1968 SHELBY GT500 CONVERTIBLE

428 CI, FACTORY AIR

All the Shelby Mustangs are rare and potent, but the 1968 GT500 tends to get overlooked. After all, Ford only built 402 convertibles, out of 4,450 production GT350s and GT500s. Bringing manufacturing fully under Ford control at A.O. Smith in Livonia, Michigan, the 1968 Shelbys received the famous one-year-only fiberglass front end with twin slot hood scoops, European fog lamps and hood diffusers, as well as a fiberglass decklid. And for the first time, you could get your Shelby Mustang without a roof. Replaced early in the year with the GT500KR, the GT500 had a single engine choice, the S-code 428/360 HP Police Interceptor.

It was now rated at five horsepower more than 1967, with a 715 CFM Holley and aluminum intake. As it wasn’t intended as a race car, suspension was essentially Mustang sport suspension, and interiors were based on the Deluxe Mustang interior. Largely, because they added a nicely integrated console gauge cluster, embossed Cobra storage compartment armrest and Cobra-badging including wheel, dash, seat belt locks and shifter.

New Cobra badges also appeared on the exterior front and rear. Standard steel wheels came with wheel covers, but that’s where Shelby number 2442’s options begin, with 10-spoke Shelby wheels. Almost all the other major options are present as well, including power steering and brakes, push-button radio, Select-O-Matic transmission, tilt-away steering wheel and most importantly: factory air conditioning.

In typical Danny Hill Collection fashion, this restoration has been excellently preserved, with appealing luster in the code-D Medium Blue Metallic with White stripes and a power-operated White soft top over the Black bucket-seat interior. Danny’s story behind acquiring the car over 25 years ago is quite unique. Hill recalls, “The previous owner would not sell me the car outright. He wanted me to trade him a 1958 Chevy convertible and some additional money. At the time, I didn’t have a ’58 Chevy so I went out and bought one to finalize the deal.”

Highlights

Shelby no. 2442
Ground-up restoration in 1984
428/360 HP Police Interceptor engine
Factory air conditioning
Automatic transmission
Positraction rear end
Power convertible top
Power brakes
Factory roll bar
Swing-Away steering wheel
Sequential turn signals
Philco AM radio
Fiberglass hood and trunk lid
10-spoke Shelby wheels
Goodyear polyglas tires
Cobra badging on shifter and steering wheel
Cobra badging embossed on console
Medium Blue Metallic with Black interior and White soft top