The 526hp Shelby GT350® & GT350R Mustang have been named Automobile Magazine All-Star winner 2016

With scoring criteria including style, class, importance and desirability, it's no wonder editors chose the 526-horsepower Shelby GT350^® and Shelby^® GT350R Mustang as an Automobile Magazine All-Star winner for 2016.

"The GT350R has a very 'mean American' feel but balances that with a very good chassis," said Automobile's Marc Noordeloos. He called Shelby Mustang a classic pony car, but one with "excellent dynamics." Of 25 vehicles evaluated, only seven took home awards.

Automobile chooses its All-Star contenders from the entire range of all-new, heavily revised or newly significant vehicles on sale or otherwise available in the United States in the 12 months preceding the test. The magazine's editors spend multiple days driving the vehicles on both road and track, then cast their votes for the winners by private ballot.

USA - Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang raises the bar for handling.

• Advanced suspension tuning on Shelby GT350 and Shelby GT350R includes Mustang-first MagneRide dampers
• Two-piece brake rotors for Shelby GT350 and Shelby GT350R are the most powerful brakes ever fitted to a production Mustang – with Michelin tires and high-performance wheels engineered to match
• Stiffened chassis – including an injection-molded carbon fiber composite grille opening reinforcement – provides a rigid base to build the most track-capable Mustang ever

The all-new Ford Shelby GT350 builds on Carroll Shelby’s original idea – transform Mustang from a great everyday car into a dominant road racer, elevating it to a new level.

Shelby GT350 raises the bar significantly over the already very capable 2015 Mustang GT performance pack, combining the best technologies and most thoroughly engineered components to create the most athletic Mustang ever built.

“When we started working on this car, we wanted to build the best possible Mustang for the places we most love to drive – challenging back roads with a variety of corners and elevation changes, and at the track on weekends,” said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development. 

“Every change we made to this car was driven by the functional requirements of a powerful, responsive powerplant – nimble, precise handling and massive stopping power.”

Suspension tuned for maximum performance on road and track

Handling is the performance playground of Shelby GT350, and the car’s suspension is heavily revised to maximize cornering performance.

Shelby Mustang features all-new aluminum front knuckle, hub and bearing assemblies that are stiffer and lighter than the standard parts. Rigid bushings are fitted to the control arms and subframes for improved steering feedback. Heavy-duty bearings are added for increased lateral stiffness.

Front and rear antiroll bars are increased in diameter for improved body control. In an example of obsession to detail, one side of the rear suspension features a new counter-wound rear spring and matching rear control arm so the left and right sides are mirror images – perfecting wheel motion.

MagneRide suspension makes first appearance for Mustang

The star of the Shelby GT350 suspension is the first-ever Ford application of continuously variable MagneRide dampers. The dampers are filled with a hydraulic fluid impregnated with iron particles. When an electric current is passed through the fluid, near-instantaneous adjustment of the suspension performance can be made. 

With wheel position sensors monitoring motion thousands of times per second combined with other vehicle data, changes can be made to each corner every 7 milliseconds for optimum handling performance.

Tireless calibration and tuning has resulted in an integrated driver control software which monitors wheel position, steering angle, damper temperature, signal quality, vehicle position and much more. 

This advanced software rides on top of the car’s drive modes and provides a degree of suspension performance never before seen in a production Mustang. This system is not just designed to make the car handle better, but to instill greater confidence in even the best driver.

Most powerful brakes ever fitted to a Production Mustang

Reducing unsprung mass is key to improving responsiveness, but a balance must be struck between taking mass out of a suspension and delivering truly capable braking performance. 

Shelby GT350 features the most track-credible brake system ever offered on a production Mustang, consisting of two-piece cross-drilled iron rotors with aluminum hats – the largest rotors Ford has ever put on a production Mustang.

Massive 394-millimeter front rotors and 380-millimeter rear rotors are a floating-type and are pin-driven to the aluminum hats to greatly reduce heat transfer to the bearings. 

These rotors are clamped by six-piston fixed Brembo calipers with integrated caliper bridges at the front and four-piston units at the rear. Dedicated ducting assists in cooling the brakes front and rear for maximum performance.

“These cars can be driven by any driver on any track in the world – with virtually no fade,” remarks Brent Clark, vehicle dynamics supervisor.

Wheels and tires fit for the track

Shelby GT350 makes use of extra-stiff 19.0-inch cast aluminum-alloy wheels – 10.5 inches wide in front, 11.0 inches in the rear – clad in Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires with GT350-specific sidewall construction, tread face and compound. The custom tires are designed to deliver maximum grip on the road or for weekend track days.

Shelby GT350R raises the standard even further. It wears carbon fiber wheels, making Ford the first major automaker to introduce this innovative wheel technology. The hand-laid wheels are 19.0 inches in diameter – 11.0 inches wide at the front and 11.5 inches at the rear, each fitted with custom formulated Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. 

Combined, these wheels eliminate approximately 50 pounds of unsprung weight compared to the aluminum-alloy wheels and Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires on Shelby GT350.

Stiffer chassis

The new platform is the strongest in the history of the Mustang brand, with torsional stiffness increased 28 percent over the previous model. That stiff structure ensures the suspension geometry remains consistent even under the loading caused by hard driving. 

Shelby GT350 takes that philosophy further – with added bracing to increase overall stiffness. A new lightweight aluminum tower brace connects the shock towers and firewall, and improves front end stiffness. 

When a lower hood was called for to improve aerodynamic performance, Ford Performance re-engineered the grille opening reinforcement with a carbon fiber composite structure that is 24 percent lighter than the base Mustang while maintaining the stiffness of steel. 

It is finished so well a beauty cover is not needed – eliminating another 1.9 pounds.

TMW - GOODWOOD - Cartier Style et Luxe, all the best classics at Goodwood **Picture heavy**

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is not just somewhere to go to see the latest in supercars, or classic race cars along with drivers from all era's, its not just a venue that plays host to a number of manufacturers that want to sell their wears, Goodwood, plays host to the Cartier Style et Luxe each year, where the best of the best  are shown, the mega rare, the pristine mint versions of uber luxurious cars, cars that we can only dream about

And this year was no different, there was a stunning array of Maserati sports cars, one of which, below, won the over all title as best in show, and believe me it was, the paint work was flawless, no dinks, dents or ripples, no bitty chrome, no cracks in the upholstery, this car was perfection, and it was a well deserved win.

We noticed this year that, above all other years, the Hooray Henry's were out in force, the posh, in their stupid clothes and posh voices, they were just everywhere, and it was so annoying as they don't mingle well with the general public, we, are just underlings, that are in the way, and we heard that a few times, I really REALLY hope that this stunning event does not turn into another one of those events that pushes out the man on the street in favour of the champagne swilling, pillocks.

But back to the cars, as your probably aware, I am not to enamoured with US cars, there is only a couple that I like, the rest I find are a waste of space, and a giant waste of limited world resources, and at the show, these cars were in abundance, a two door coupe US car was twice as long as a Mini, in fact the bumper was about a foot wide, these cars with their massive wings, and chrome everything just show massive opulence, and massive waste all in one.

The Mustangs, Camaro and Barracuda were more sedate by comparison, but they still are just over weight, over sized and under engineered, yet it was these cars that garnered the most looks, WHY, there was a stunning set of Mercedes classics, that were as near to mint as possible, and yet there was not many people looking at these awesome cars, this is how cars should be, well, classic ones, like big old classic Rolls from the 40's and 50's. The Maserati was a clear winner, but for me, the Mercs really should have taken some silver home.

Enjoy the pictures below, not all the cars in the Concourse section are here, as some pictures did not come out very well, but you get the picture, so to speak, so please do enjoy.

Overall Winner

Maserati A6 CGS Berlinetta

 1966 BEVERLY HILLS MUSTANG MUSTERO

1970 DODGE CHALLENGER T/A

 1967 MERCURY COUGAR XR-7

1968 FORD GT

 1968 CHEVROLET CAMARO

 1964 1/2 MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE

PEUGEOT 907 CONCEPT 

 1966 SHELBY MUSTANG GT-350

1994 LISTER STORM

1994 MARCOS

 2011 BRISTOL FIGHTER

 TVR CERBERA SPEED 12

1958 DESOTO FIRESWEEP CONVERTIBLE

1960 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL MKV

 1958 MERCURY PARK LANE CONVERTIBLE

 1958 CADILLAC ELDORADO BIARRITZ CONVERTIBLE

 

 1970 MAZDA RX-500 Concept

 1935 500K CABRIOLET B ERDMANN & ROSSI

 1935 500K CABRIOLET A

 1933 380K ROADSTER ERDMANN & ROSSI

 1928 36/220 S

 1965 PLYMOUTH BARRACUDA

TMW - Jon Mower

THROW BACK THURSDAY 010 - Shelby waves its wand over the SVT Raptor and produces, well, a super truck.

THROW BACK THURSDAY 10

In the beginning of April 2013, the below press release was issued, and what a truck it was the Ford SVT Raptor, was, is and will always be, one the most aggressive, fast and evil pick-ups that was launched - carry on reading for all the info.

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Shelby American, a wholly owned subsidiary of Carroll Shelby International Inc., (CSBI.PK), today unveiled the new Shelby Raptor, one of the most powerful, exciting and collectible off-road production trucks, during the New York International Auto Show. The Shelby Raptor marks the return of the Shelby muscle truck and is based on the 2013 Ford SVT Raptor with enhanced power and handling, topped with "Shelby Style" inside and out.

"As a native Texan, Carroll Shelby loved powerful trucks," said John Luft, president of Shelby American. "Carroll connected his love for trucks with his passion for performance on several projects, with the first one over 30 years ago. The latest Shelby truck was created to conquer any terrain with serious velocity."

Shelby American takes the impressive Ford SVT Raptor and adds some "Shelby Magic" to create the ultimate muscle truck. By forcing air through a 2.9 liter supercharger mounted on the massive 6.2L V8 engine, and then out of the Shelby Borla exhaust system, Shelby American takes the stock 411 HP rating and kicks it up to 575 HP. A six-speed automatic transfers power to all four wheels and features a manual mode to give the driver complete gear selection control.

"Aerodynamically speaking, the Raptor was engineered for maximum performance," said Gary Patterson, vice president of operations. "We spent our efforts improving the power, cooling and handling systems because every Shelby is built to excel under even the most extreme conditions."

Equipped with 35-inch Goodrich All-Terrain tires and optional custom wheels, the Shelby Raptor stays connected to any ground it faces. The "Off-Road" mode calibrates the transmission, stability and traction control systems to operate in harmony under high-speed off-road situations. In addition, any of the three Shelby graphics packages will help set it apart from every other rig on the road.

"The Shelby Raptor was an absolute thrill to test across the Nevada desert," said Vince LaViolette, Shelby American's test driver. "The suspension system allows the Raptor to go over, around or through just about any obstacle. When more power is needed, just stroke the gas to spool up the supercharger and make the big tires rip."

Shelby American Unveils Ultimate Muscle Truck at NYIAS (2/2)

The post-title package starts at $17,995, not including the base Raptor. A limited production of 100 Shelby Raptors will be built per model year and each will be numbered and documented with a unique Shelby CSM number and entered into the official Shelby Registry.

"The Shelby American line up now has something for everybody," added Luft. "We continue to offer the legendary Cobra sports car, along with our GTS, GT350, Super Snake and Shelby 1000 based on the current Ford Mustang and Ford Shelby GT500 vehicles. We took a page out of our history by bringing back Carroll's beloved front wheel drive 'pocket rocket' with the Shelby Focus ST. 

Since Shelby American's first official appearance was at the New York Auto Show over 50 years ago, it's fitting that our 'biggest and baddest' product unveil of the year, the Shelby Raptor truck, would occur in Manhattan."

Shelby American is now accepting orders for the limited edition Shelby Raptor truck. Those interested in reserving a truck should contact the sales team at (702) 942-7325 or visit www.shelbyamerican.com.

About Shelby American, Inc.

Shelby American manufactures and markets performance vehicles and related products. The company builds authentic continuation Cobras, including the 427 S/C, 289 FIA and 289 street car component vehicles. Shelby American offers the Shelby 1000, GT350, GT500 Super Snake, and GTS post-title packages for the current generation Ford Mustang, as well as the 2013 Shelby Focus ST and Shelby Raptor. For more info, visit www.shelbyamerican.com.