Back in the late ‘60s, Shelby built the GT500 Super Snake as a record-setting beast of a machine, but unfortunately, it never made it to full production status. Now, the American performance company is correcting that with a continuation run of the high-performance muscle car classic.

Continue reading for the full story.

The Full Story

Shelby has been busy resurrecting several of its classic hits lately, most notably with the recent release of the 1968 Shelby Continuation GT500KR. This latest continuation run looks to provide much the same thing - old school sound, smell, and looks, but fresh and direct from the factory.

“We’re fulfilling the dream of Carrol Shelby and Don McCain,” said Gary Patterson, president at Shelby American. “Shelby built an engineering study dubbed the ‘Super Snake’ for high-speed tire testing by Goodyear in 1967. When that successful test ended, Shelby American offered it to Mel Burns Ford in So Cal to retail to the public. Former Shelby American employee Don McCain approached Shelby about doing a limited run of cars. They carefully studied the idea but sadly, the timing did not work because the car was too expensive. The program never came to fruition, until now.”

The original GT500 Super Snake was a white fastback, randomly picked by Fred Goodell to receive a variety of performance upgrades. Chief among them was a new 427 V-8, which was tuned to deliver upwards of 520 horsepower. Complementary bits included new front disc brakes, a Detroit Locker rear end, rear traction bars, and Goodyear Thunderbolt tires, not to mention a new grille for better cooling purposes. The exterior also got a new triple-decker racing stripe.

As the story goes, Shelby himself took the Super Snake up to 170 mph during its media debut at the San Angelo test track in Texas. Later, the car managed a new top speed class record during a grueling 500-mile test session.

So why not put it into production?

“The Super Snake was an expensive vehicle, which discouraged McCain and Shelby from continuing the program, leaving only one built by Shelby American,” the company explains. “The one-off prototype changed hands a few times over the years. Most recently, a collector paid over $1.3 million for it.”

Now, a lucky few collectors will be able to relive the legend that is the GT500 Super Snake.

Basically, each example will be as close to the original ’67 as possible. Each will use an original ’67 body, which will include an original Ford VIN, as well as a unique Shelby serial number for the official Shelby registry.

This is no a replica. This is the real deal.

To make them into Super Snakes, the cars are first stripped down to the bare metal and fitted with a 427 cube V-8, which is tuned to produce more than 550 horsepower. Shelby is offering both aluminum and cast-iron blocks.

The engine connects to the rear axle by way of a four-speed manual transmission. Disc brakes up front help it stop. And of course, don’t forget the triple stripe paint job for the exterior.

Just 10 new examples will be produced, each of which will be offered through Shelby American. Each will also include plaques signed by both Carrol Shelby and Don McCain.

Prices start at $249,995, which isn’t cheap, but you can bet supplies will go mighty quick indeed.

References

Read our full review on the 1968 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500.