Carroll Shelby's Personal Mustang GT500 Is for Sale

In the late 1960s, Ford's revised Mustang allowed room for a big-block under the hood. This being the late Sixties, the next logical move was for Ford and Shelby American to collaborate. They cooked up the GT500, a Mustang equipped with the 428 Cobra Jet. This GT500, built on the 1969 Mustang facelift, was unlike the celebrated lightweight pony car that sprung from Shelby's stables earlier. But the GT500 carried its own distinction as the last first-generation Mustang to wear a Shelby badge. That made these cars historically significant enough for Carroll Shelby to own at least two, one of which is crossing the auction block in January.

This particular GT500 pairs the 7-liter Cobra Jet V-8 with Ford's C6 automatic transmission, one of two options for the car at the time. The engine was listed at a substantially under-reported 335 horsepower (Motor Trend once measured one at 365 hp) and rumors of the day suggested the motor produced well in excess of 400 hp. No matter the final number, the Cobra Jet was powerful for its time, the most-powerful engine offered in any Shelby Mustang during the company's original run with Ford.