Car Tech®
CarTech®, Inc.
838 Lake Street South
Forest Lake, MN 55025
Phone: 651-277-1200 or 800-551-4754
Fax: 651-277-1203
© 2017 by Greg Kolasa
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission from the Publisher. All text, photographs, and artwork are the property of the Author unless otherwise noted or credited.
The information in this work is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. However, all information is presented without any guarantee on the part of the Author or Publisher, who also disclaim any liability incurred in connection with the use of the information and any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Readers are responsible for taking suitable and appropriate safety measures when performing any of the operations or activities described in this work.
All trademarks, trade names, model names and numbers, and other product designations referred to herein are the property of their respective owners and are used solely for identification purposes. This work is a publication of CarTech, Inc., and has not been licensed, approved, sponsored, or endorsed by any other person or entity. The Publisher is not associated with any product, service, or vendor mentioned in this book, and does not endorse the products or services of any vendor mentioned in this book.
Edit by Bob Wilson
Layout by Connie DeFlorin
ISBN 978-1-61325-381-6
Item No. CT615
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kolasa, Greg, author.
Title: 1968 Shelby GT350, GT500 & GT500 KR: in detail / Greg Kolasa.
Description: Forest Lake, MN: CarTech, [2017]
Identifiers: LCCN 2016010603
Subjects: LCSH: Shelby automobile. | Cobra automobile. | Mustang automobile.
| Shelby, Carroll, 1923-2012.
Classification: LCC TL215.S48 .K65 2017 | DDC 629.222/2--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016010603
Written, edited, and designed in the U.S.A.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Front Cover: The 1968 Shelby model year was notable for five, three-car groups of big- and small-block fastbacks done in special colors. One of those fastback trios was painted a bright orange color that, just a year later, made it into Ford’s new-car brochures as Calypso Coral; Mercury called it Competition Orange. (Photo Courtesy Pete Disher)
Frontispiece:
The 1968 model year saw the return to two headlights. An introductory press release described the new illumination scheme: “In addition to the new front end styling, single 71/4-inch double-filament sealed-beam lights have been fitted and are complemented by separately circuited rectangular driving lights mounted inside the oval grill [sic] opening.”
Title Page:
Perhaps the biggest news for 1968 was the availability of both the GT350 and GT500 in the Model 76 (convertible) body style, complementing the existing Model 63 fastback. Tried experimentally a couple of years earlier, the ragtop Shelby proved to be very popular. Nearly 3 out of every 10 ’68 cars built had soft tops.
Contents Page:
The second time’s a charm. Tried in 1965 as an unsuccessful styling experiment for the ’66 Shelby, fitting ’65 T-Bird taillights worked better on the ’68 Shelby (which had a rear panel designed especially to accept the ’Bird lamps). A silver tail panel and chrome “S-H-E-L-B-Y” lettering added visual interest to the too-simple ’67 Shelby transom. (Photo Courtesy LegendaryMotorCar.com)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Peace, Prosperity and Performance
From “Secretary’s Car” to Sports Car