Cobra GT500

An interview with Carroll Shelby

Known for generations for his high-powered cars — and his chili — Shelby has now affixed his name to a new high-powered Mustang, the Ford Shelby GT500. The convertible model made its debut at the show.

For anyone who doesn’t know anything about the man, Shelby doesn’t put his name on anything that fails to meet his standards. And this car is no different.

Bear in mind that Shelby’s now 83 and has undergone successful heart-transplant surgery and endured some other ailments. You may think that he doesn’t test cars anymore as a result. Perish the thought.

Let the man tell the story:

Shelby went to the Ford test track with a top official who had to handle a cell-phone call. Shelby climbed into the Mustang and “over at the test track they have a few bumps that you’re not supposed to drive over [at more than] 35 miles per hour. I drove over ‘em 25 times at 85 to 90 miles-an-hour and I still could not get a squeak out of it. And I thought the engineers were going to have apoplexy when they saw what I had been doing,” he told us.

The engineers thought the official would chew Shelby out once he returned. (Yeah, sure!) Shelby, by way of explanation, told him that he has to believe in a car if it’s going to have his name attached. “I tried to tear it up, and I couldn’t do it,” he said, meaning it passed the test.

A different Ford official told us that Shelby climbed into the prototype, broke out in a big smile, hit about 125 to 130 on the track, and when he got right in front of the officials, hit the brakes, performed a perfect doughnut, and flew off in a cloud of blue tire smoke. Once back from the test drive, he had two words for the Ford officials: “Built it.”

Don’t we all wish we could do that when we are 83? (Hell, even 53.)

Read full interview here

Technorati Tags: Carroll Shelby, Ford, Mustang, Shelby

Ford’s Mustang, launched on April 17, 1964, became the Official Car of the Baby Boom. It was a fortuitous accident of timing and a brilliant result of product planning. This sleek, stylish automobile launched the “Pony Car” genre with a staggering 417,000 sales in its first year. Through 40 years of tough competition from Chrysler and General Motors, the Mustang has survived and outlasted them all. Dozens of interviews bring insight to the 40-year-old story, the on-going legend, and the Mustang’s future.

Mustang - Fourty Years of Fun

Via planetmustang.com
2007 Ford GT500 #0001 SOLD FOR $600,000 at Barrett Jackson!

Shelby GT500: the Price of Dreams at Barrett-Jackson Auction

In Scottsdale, AZ, children of all ages will benefit from the auction of buying rights to the most powerful production Mustang in history. One kid at heart achieved the right to buy the new GT500 today from Ford through the Barrett-Jackson auction house for the bargain price of $648,000 ($600K final sale + $48K purchase price). Other kids will receive proceeds from the auction via the Carroll Shelby Children’s Foundation (CSCF). These proceeds will provide acute care for children with cardiac and renal complications, as well as assist those in need of organ and tissue transplants.

Everyone was able to move one step closer to reaching his or her dreams. The auction winner will soon have the most powerful Mustang ever by the reins, while children assisted by the CSCF will have the funding they need to save or extend their life for making their own dreams a reality.

“The new Shelby GT500 is an amazing American car that will offer fantastic performance,” said Shelby. “ How can such a statement be refuted? With the heart and soul of Carroll Shelby beating strongly in this Ponycar, who can doubt that dreams of the 60s are now being connected to today’s world of modern muscle? While packing 475 horsepower and 475 pound/feet of torque, the heart of the GT500 shows strength; strength parallel to the enduring 83 year old Carroll Shelby; the longest living double organ transplant recipient.

While the heart of the Mustang beats stronger than ever, hopefully the hearts of children receiving benefits from the auction proceeds will soon do the same

Technorati Tags: GT500, Shelby GT500

Ford Mustang Poster

And here another Ford Mustang Poster

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Ford Mustang Convertible Wallpaper

Ford Mustang Coupe Wallpaper

White Ford Mustang Wallpaper

Another white Ford Mustang Wallpaper

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Red Rehagen Racing Cobra Picture

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AWR's Drivers Move Up the Ladder
Motorsport.com, Canada -

FAIRFIELD, N.J., Jan. 19 - Andersen Walko Racing’s four full-time drivers from the 2005 season have some exciting plans for 2006.

The team’s two drivers with the best results in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear last year will both advance to the Champ Car Atlantic Championship presented by Yokohama in 2006.

Yesterday Robbie Pecorari of Aston, Pa., who finished second in the Star Mazda championship last year and earned its Rookie of the Year award while driving for Andersen Walko Racing (AWR), said “As of now we have made the decision to run the Champ Car Atlantic series for 2006. We have not signed anything yet, but hopefully in the next few weeks we should be able to announce which team we’ll be running with and all of the details.”

Pecorari broke the track record at Arizona’s Firebird Int’l Raceway in November while testing an Atlantic car with Brooks Associates Racing.

Graham Rahal, who finished fourth in the Star Mazda championship last year driving for AWR, has already announced his plans to compete in the Atlantic series. The New Albany, Ohio driver will run with Mi-Jack Conquest Racing, and yesterday he announced the car would be sponsored by Gehl, the Wisconsin-based light construction and agricultural equipment manufacturer. Last year Rahal became the youngest driver ever to win a pro Star Mazda race when he was victorious at Portland International Raceway at the age of 16. He’ll revisit that track this year in the Atlantic series.

The Atlantic season opener is April 9 on the streets of Long Beach, Calif.

Rahal will start his first Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. on Jan. 28 too. The 17-year-old is one of four drivers of the Tafel Racing Porsche GT3 Cup No. 74 that set the fastest time for the GT class in testing at Daytona earlier this month.

Another ex-AWR driver, Adam Pecorari, Robbie’s brother, who ran with the team in the Formula Ford Zetec series in 2004, is also expected to compete at Daytona. He drives a Rehagen Racing Mustang Cobra SVT in the Grand-Am Cup series.

Pablo Donoso of Santiago, Chile has moved on to the new-generation USAC Silver Crown division. He is the driver of a Cristal Beer-sponsored Riley for Racing Teams Inc., which is owned by Eliseo Salazar and Johnny Vance. His 2006 season opener is this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. He finished ninth in Star Mazda points last year with AWR.

AWR’s Jonathan Klein of Long Grove, Ill. will drive in the Indy Racing League’s Indy Pro series (formerly the Menards Infiniti Pro series) in 2006 as a member of the team that won the Indy Racing League IndyCar championship for the last two years, Andretti Green Racing.

Klein drove for AWR in both 2004 and 2005. He was the Star Mazda series’ most improved driver of 2004, and he finished 13th in that series last year. His best finish was second in the season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. in October. His 2006 Indy Pro season opener will be March 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla.

“We’re proud of all of our drivers, and we hope that the lessons they learned while running with us have been instrumental to their success,” said AWR’s Dan Andersen. “Our drivers for 2006 - Brad Jaeger, Gerardo Bonilla and Ramiro Scuncio - have some pretty big shoes to fill, but we’ll help them as much as we can.”

The 2006 Star Mazda season opener is March 17 at Sebring Int’l Raceway in Sebring, Fla.

Technorati Tags: Rehagen Racing Mustang Cobra SVT

Via fordvehicles.com

Coming summer, 2006: The newest Mustang Cobra developed by the Ford Special Vehicle Team (SVT) in collaboration with legendary performance guru Carroll Shelby has made its North American International Auto Show debut. Even though the trademark snake logo is visible inside and out, officially this high-performance Mustang is called the Ford Shelby GT500. Just like the highly sought-after Shelby Mustangs sold from 1965 through 1970, the performance credentials of today’s GT500 are the real deal.

2007 Shelby GT500

Under the hood of the 2007 Shelby GT500 there’s a supercharged 32-valve 5.4L V-8 that shares some of its technology with the Ford GT supercar. And the car’s race-proven suspension is perfectly tuned to handle this brand of raw power on straight-aways as well as the tight turns.

It’s officially the Year of the horse — and the snake!

Technorati Tags: Mustang Cobra, Carroll Shelby, Ford Shelby GT500, Shelby Mustang, 2007 Shelby GT500, 2007 Shelby GT500

Walkman™ Music Phone

Step into a new era that’s all about the music. W600 goes above and beyond your typical mobile phone, giving you the power of Walkman™ anywhere. The innovative form factor is 360° swivel action, so you can talk with the phone opened, closed, or angled to your own style. EDGE technology gives you faster data transfer, and W600 supports all existing GSM network frequencies, creating a reliable world phone. Plug in your headphones, crank up the volume and experience the music-phone revolution.

Walkman Music Phone

Technorati Tags: Walkman™ Music Phone, mobile phone, Walkman Music Phone

With Reveal, time is always in the present. This timekeeper reveals the current time through a looking glass while fading the past and the future. If you are a person of the present, this watch is made specifically for you.

Mystery Watch

With ultra- soft black leather band. $80
http://www.projects-us.com/html/reveal.html

Inspired by a post on gizmodo.com

Technorati Tags: Reveal, Mystery Watch