It’s a concept that seems to have been particularly popular with Jaguars, with firms like KWE in the UK and Beacham in New Zealand modernising models of various vintages.
Classic Recreations of Yukon, Oklahoma are now doing something similar with the Ford Mustang. However, what makes their Shelby G.T.500CR special is that Carroll Shelby Licensing Inc. has granted them a licence to produce this continuation series.
Using a 1967 Ford Mustang as the start point, authentic Shelby performance parts are used throughout the conversion. Because of that, and the input and oversight given by Shelby technical personnel, each car will come with an official Shelby serial number and badges, and be included in the Shelby Worldwide Registry.
Three versions are on offer. The $119,000 Intro and $149,000 Performance both have a 427 cubic inch (7 litre) fuel injected engine producing 545 horsepower, connected to a Tremec manual transmission.
The range-topper is the $199,000 Venom, which has its power boosted to a jaw-dropping 780 horsepower courtesy of a Procharger F1-R intercooled supercharger.
And in case those figures just aren’t enough, the G.T.500CR also comes equipped with a nitrous oxide system that gives an extra 150 horsepower.
Fortunately, similar attention has also been paid to the chassis. Keeping the car on the road is an uprated suspension set-up, which features anti-roll bars front and rear, and there’s a powered rack and pinion steering system. Shelby / Baer disc brakes take care of stopping the G.T.500CR, and it rides on 17-inch Shelby alloy wheels with Goodyear high performance tyres.
The interior also gets a makeover, with the Carroll Shelby seats and Simpson five-point seatbelts being a great improvement on the originals.
So far, Classic Recreations has only unveiled the Performance version, but prototypes of the Intro and Venom are due soon.
