Speculating on Shelbys... and spaghetti

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Tomorrow marks the 52nd birthday of the Shelby GT350 and that’s why we show one of these fine cars here today, accompanied by a frisky Friday Lady, of course.

From one report in the New York Times: “In the 60’s, at the apex of the Southern California car efflorescence, Shelby’s name was synonymous with muscle cars, relatively small vehicles with big, beefy engines. It was an era that many car buffs consider Detroit’s golden age, and Mr. Shelby was arguably its prime mover.”

Le Mans certainly helped Shelby’s image, and in advertisements, the GT 350 clearly winked to Italian cars, Ferrari in particular. ‘How to make an Italian cry’ said one. The car was “Bred by Cobra, powered by Ford, designed by Commendatore Carroll Shelby…” continued the ad. Another one’s tagline was ‘If you get lonesome for Italy, eat spaghetti’. From that: “If you happen to have $13,800, you could buy a Ferrari… Or three GT 350s and have a little left for lots of spaghetti.”

Price-wise, GT 350s have made some giant leaps since the new millennium. A clean and original example now approximately corresponds to its name (in thousands): 350,000 dollars. Quiet something! But it’s still way behind the price changes Ferraris made in that same period of time. A good 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB now averages just under 3 million dollars. You’ll have to sell a lot of spaghetti for that…

(Words editor, picture Ford PR)

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