In the last 15 years or so the 1967 Shelby Mustang has become one of or maybe the most desirable Mustang model ever made. These days most Shelby’s are financially out of reach for many, but hey we can dream right?
Many movies have had effect on the desirability 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 the cars and parts to convert cars to “clones” skyrocketed. Granted I’m not a big “clone” fan. I think you should customize your car to make it just what you want, heck go crazy. But I really hate to see the market diluted with fake cars. When Shelby build the 67 Mustang GT 500 it was a complete makeover. They left little unchanged. In 1967 Shelby rolled out the big guns with the 428 with dual carbs! This beefy engine produced 355 horsepower and had the now iconic oval Cobra air cleaner and cool finned cobra valve covers. Just as a side note did you know that a very limited number of 1967 GT 350 had Paxton superchargers? Dare you to find one of those in a junkyard. The 67 GT 500 had the heaver duty C6 transmission or the Ford top-loader 4 speed.It doesn’t seem like Shelby did much to even identify the 67 GT 500 as a Mustang, maybe because of the classic lines they didn’t feel like it was necessary or maybe they just wanted to set it that much further apart from the more traditional Fords. In 1967 they made the front of the car 3 inches longer using fiberglass hood and other nose pieces. In the style that would look a lot like the 1969 Mustang Shelby mounted two driving lights at the very outside edge of the special Shelby replacement grill. Like in earlier models Shelby also put a larger opening in the fiberglass front valance to help with cooling the big block hidden under the restyled fiberglass hood.
The interior of the 1967 Shelby was very similar to the deluxe interior of the 1967 Mustang. But even on the interior Shelby remove the direct reference directly to Ford. The door sills on the Mustangs read Product of Ford and on the Shelby’s those were replaced by a plate that read Shelby American Inc.”. All of the 67 Shelby’s had the wood rim steering wheel with brushed three spoke stainless interior. They also sported a 140 MPH speedometer and a 8000 RPM tachometer. They also had the fold down rear seat.
Of special note was the 427 GT 500. Less than 50 427 1967 GT 500 were made with the 427 engine. These certainly are cars of legend, in all my years of working with Mustangs and Shelby’s I have never seen one. Count yourself among a select few if you have one in your garage.