This is the legendary 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake – the only one of its
kind ever built.
Carroll Shelby originally assigned the car to demonstrate Goodyear’s
new “Thunderbolt” budget passenger car tires in a high-profile press
event, but the mission was expanded when former Shelby American sales manager Don McCain suggested that Carroll plonk a racing 427 Le Mans GT40 engine in
the GT500 for the test and let him sell the car with the intention of
building 50 more to be marketed and sold to the public as the powerhouse
Shelby Super Snakes.
Shelby instructed Fred Goodell,
Shelby American’s chief engineer to fit the GT500
with a special engine. The same powerplant used in
the Le Mans-winning GT40 Mk II, including a variation on the Mk II’s
“bundle of snakes” exhaust system. It had 600 horsepower (447kw). The Super Snake had a
top speed of 170 MPH (273km/h) with Shelby at the wheel for press demonstration
laps before Goodell averaged 142 MPH (228km/h) for the 500-mile tire test at
Goodyear’s San Angelo, Texas, test facility. The demonstration was a
success, but McCain’s plan to sell 50 Super Snakes was dashed
by the Super Snake’s $8,000 price tag; even the 427 Cobra cost less.
The Super Snake had a series of owners before it was purchased by
Richard Ellis, an Illinois collector of rare Shelby Race Cars. It
showed 26,000 miles on the clock and almost no deterioration. “I
wanted to own this piece of Shelby history more than anything,” Ellis
said. “It was well cared for by its previous owners, but I’ve put a lot
of effort into returning it to the state it was in on the day of the
tire test. Now it is time to allow another collector or museum the
opportunity to be the caretaker of what is the most unique and
historically significant Shelby Mustang every built. I have enjoyed it a
great deal and now it is time to move on. It will be missed,” Ellis
added.The Super Snake was put up for auction Friday, May 17 2013. It sold for $1.3 million and is the highest price ever paid for a Mustang.
The 1967 Shelby GT500 was built for one purpose, a tyre demonstration, there is only one Super Snake, the true king of the road.
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