1967 Ford Mustang GT500 Recreation

In 1967 Carroll Shelby did what many had deemed impossible: he offered a fine American GT car at, while not a cheap price, a price within reason. He called it the G.T.500 and starting with Ford's Mustang, he transformed it into a genuine, fun-loving corner carver, and all for around $5,500. It caused a stir on streets everywhere. A Santa Cruz Sentinel review from July of 1967 found that never had they tested a vehicle that got as much attention as the Shelby G.T.500. They wrote "Kids swarmed over it when it was parked. Teenagers and grown men constantly quizzed us about the car's performance. And best of all, the ladies suddenly found the driver attractive.' Those spotlight-stealing qualities have remained with the model, which in the last couple of decades has transcended to legendary status all thanks to a variety of factors. It has the grunt of a proper muscle car, packing a 428ci V8, the drop dead gorgeous looks of a head-turner that balances racecar function with street machine style and deep ties and connection to legendary driver Carroll Shelby. Car and Driver reviewed on in February of 1967 and called it an 'adult sports car' and 'a grown-up sports car for smooth touring. No more wham-bam, thank-you-ma'am, just a purring, well controlled tiger. Like Shelby says, "This is the first car I'm really proud of."' That's high praise from a man who knew a thing or two about building performance-oriented machines that looked cool and went fast. Car and Driver came away from their tester impressed, 'expecting a cataclysm on wheels, the automotive equivalent of the end of the earth. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the G.T.500 isn't anything like that.' What they found was that it was pleasant with 'all the viciousness gone out of the car' but 'without any lessening of its animal vitality.' It reacted with a light tough with confident braking. All in all, they liked it - a lot.

For modern audiences, the model raced back front and center into the limelight in 2009 when Nicholas Cage suited up as reformed car thief Randall Raines, lusting after his four-wheeled unicorn, a smoke grey G.T.500, christened Eleanor. He certainly isn't the only one who has their heart set on owning this piece of motoring majesty. Just over 2,000 examples were built in 1967 and today they're known and loved the world over and highly sought after. They bring top dollar whenever they trade hands and cross auction blocks.

This stunning tribute is currently available for sale and just came out of a two-year, fully documented build and overhaul. The work took place at Mustang Restorations, Inc, a suburban Chicago shop that specializes in Mustangs and has decades of professional experience transforming 'Stangs into show-stopping stallions.

This vehicle was found and purchased as a project car out of a barn in rural Ohio. From there, the entire vehicle was stripped down and fully gone over. Under hood is a Ford 428 Cobra Jet engine, topped with Edelbrock aluminum heads. Instead of a finicky carb setup, the engine features a FAST EZ-EFI 2.0 self-tuning fuel injecting system with FAST E6 Ignition. It truly is a turn-key car as one twist of the key will fire the beast to life. Gears are selected through a Lokar Shifter, connected to a C6 Automatic transmission. Shelby's vision was for this to be a great-handling sportster and this black beauty features an upgraded suspension. A Borgeson Powersteering kit makes for effortless turning and front power disc brakes make for confident stopping. At the corners, lightweight Magstar alloy wheels are installed, wrapped with BF Goodrich radial tires. Inside the cabin, extreme effort was taken to preserve the originality of Ford's pony car but it does pack some slick tricks up its sleeve. There's all new classic instruments in the gauge cluster and while there is a backseat for the times when you want some friends to come along on your cruise, you can also flip it down for additional cargo room. Between the front bucket seats is an AM/FM radio with a USB port, making pairing your phone to play your favorite tunes, a breeze. Shelby touches include the sinister coiled Cobra badge on the passenger side dash and a beautiful, authentic Shelby wooden steering wheel. The cabin also has had sound deadener applied to help keep noise levels inside comfortable. The exterior has the appropriate twin, white racing strips running from front to back. In the center grille are the instantly recognizable dual driving lights, a Shelby hallmark. There's also striping on the lower rocker panels, proudly proclaiming 'G.T.500', in case there was any doubt the makings of this special Mustang. Around back are sequential taillights, flanking a massive gas tank with another coiled serpent, ready to strike. Underneath, the car is just as clean as the top and shows extremely well.

All in all, it's a stunning example that has had extreme effort and care taken to recreate it just as Shelby would have wanted. Period ads for the cars, like the one Gilmore Ford out of central Alabama ran, called the car 'the Hottest thing since fire' and that sentiment still rings true today. It's smoking cool and while Nick's fictitious character Raines had to break multiple infractions to get his G.T.500, thankfully, securing this beautiful example is a heck of a lot simpler to own. Just be prepared, no matter where you drive, it'll turn heads and woo hearts.

Check out a video of this car here:

youtube.com/watch?v=WDoF5XM4f_A&feature=youtu.be