The 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake became one of the wildest muscle car experiments of the 1960s. Built as a high-speed demonstration vehicle with race-bred performance hardware, the car delivered such outrageous capability and cost that only a single example was ever produced, turning it into one of the rarest and most legendary Shelby Mustangs ever created.
Carroll Shelby wanted to create the ultimate high-speed Mustang
When Carroll Shelby developed the 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake, the goal was not building an ordinary production muscle car. Shelby intended the project to demonstrate extreme high-speed durability and showcase the potential of specialized performance components.
Working alongside Ford Motor Company, Shelby transformed an already powerful GT500 into something far more aggressive. The project centered around creating a Mustang capable of sustained high-speed driving while carrying race-inspired engineering rarely seen in street-legal production vehicles.
The Super Snake received a race-derived 427 engine
At the heart of the 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake sat a 427 cubic-inch V8 derived from Ford’s racing programs. Unlike the regular GT500 engine, this powerplant carried serious competition influence and delivered performance levels far beyond what most street cars of the period could manage.
Inside Ford Motor Company performance engineering, the 427 already had a fearsome reputation in motorsports. Installed inside the lighter Mustang platform, the engine gave the Super Snake brutal acceleration and the ability to sustain extremely high speeds that shocked even experienced performance enthusiasts.
The car was created during a tire testing project
Part of the strange story surrounding the 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake involves its original purpose. The car was reportedly used during a Goodyear tire demonstration intended to prove the durability of new high-speed performance tires under extreme driving conditions.
During testing, the Shelby demonstrated remarkable stability and endurance at sustained speeds approaching racing territory. For Carroll Shelby, the project showed just how far the Mustang platform could be pushed when equipped with serious racing hardware and engineering modifications.
The price made production nearly impossible
Although the 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake delivered extraordinary performance, the car’s estimated production cost created major problems. The specialized engine, upgraded components, and extensive modifications made the Super Snake dramatically more expensive than ordinary Shelby Mustangs already considered premium performance cars.
Within Ford Motor Company, there was little confidence that enough buyers would pay the enormous price required for limited production. As a result, the idea of building additional Super Snakes quickly disappeared, leaving the original prototype as the only example ever completed.
The lone Super Snake became one of the rarest muscle cars ever built
Because only one 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake was produced, the car eventually became one of the most desirable collector vehicles in American automotive history. Enthusiasts view it not simply as a Mustang, but as a nearly mythical factory-backed performance experiment.
Collectors and historians often describe the car as the ultimate expression of Carroll Shelby’s aggressive performance philosophy during the peak of the muscle car era. Its combination of rarity, racing pedigree, and outrageous engineering elevated the Super Snake into automotive folklore.
Today the Super Snake represents the peak of Shelby excess
Modern enthusiasts still view the 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake as one of the most extreme American performance cars ever attempted during the 1960s. The car combined racing-level hardware with street legality in a way that felt almost reckless even during Detroit’s horsepower wars.
For fans of Ford Motor Company and Shelby history, the Super Snake symbolizes an era when engineers and designers pushed muscle cars far beyond normal boundaries. The fact that only one was ever built only makes the legend even larger decades later.
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