2017 Shelby Super Snake Revealed

The 2017 Shelby Super Snake has been revealed by Shelby America to commemorate 50 years since Carrol Shelby made the first (and only) 1967 Shelby Super Snake.

Based on the pre-facelift Ford Mustang, the Shelby Super Snake gets an exterior kit which harks back to the 1967 model - the most prominent bit is the unique three-stripe livery. 

The Shelby Super Snake is powered by Ford's 5.0-litre V8 motor, which has been tuned to develop a minimum of 760PS of power. Shelby claims 0-100kmph of 3.5 seconds for the variants fitted with the automatic transmission.

Under the hood, the Shelby Super Snake receives a custom supercharger, Shelby dampers, springs, bushings and upgraded sway bars. The front brakes get six-piston callipers while the rear brakes have four-pistons; bodywork has been modified to add cooling ducts for the new brakes. 

Shelby is also offering additional modifications, for an extra cost, of course. The Shelby Super Snake has a starting price of 69,995 US Dollars / Rs 47.69 Lakh -- this includes the price of the Mustang GT itself. Owners of non-Shelby Mustangs can also modify their cars to the Super Snake spec at a cost of 36,795 US Dollars / Rs 25.07 Lakh.

The History

Fresh from their successful campaign at the 1966 24 hours of Le Mans with the Ford GT40 Mk. II, Carrol Shelby's reputation for building fast cars had reached a new high. Goodyear approached Shelby to build them a demonstration car for a new lineup of economy tyres; this had to cover roughly 805km (500 miles) in the shortest time possible around an oval track to showcase the low degradation of these new tyres.

Shelby had introduced the 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 with a 'big block' 7.0-litre V8 developing 367PS of maximum power and 570Nm of peak torque. He was inspired by some of his friends/colleagues to create an ultra-high-performance version of the Mustang for Goodyear; this car would be fast enough for the demonstration and could spawn a new lineup of popular Mustang-based sportscars for Shelby's company too. 

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The result was the 1967 Shelby Mustang Super Snake. The car was based on the GT500, but everything underneath the body had been modified. The engine was a race-only 7.0-litre, V8 motor with aluminium headers, aluminium water pump, forged crankcase, Le Man spec conrods - basically the engine that was used in the GT40 Mk. II at the 1966 Le Mans. The engine was rated at developing 447PS of maximum power! It was also fitted with a special rear axle, transmission, external oil cooler, braided lines, a remote oil filter, stiffer springs and shocks on the right side (to counteract the cornering forces the car would face on the oval track) so that it could drive at high speeds continuously.

On the outside, the Shelby Mustang Super Snake was distinguishable thanks to a chrome plate around the inboard headlights and a special three-stripe racing livery. On the day of the demonstration, the Super Snake was fitted with 197mm section, 15-inch Goodyear 'Thunderbolt' tyres and completed the 805km test with 97 per cent of the original tread intact. The average speed achieved was almost 229kmph while Carrol Shelby managed to hit a top speed of 274kmph.

Sadly, Shelby's dream of selling the Super Snake did not come to be. Its racing-derived parts and heavy modification meant that it was priced well beyond what most enthusiasts could afford, and those who could afford it were sceptical of its handling capabilities. The single prototype has since been changing hands between private collectors; the last time it was auctioned at a whopping 1.3 million US Dollars / Rs 8.86 Crore!