1966 Ford Mustang
1966 Ford Mustang
1966 Ford Mustang
The 1966 Ford Mustang, the highlight of the first generation of this legendary pony car, impresses not only with its striking design, but also with the variety of powerful engines that were available under the hood.
The 1966 Ford Mustang, the highlight of the first generation of this legendary pony car, impresses not only with its striking design, but also with the variety of powerful engines that were available under the hood.
The 1966 Ford Mustang, the highlight of the first generation of this legendary pony car, impresses not only with its striking design, but also with the variety of powerful engines that were available under the hood.
1967 Shelby GT500 "Supersnake"
Built with the heart of a Le Mans champion, but ultimately destined for only one day in the sun, there is only one Super Snake. The result of a confluence of forces that could only happen in the life of one Carroll Shelby.
Due to the excessive production costs, this car is a one-off of a modified 1967 GT500 with the engine of a Ford GT40 that had won Le Mans the previous year.
History of the "Super Snake"
When Ford redesigned the Mustang in 1967, Carroll Shelby took the next logical step and introduced the GT500. Buyers immediately took a liking to the new car, and it outperformed its small-block GT350 stablemate in sales. In addition to his partnership with Ford, Shelby was also Goodyear's West Coast distributor. Goodyear asked Shelby to participate in a promotional event for their new Thunderbolt line of tires in February 1967. Shelby felt that the GT500 would be the perfect choice for an extended high-speed demonstration of the new tire, but the decision took a turn when former Shelby American Sales Manager Don McCain approached Shelby with the idea of building a supercar that would outperform anything else in the world. McCain suggested that Shelby put a 427 race car engine in the GT500 for the test, let him sell the car, and then build a production run of 50 cars.
Shelby seized the opportunity and asked Fred Goodell to prepare a GT500 with a special engine for the test, which was to be conducted at Goodyear's high-speed test facility near San Angelo, Texas. Goodell selected GT500 No. 544 for the task: They rebuilt it with a special lightweight 427 racing engine, a special rear axle, a special transmission and Thunderbolt tires. It was essentially the same engine that had been used in the GT40 that had won Le Mans the year before. Goodell made further modifications to prepare the car for the tire test. An external oil cooler, braided lines and an external oil filter were used to increase the 427's reliability. Goodell completed the car with one-off chrome headlight surrounds and a unique version of the Le Mans stripes with two narrow blue stripes flanking a wide blue center stripe - elements that set it apart from all other GT500s.
When it arrived in Texas in the last week of March 1967, the Super Snake was fitted with 10-spoke Shelby aluminum wheels and Thunderbolt whitewall tires overfilled with nitrogen to keep the sidewalls stiff and prevent overheating. During the test drives, in which Shelby reached a top speed of 170 MPH (274 Kmh), the car ran a 500-mile test. The Super Snake went over 500 miles at an average speed of 142 MPH (228 Kmh). The test was a complete success; the Thunderbolts performed flawlessly, retaining 97 percent of their original tread pattern.
The Super Snake was then sent back to California, where it remained on display while McCain tried to drum up interest for a limited run of 50 427-engined GT500s. With a price tag more than double that of a base GT500, the Super Snake was priced well above the competition, including Shelby's own 427 Cobra. McCain had to admit that the car was simply too expensive. It was eventually shipped to Dallas, where it was purchased by James Hadden and James Gorman. According to the Shelby Registry, the car was purchased in 1970 by Bobby Pierce of Benbrock, Texas, who cared for it for 25 years before selling it to David Loebenberg of Florida.
Seven years later, the Super Snake returned to California, where it was purchased by Charles Lillard, who later sold it to Richard Ellis, a collector of rare Mustangs in Illinois. At that time, the car had 26,000 miles on the odometer and showed almost no damage.
Ellis performed a "light restoration" in which he found the correct wiring and hoses for the engine compartment, a period-correct Rotunda fire extinguisher, NOS Shelby 10-spoke wheels and, amazingly, four brand-new Thunderbolt whitewall tires in the correct size. As Ellis explained in an interview with Auto Enthusiast Magazine in September 2011, "I really wanted to own this piece of Shelby history. It had been well cared for by its previous owners, but I put a lot of effort into getting it back to the condition it was in on the day of the tire test."
The Super Snake was also featured in the book "Million Dollar Muscle Cars" by Colin Comer. In 2013, it changed hands to Shelby collector John Wickey, who has meticulously cared for this famous Shelby supercar for the past five years.