The Shelby Mustang started manufacturing in January 1965, because the Shelby GT350. It was the brainchild of the acclaimed Carroll Shelby, who by this time triumphed within the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959 and created his model, Shelby American, in 1962. The firm developed the formidable racing machine the Cobra, which might snatch victory on the World Manufacturers’ GT Championship months after the GT350 arrived. With the racing legend’s cachet behind it and GT within the identify, the Shelby Mustang made a transparent assertion: this mannequin was supposed to be quick — very quick.

The common Ford Mustang had definitely had few points establishing itself when it arrived the earlier yr. A household four-seater providing as much as 271 hp in its 289 efficiency guise for June 1964 (leaps and bounds above the unique base Mustang’s 101 hp), it was a mix of practicality and energy that may go on to ring a bell certainly. 

With the may of mid-Nineteen Sixties TV commercials behind it, CBS News stories, 263,434 drivers would snap up the car earlier than the yr was out. Nevertheless, as any firm will inform you, there’s all the time extra money to be made. To that finish, in line with the company, Shelby was approached by Ford Division General Manager Lee Iacocca to assist develop a brand new kind of Mustang: A real efficiency mannequin.