If the GT500KR Isn't Enough: Shelby Builds the 'Super Snake' (725 BHP!)

  • Thread starter Thread starter YSSMAN
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Its still an interesting discussion...

So I do have to ask, whats the laid-out opinion of the different models? I'll add my own thoughts:

- GT: Still one of the best cars you can buy for less than $30K, still old-school, and doesn't apologize to anyone about it.
- Shelby GT: Complete waste of money when you can build the same car for $3000 more on the standard GT...
- GT500: A nice try, but not quite good enough.
- GT500KR: Getting better, but we need to see numbers.
- GT500 Super Snake (not built by Ford): Just an outrageous car for Shelby/Ford fanatics...
 
On the SS, it just sounds like another excuse for Shelby to make some cash. Must be because all 75 GT500E Super Snakes were bought.
 
*McLaren*
True, but some of his Shelbys on Fords aren't helping his name much since no one wants to see Shelby get beat by certain vehicles.
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True, but if you look at the long history of Shelby in racing, he was getting beat both on the track and on the street for quite some time. It was always a game of one-upsmanship for the most part, with the bigger engines, tighter suspensions, better transmissions, etc. The Z/28 and the Trans-Am certainly were enough to scare the pants of the GT350, but by that time, Shelby was already at the beginnings of running away from Ford. The later GT500, GT500KR, and GT500 Super Snake really weren't much than over-glorified Mustangs with big engines in them, and lets be honest, they weren't much for competition against the HEMI 'Cudas and Challengers, not to mention the COPO Camaros.

Head to the 1980s, and the Shelby name was just a gimmick to get people to buy Chrysler products. I don't think many people were putting the Shelby Charger into competition against the Mustang GTs and IROC-Zs of the era expecting a win, much less the later Shelby Dakota... Which was pretty much a V8 and a paint-job.

Shelby today is just a good way to get a historical connection with the past while getting rid of the SVT brand... Which IMO, they (Ford) should have kept. Shelby models today do much the same as they did back in 1965: A decent amount of performance for a modest amount of money. The problem is, most of the competition has figured out how to out-Shelby Shelby himself, and thereby his new products are just waffling along in a class that has pretty much been dominated by the NASCAR-inspired Rousch Mustangs, and the Trans-Am-inspired Saleen Mustangs.
 
YSSMAN
Head to the 1980s, and the Shelby name was just a gimmick to get people to buy Chrysler products. I don't think many people were putting the Shelby Charger into competition against the Mustang GTs and IROC-Zs of the era expecting a win,
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I object, strongly. Some of the cars (Charger, Lancer) were trash, yes, but the rest of them were awesome perfoming cars (Shadow CSX, Omni GLHS, Daytona Shelby Z) in their own right. Both going straight and in the twisties
YSSMAN
much less the later Shelby Dakota... Which was pretty much a V8 and a paint-job.
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Hm. Who else has done that? Oh yeah:
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Oh those 6 trucks, only 2 of them came with V8 engines. None of the ones that did were midsize trucks, either (like the Dakota was). And 1 of them didn't even come with the most powerful engine standard.
 
True, the Omni GLH was indeed one crazy car, but the biggest problem I have with those super-Chryslers at the time was that they just were not memorable products because of their performance. Sure, to MOPAR fans they may go down in history as some of the best that had existed...

...And at least with the GM trucks, you've got a point with most of them there. However, the Syclone/Typhoon were monsters when it came down to performance, and certainly had become more than an engine option and a paint-job. At the same time, the Chevy C1500 SS 454 pickup was basically something thrown together to compete with the SVT Lightning that had just appeared. While the Chevy had the power that could keep up in the straights, the SVT had it in the corners... Typical for the era...

The later SS was a pretty decent performer, IMO. Sure, it wasn't as fast as the Lightning or the SRT-10, but it was pretty nimble for a full-size truck, and once they had finally converted it to RWD, the performance became more or less what it should have been. Its just a shame they never crammed the LS2 with a stick in it... Well, I mean, Berger did a few, but GM never did.

On the same token, it could be argued that the base-model Silverados of the era with the 4.8L V8 (nearly 300 BHP) and the 5-speed were probably as close as you could get to an SS pickup. I personally don't know of anyone converting it to an SS, but the ability to swap the SS suspension pieces, not to mention the better rolling-stock wheels and tires, certainly would have created a monster. Better yet, get the supercharger for the 4.8L offered by Joe Gibbs (or just buy his SS), and you've got the best Hi-Po pickup since the late-and-great Lightning.
 
YSSMAN
However, the Syclone/Typhoon were monsters when it came down to performance, and certainly had become more than an engine option and a paint-job.
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That's why I didn't post them. I know of the work that went into reinforcing every inch of those things. However, for pretty much every year after those two nutjob things debuted, GMC and Chevy (Chevy in particular) had some "special performance package" S10 that essentially amounted to 2WD and ground effects. So, in my opinion, criticizing the the Shelby Dakota for being a normal midsizer with a V8 thrown in is unfair to the amount of work that went into it in comparison.
 
The Cyclone/Typhoon were 0-100mph kings--and that's it. Fact is I believe their juice ran out @ 106mph-ish. Yes it will beat a Ferrari in that era--to 105mph anyway.

And of those GM products you listed this one is the best looking and the only one I would buy:

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I love the SS 454... Fantastic engine, all it needs is more modern parts. Then you could have a serious racing truck.
 

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