mine has 725hp.


Fun Stuff.

 

I would agree that Shelby Dodges are at the bottom from a dollar perspective. I also agree that Shelby's made at Shelby's Whitter, CA plant are real Shelby's (GLHS, CSX, Shelby Lancer, Shelby Dakota). Mr. Shelby bought (for instance 500 GLH Turbo's from Chrysler) and did his own work to them. The Shelby badged Dodge's (Daytona, GLH Turbo, Shelby Charger) were made by Dodge. For the Shelby's, we have VIN lists, videos of these cars being made by Shelby, etc. Have no doubt, these are true Shelby's. They just don't have a sexy body to go with them.

Also, keep in mind the 80's was not a good time for the auto industry and that these cars will never have the appeal that any car from the muscle car era will have. Questionably, 80's cars may never have any true value. However, if an 80's car has value, it's these cars. The Shelby Dodge's are truly niche cars. Most people really don't even know what they are. Which, I love! It's cool telling people the story.

To minimize Mr. Shelby's influence in this now key car market is disrespectful. Since he and Chrysler were fooling around with high performance turbos before anyone else (i.e. Honda, Toyota, etc). Let's look at a GLHS Omni for example. Here are some stats (remember this is 1986), .88 g's on the skid pad, 0-60 in 6.7 seconds and a top speed in the 130's. From an economy car! There are Shelby turbos that are putting in excess of 300-400 hp down to the ground with few modifications. In their day, when these were new, no Camaro or Mustang could touch these things and they were a nightmare for Corvettes.

If we look at this from a manufacturers point of view, then things get cloudy. The Series One has a GM motor. The Cobra had an AC body. I'll never change a Ford fan to a Chrysler fan; or a GM guy to a Ford man.

Whereas some people may disrespect the Shelby Dodge's, I assure you it was no disrespect to have his name on these cars. They live up to the Shelby performance module - he would not have made them otherwise.

See my response in the above post to clarify that Shelby Automobiles, Inc PRODUCED Shelby cars in the 1980's. 80's CSX won SCCA events in the late 80's.

 

Apparently only one of those CSX's has survived or surfaced. Tim Costello is currently in the process of restoring it back to race trim.

robin

 

Nice post Greg, it brought back some fond memories especially the part about being a nightmare to 'vettes. I loved the contrast of "America's sports car" vs the K car econobox. I owned a Charger GLHS for about 9 years in addtion to Ford Shelbys. I would still have one if I had more space. The front wheel drive was not my favorite on the road course, but they were great drag racers. The Omni GLHS has to be the all time ultimate stealth car.

In a time where so many are concerned about what is a "real shelby", you can't get much more "real" than the Whittier cars. They were produced before all this ShelbyMania in a time when most people thought Carroll Shelby was a Chili Mix maker. No hype, no gimmicks, just fast cars. I feel these are really underappreciated in the Shelby family album. Who knows, if not for the Mopar years getting Shelby back into car builiding, would we even have all the craziness we have now?