Gone In 60 Seconds - Shelby GT500 ELEANOR - Boss 429

Shelby GT500

In 1968 production of the Shelby cars shifted from the California site to the Midwest and more under Ford's control. The '68 car used a slightly modified version of the 428 Police Interceptor motor, and even a few had 390s due to a lack of available 428s. Later in 1968 the Cobra Jet motor became available in the model called the GT500KR. Only 1,314 were made in '68 including 381 convertibles. 1969 was the last year for Shelby production, although some of the cars were unsold by year-end and were then sold as 1970 vehicles.

Boss 429

The Boss 429 was built in response to Chrysler's 426 Hemi and it's success in Nascar. Ford built a 427 Hemi-headed single overhead cam motor first, but it wasn't considered stock enough for the series so along came the "semi-Hemi" head 429. The task of wedging a 429 into the Mustang was given to Kar Kraft. Quarter-mile times were reported to be in the lower 14s. Although another of the hot rod magazines, Car Craft, slightly modified the stock 429 and got a 1/4 mile in the mid 12s. The street cars came from the factory with a conservative cam and a somewhat small carburetor.

428 Cobra Jet

Shelby was the first to offer competition with the 428-powered GT500, but this was still a bit slower than the Camaro. It was actually a Ford dealer and drag racer named Bob Tasca who solved the problem by bolting 427 heads on the 428. These free-flowing heads combined with the torquey 428 really made the car move. Soon Ford had their own version, the 428 Cobra Jet. This put 1/4-mile times at about 14 seconds.

This engine was first available in 1967 1/2 as a $420 option. About 2.800 were sold in late '67, 13.000 in '69 and 2.700 in '70.

429 Cobra Jet

This engine option was available only in 1971 with 370 HP and a 1/4-mile time of about 14 seconds. Only 1.300 were sold.

This was the end of the muscle car era for the Mustang as low compression engines came in to use for the "bad old days" of the '70s.