Finally, Original 1967 GT500 Super Snake Lives

The Super Snake was a legendary 520-horsepower demo vehicle for Goodyear that never made it to production—until now.

Shelby America has some “unfinished business” when it comes to the 1967 Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake.

The legendary car company recently unveiled plans to jumpstart a continuation series for the original 1967 Shelby GT500 in Gardena, California. The original was developed as an engineering study for Goodyear to test tires at high speed. Using a big-block, 427 cubic-inch V8 lifted from the Ford GT40 Mk II race car and modified to make 520 hp, it clipped 170 mph and a world record in its class.

Shelby dealer, Don McCain, saw the car and the opportunity it presented. According to Motor Authority, he pushed to get a 50 car production run, but the numbers never came together and it was shelved for being too expensive. While there are plenty of replicas floating around, the only existing demonstration model was last seen for sale in 2013 and went for a stunning $1.3 million.

McCain maintained a healthy relationship with Shelby and continued to promote the idea of the Super Snake program being given new life. It seems Carol Shelby liked the idea, as both he and McCain each signed 10 dash plaques for the cars and they will feature on each of the 10 continuation models being sold. Both Shelby and McCain have passed away before seeing the Super Snake reach its production run.

The 10 models will be built using existing 1967 Mustang donor chassis so they keep the original VIN. Also staying true to the original, a race-derived 427 V8 mated to a four-speed manual transmission pushes out well over 500 ponies. For track performance, the Super Snake has a Detroit locker rear end and a beefy rear sway bar. Of course, the redesigned grill and triple-stripe livery will help identify the Super Snake as the piece of Shelby lore it is.

The Shelby Mustangs will be built to order and start at for $249,995. Customers can opt for an aluminum or cast-iron engine block, and even an original Shelby fastback donor chassis if spending a quarter of a million dollars isn’t enough.

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Ian Wright

Ian Wright has been a professional writer for two years and is a regular contributor to Corvette Forum, Jaguar Forum, and 6SpeedOnline, among other auto sites.

His obsession with cars started young and has left him stranded miles off-road in Land Rovers, being lost far from home in hot hatches, going sideways in rallycross cars, being propelled forward in supercars and, more sensibly, standing in fields staring at classic cars. His first job was as a mechanic and then trained as a driving instructor before going into media production.

The automotive itch never left though, and he realized writing about cars is his true calling. However, that doesn’t stop him from also hosting the Both Hand Drive podcast.

Ian can be reached at bothhanddrive@gmail.com