1967 SHELBY MUSTANG GT500

The Mustang may have only recently become available to buy in the UK, but you’d have to been living in a cave for the past 55 years not to have heard about what is arguably the most famous model Ford has ever produced. But not all Mustangs could be classed as fit for this list – let’s face it, not all of them were even particularly good cars! But there’s one Mustang that rises above all others, and stands out as a true legend; the Shelby GT500.

Carroll Shelby needs no introduction to any car enthusiast, and he started what would become a legacy with his specially-tuned performance editions of Ford’s pony car. The story started with the GT350 in 1965, but as the Mustang grew bigger and heavier there was a need for even bigger and more powerful engines by the time the hefty 1967 model took to the streets. Shelby’s answer was a big-block 428ci (7.0-litre) V8 churning out 355bhp, which resulted in a car that had so much power it was almost uncontrollable. The GT500’s legendary status was confirmed when Goodyear asked for a prototype high-speed Mustang on which they could test a new range of performance tyres. Shelby’s answer was the GT500 ‘Super Snake’ – the car which inspired ‘Eleanor’ from the 2001 film ‘Gone in Sixty Seconds’ – when he instructed engineers fit a race version of the big block V8 which produced a staggering 650bhp! Shelby himself drove the car at Goodyear’s test track, taking journalists out at speeds of over 150mph on the track! Despite several replicas, there was only ever one 1967 GT500 Super Snake (which sold at auction for $2.2mil), but it was precisely this lunacy that won the GT500 favour with Ford fans all over the world. An American icon, but a fast Ford legend.