Shelby Comet. Never heard of that, have you? Did you hear of the Shelby Europa? 14 made

Shelby Europa were just getting started by Claude Dubois, who raced a Ford of Antwerp Shelby Gt 350 in Spa in 1967. They came directly from Ford as semi-finished and completed by Dubois. Now it was not very many, 1971 and 72 made a total of just 14 pieces, including two convertibles.

There are eight survivors, three of were in Sweden, then Norway, then to Finland.

Well, so was there a special European-Shelby prototype, GT250, a 1971 Mercury Comet that Claude supplied with a GT40 289 block and heads, that gave the car more than 350 horsepower. It was a couple of years as Claude's own daily driver before being resold.

info from http://svammelsurium.blogg.se/2008/december/de-forgatna-del-36-shelby-europa.html

Claude was in Dearborn when Ford announced the cessation of the Shelby Fords, and so bought the last 34 or 36. He sold them in Belgium, Paris, Istanbul, Geneva and Germany

Read his 2002 interview here: http://www.ponysite.de/sheleur_dubois3.htm

After 1970 Claude proposed a licensing deal, and bought Mustangs from Bob Ford in Detroit, the first was completed in January 1971 and went to the Brussels Motor show. The Shelby parts came from Shelby American. Some had 351's and at least one was a drag pack 429 http://www.ponysite.de/sheleur.htm

Learn about the Mexico Shelby Mustangs here: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/shelby-de-mexico-i-finally-learned-of.html

Shelby De Mexico, I learned of them just now, I never heard of Shelby Mavericks either, but here is the scoop (and a reminder about the Shelby Europa)

There's the scoop ( literally ) Naca duct for fresh air and 2 exhaust to keep it cooler under the hood.

Sequential taillights, just like the California Specials (originally from the t-birds)

with hood pins, and the Shelby rims

If you have a Mustang built in Mexico City,
Valencia, Venezuela
Lima, Peru
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
or Sydney, Australia
and want to join the registry, see http://www.hammar.dyndns.org/~mexmust/history.htm

So here's what it's all about:

In 1965, Mexican auto parts distributor Eduardo Velazquez bought a Hi-Po 1965 Mustang hardtop and delivered it to Hi-Performance Motors in Los Angeles for conversion to competitive status. Equipped with a race-ready 289ci engine and the complete Shelby suspension, the Mustang became a winner in Mexico . By the end of 1966, Velazquez's team had won ten of the seventeen events they had raced.

Ford Motor Company, S.A, the Mexican branch of the corporation, had begun producing Mustang hardtops During 1966, Velazquez became a Shelby parts dealer, and the victories provided great promotion for Shelby aftermarket parts for those Mustangs. In 1967, Velazquez formed a friendship and partnership with Carroll Shelby. Their company Shelby de Mexico, would create modified Mustangs to be marketed through Ford of Mexico dealerships.

Velazquez sold one in 1990 and it's sale made for an article in Mustang Monthly in 1991 http://www.hammar.dyndns.org/~mexmust/Articles/m910388.htm

The Shelby de Mexico models of 1967 and 1968 were powered by 289ci engines and looked nearly identical to their 1967 and 1968 stateside namesakes. Production totaled 169 units in 1967 and 203 units in 1968.

The 306 Shelbys produced in 1969 were based on 302hp powered Mustang hardtops, but had fiberglass roofline extensions that created a Fastback look. Their front sheetmetal was near-stock Mustang, but the slightly bulged hoods were fiberglass, their deck lids had spoilers, and the taillights were the 1965 Thunderbird units used by US production 1968 and 1969 Shelbys. Several of the 1969 Shelby de Mexico GT-350s have been brought into the United States during recent years, and two have been featured in Mustang Monthly and other enthusiast magazines.

During those years, Shelby de Mexico campaigned Mustang race cars throughout Mexico , including two Shelby-built 1966 and 1967 Group 2 hardtops. Much advice was received from Al Dowd, Phil Remington, and Lew Spencer at Shelby American, and Carrol! Shelby made a point of attending several races in Mexico . The company created two race cars in 1969 and only one in 1970. Only one of those race-specific models is known to survive.

Shelby de Mexico, during the 1971 model year, built approximately 200 Shelby Mustang GT-351s (Windsor engines) and 300 Shelby Mavericks powered by 302hp engines.

all this info, lifted verbatim because it's dead on and consise: http://sarin.lunarpages.com/~musta4/mustangtrivia/shelbydemexico.htm

But the Shelby Maverick is a real big surprise..

photos from http://www.shelbyforums.com/forums/open-community-forum/1625-shelby-maverick.html
and
http://mmb.maverick.to/gallery/showimage.php?i=9442&c=145

The authoritative write up is from Bob McClurg who made some trips to Mexico and almost bought one, but while he was waiting for delivery, it all went up in smoke, the car and his contact in Mexico disappeared. He first covered the Shelby in Mustang Illustrated February 1991 which is online right here: http://www.darkhorseracing.net/south_of_the_boarder.htm and refreshed with a new look in this months Muscle car

Just reminded me about the Shelby Europa http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/shelby-comet-never-heard-of-that-have.html

11-mile 2000 Cobra R being auctioned on E Bay.. check your savings account, you don't want to miss this

read about it http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/?p=9975 there are 8 days left, a starting price of 70 thou (this was someones investment idea) for the #29 of 300 made in 2000

Bring a trailer says this has been on ebay a couple of times already... so obviously the owner is ready to cash out and is asking more than the market will offer. Consider that you can buy a new Porsche, new Corvette, etc etc etc for the 70 thou this guy wants for a non warranteed 11 year old Ford Mustang. I don't think he'll sell this for more than 40 thou

The difference between Mustang engine bays, for a 289 or a Boss 429

Taken from close to the same view angle, these are a terrific aid in determining all the mods that Ford had to do to shove a 427, 428, or 429 into a early Mustang

Thanks to Ed for the photos!

Bitchin drag Mustang

Cool kids pedal car interior matches the parents Mustang

First time I've come across the Stone Woods and Cook gas coupe mustang Dark Horse 2

Bang Shift finds really cool drag racing, here's a trio of awesome

Hayden Proffitt and the funny car Rebel. Ya gotta hand it to anyone who looks at the brick aerodynamics and says they'll make it win.

EJ Potter, that madman

Turbo Stang, powered by a drag axle from Turbonique and this is the first time I've seen this photo.. awesome

For lots of dragracing photos and videos, go see the tremendous coverage at Bang Shift http://www.bangshift.com/blog/

barnfind 1970 396 SS Chevelle and 1970 Mach 1 Mustang

from http://www.junkyardlife.com/

Autoblog's years best photos

1937 Bugatti Atlantic Type 57sc at the Mullin museum

Historic races at Monterey

Love the paint scheme and the Barracuda looking custom Challenger. Too bad they don't have the guts to factory make a good Barracuda, I don't give a damn that the "Plymouth" brand doesn't exist... the car would have nothing in common with real 67-71 Barracudas anyway, beside a few retro looking design touches.

XK-SS Jags

1925 Bugatti Type 13 Brescia at the Mullin Automotive Museum that was pulled out of the lake recently, it had been dumped into the lake to avoid paying duties: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/01/1925-type-22-bugatti-pulled-out-of-lake.html

photos from http://www.autoblog.com/

MIckey Thompson's 1969 Mustang he used to break 295 speed and endurance records

Sponsorship, expensive stuff. Applause to Monster; getting Ken Block to do exhibit runs a couple times a day, bringing stages, free drinks, and atvs

those cans of Monster energy drink, they cost about 3 dollars apiece normally, and were given away for free all week!

Is this a good photoshop swap? Or a 2nd photo from a good photographer? It's a photoshopped VW over the Stang

AJ scoped it out, and noticed that the bug is not completely hiding the Mustang's front fender
Same exact setting as the bottom photo, and the Mustang is smaller than the VW so it's possible that the vw is photoshopped over the stang

This VW was photographed by Iris Antonio according to the sources of the photo I've found .. but like AJ pointed out, the but is a clever photoshop that didn't quite mask the Mustang

Thanks AJ! "The mustang fender top is still visible in the VW "photo".

the many Rich Evans custom Mustangs at SEMA

http://www.huntingtonbchbodyworks.com/index.php