Original vintage late 1960s Ford Shelby GT Mustang "The fact that everybody looks at you is the last reason on earth for buying a Shelby GT" advertisement for the company's legendary Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT500 muscle cars.
Dimensions: Approximately eight inches wide by eleven inches high.
The Shelby Mustang refers to high-performance variants of the Ford Mustang, originally built by Shelby American from 1965 to 1967, and by the Ford Motor Company from 1968 to 1970. Today, "Shelby Mustang" typically refers to models modified by Shelby American Inc., which takes Ford's base vehicles and adds extreme performance enhancements, extensive testing, and unique styling to create limited-run, high-horsepower sports cars like the Shelby GT350 and Super Snake.
The Shelby Mustang in the vintage advert here is a high-performance variant of the Ford Mustang built by Shelby American from 1965 to 1967 and by the Ford Motor Company from 1968 to 1970.
The GT350 made its debut in the "sportsroof" fastback model of the first generation Ford Mustang in 1965. Produced through 1966, these were the smallest and lightest of the GT 350 models. Work started at Shelby American when its Ford-powered AC Ace-based, two-seat, 289 AC Cobra sports car production was wrapping up, and the 427 cu in variant was beginning. Both the AC and the Shelby Mustang use the Cobra emblem, a similar paint scheme, and the optional "Cobra" valve covers installed on many GT350s that were part of a marketing tie-in by Shelby, as well as one of his iconic symbols.
The 1965 GT350 was built for the race track, not comfort or ease of driving. A total of 34 race-spec "GT350R" cars were built specifically for competition use under SCCA rules, and the model was the B-Production champion for three straight years. The 1966 GT350 was more comfortable for casual drivers, including a rear seat, optional colors, and an optional automatic transmission.
This trend for more options and luxuries continued in the following years, with the cars becoming progressively larger, heavier, and more comfortable, at the cost of their competitiveness. By 1969, Carroll Shelby was no longer involved in the Shelby GT program, and the design was done in-house by Ford, with the 1969 GT350s and GT500s reduced to being largely styling modifications to a stock Mustang.