New Shelby Mustang is 'stunning perfection' at $298,000
No one will ever need to worry about rust on this highly valuable muscle car.For collectors and racers who wish to re-create the best of the past, well, it's happening.
The carbon fiber Shelby GT500CR Mustang concept car has officially gone into production as of Thursday. Only 25 of the vehicles will be made per year, at a starting price of $298,000 each. Designers will take 12 to 18 months to assemble the made-to-order classic known for its speed and design.
The price point is competitive. A carbon fiber Lamborghini, McLaren, Ferrari and Aston Martin all easily exceed $200,000.
Each new carbon fiber Shelby requires an estimated 2,500 hours to build.
"This is like taking a 1960s muscle car to NASA and having the space program bring it into the 21st century," Jason Engel, co-owner and lead designer of the company crafting the cars, Dallas-based Classic Recreations, told the Free Press.
Never before has a Shelby Mustang been made of carbon fiber, the material that's used to make spacecraft, airplanes, sailboat masts and even outrigger canoes. Carbon fiber is known for its high strength, low weight and temperature tolerance.
Women who collect tend to be CEO-types, he said. "One of them I sold to in the past, from a famous shoe company you've seen in many stores, I can't mention the brand, she was super awesome. Another woman won the lottery."
This car is now available to order and already attracting serious interest.
One new buyer for the Shelby GT500CR is an engineer who works in research and development, and he likes to "track cars" with his business partners, said Bryan Stone, a partner in Classic Recreations.
"So he wants a high performance carbon fiber vehicle over 1000 horsepower. That customer has specified that he wants to be sure when he goes into a sustained turn on the racetrack, which increases the G-force, that oil would not crawl away from the oil sump."
While some people buy the cars as high-performance showpieces, adding perhaps 300 or 400 miles only, others absolutely take them to the track, said Engel, 46, of Oklahoma City, who works at the original site of the company.
As the son of a car dealer in Oklahoma and Las Vegas, Engel has been eating, sleeping and breathing cars his entire life. He has owned probably 150 vehicles since age 15.
"It's in your blood," he said.
From dream to reality
Designers initially planned to simply make the vehicles more efficient and it turned into "Oh, my God, what do we have here," Stone told the Free Press.
Eight years after his death, he remains revered for his passion to sacrifice everything to pursue his dream of designing and building and racing cars. Shelby is synonymous with innovation and quality.
"He won Le Mans. The 1967 GT500 is still today the most sought after muscle car," Engel said. "Even in new cars, in new Mustangs, you see Carroll's designs."
Mainstream moviegoers discovered his brilliance with "Ford v Ferrari," the Oscar-nominated blockbuster that featured the story of Shelby and British race car driver Ken Miles in their fight against Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.
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