After the success of this same event a couple of years ago the Auckland Mustang Owners club will return to the Leisure Centre, Brightside Road, Stanmore Bay on Auckland’s Whangaparaoa Peninsular for their annual car show on Sunday 18th September. All proceeds are again going to the Hibiscus Coast Hospice.

Expect to see more than 100 Mustangs from all eras, from the earliest 1964 II to the latest 2012 cars. According to the club there will be convertibles, fastbacks and notchbacks, Supercharged, Fuel Injected, 4 speed, 6 speed, wire wheels, steel wheels & chrome wheels. There will be Mustangs in red, white, blue, yellow and black. Some will be modified others will be stock. Shelby, Roush, and Saleen will be represented and there will be Indy Pace Cars, GT, Boss, Mach 1 and GT500 models. Among the cars will be some of the top classic cars in the country including winners from the last Intermarque Concours d’elegance.  (more…)

American car builder Classic Recreations has just revealed it’s latest package for the Mustang called the Shelby G.T.350CR.

The high-tech tuners start with an original 1965 or 1966 Mustang, a rack and pinion steering system is then installed followed by high-performance brakes and coilover suspension. Further updates include a limited slip rear differential, a Tremec manual transmission and a sport exhaust system.

Under the bonnet serious work takes place with the entry-level model packing a 7.0-litre V8 engine with 545 hp (406 kW) of grunt. If that engine isn’t scary enough for you, the company will also offer a supercharged version with 645 hp (481 kW) as well as an insane twin-turbo variant with over 1,000 hp (746 kW). (more…)

The Monterey car week over in the States is one of the biggest automotive events anywhere and the auctions are well known for drawing out unique metal. At last year’s RM Auctions event there was a special Ford-themed sale that put some of the various blue oval concept cars from the last decade under the hammer. For 2011, Ford and RM Auctions have once again teamed up to flog off a couple of unique concept machines.

With proceeds going to charities, the concepts up for grabs are the 2001 Thunderbird Sports Roadster Concept and the 2005 Shelby GR-1 Concept Platform Model.

The Thunderbird Concept (pictured in red) was first shown at the 2001 Detroit Auto Show as a retro-themed production Thunderbird with some extra goodies. The Concept’s long rear-end is shaped by a fiberglass tonneau, like the original Sports Roadster it’s named after. In the cabin the retro theme continues with styling that nods to the Thunderbirds of the ’50s and 60s.

The Shelby GR-1 Concept debuted at Pebble Beach in 2004 and while also sharing influence from the past, it didn’t enter production in any form. It was built to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Shelby Daytona Coupe and features silver paint work with blue stripes and 19-inch wheels. (more…)

A new horsepower war is brewing and could see Chevrolet’s new Camaro ZL1 released with more grunt than was originally planned. The ZL1 (pictured) isn’t expected in American car dealerships until early next year, but new reports are stating that power output has been bumped up to more than 570 hp (425 kW).

When the car was officially debuted at the Chicago Auto Show, GM said the supercharged 6.2-litre engine would have a max power output of approximately 550 hp (410 kW). That was until word came out that the 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 was expected to utilise  a supercharged 5.8-litre V8 with up to 620 hp (462 kW). With Ford now bringing a machine gun to a knife fight, Chevrolet is left with little choice but to upgrade its hardcore ZL1, just to put up a fight. (more…)

American tuners and carmakers Classic Recreations is in the business of building up Mustangs that look period perfect but have modern underpinnings. Their damn good at it too and if anyone needed proof just look at their newest creation the Shelby GT500CR Venom.

Under the bonnet it’s all go with a blown 427 cubic-inch V-8, this beast is force-fed by a ProCharger F1-R centrifugal supercharger and pumps out a neck-snapping 590kW (790hp) while retaining the classic Mustang looks. It will go from standing to 100kph in under 4 seconds and won’t stop accelerating until everyone inside freaks out.  All the available grunt is put to the ground through a Tremec manual transmission and a 9-inch rear end with a 3.50 gear ratio. Steering is rack and pinion, and there is even a tilting steering column. Talk about luxury.

Other upgrades over Classic Recreations more standard Mustang offerings include wider wheels and tyres, race-style bucket seats, special Venom interior badging, and a 200 mph speedometer. There’s also treats like Shelby gauges, an aluminum steering wheel, Simpson 5-point seatbelts, A/C, a 1967 dashboard and door trim, a Pioneer CD stereo with 100-watt amplifier, a fuel cell, sequential taillights, 14-inch cross-drilled brake rotors, six-piston front and rear brake calipers, a MSD ignition, dual exhaust with stainless steel mufflers, ceramic coated headers, and coilover front and rear suspension. (more…)

Grudge matches are settled on the drag strip between car-proud gents all the time and usually it wouldn’t make for great news, but this one is a little different.

A no-nonsense, classic American muscle car finished in full chrome up against the latest thoroughbred Italian supercar in a straight up quarter mile race. That doesn’t exactly happen every day, but what could make this furious fixture even more tense? A $400,000 personal wager, that’s what.

The story is that a pair of cashed-up mates over in the States got into a good ole ‘my car’s quicker than yours’ debate which ultimately led to the dragstrip. Dan Bilzerian, owner of the fully pimped and highly modified 1965 427 Shelby Cobra, placed a bet that his American muscle car can beat his friend Tom Goldstein’s brand spankers 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia in a quarter mile race. It was a big call, Ferrari don’t exactly make slow cars and the 458 came with some handy tech like a launch control system and lightning fast transmission.

Earlier this month, these two big kids took their respective rides down to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway racetrack and put their money where their mouth is.

Check out the video below to see how it went down. It’s intense. (more…)

We’ve all heard the saying that a car goes like a cut snake. Lorrin Mathews’s genuine Shelby Cobra really is a cut snake!

Why on earth would anyone chop up a genuine GT500? I bet that question is running through the minds of numerous NZV8 readers right now. We wondered too.

Lorrin Mathews’s answer is short, sweet and simple: “It’s my car and I can, so I did.” That’s a logic that you can’t argue with.

Before you get too upset, Lorrin is well aware what the car would be worth in mint original form, and has kept every single part that has been removed from the car, should he ever want or need to return it to standard.

With the car in the pile of things never to be sold, the chances of it being restored to its former state aren’t high. At the recent Fathers’ Day Drags, where we first spotted Lorrin’s mad machine, he was offered an unlimited blank cheque in return for the car and still said no, so clearly his will is strong.

Finders Keepers

Where exactly did the car come from? It’s not every day you find a GT500 for sale in New Zealand, or overseas for that matter. Much to the surprise of Mustang enthusiasts around the country, it has been in New Zealand for more than 25 years. But for the majority of that time it hasn’t seen the light of day. When the car was brought out to the photoshoot for this magazine, it was just its third outing in 20 years. Now that is what you call a well-kept secret, and the answer to why most people have never seen this vehicle before. (more…)

It was almost 50 years ago when the sports car world was changed forever by the Ford-powered Cobra being introduced at the 1962 New York Auto Show. Now Shelby American is marking the occasion with a limited edition offering of 50 continuation “street car” Cobras to celebrate that milestone. Each will be painted “Shelby black” with red leather interior, special badges, wire wheels and other items.

“Fifty years after its introduction, the Shelby Cobra is still an international symbol of high performance,” said John Luft, president of Shelby American. “Combining a robust, powerful American engine with a lightweight European chassis was brilliant. Half a century later, the Cobra remains one of the most coveted cars in the world. Shelby’s formula still resonates today and is followed by automakers worldwide.”

Built from 1962-1965, the CSX2000 series small block Cobra was born in Southern California when Shelby’s crew re-engineered the AC Ace to accept Ford’s new small block. Weighing only 916kg, the Cobra proved nimble, quick and reliable. The racing version dominated, culminating in the 1965 FIA World Championship.

In 1996, Carroll Shelby began manufacturing the small block “street version” Cobra once again. Today, the cars are component vehicles that can be fitted with a proper drive train by customers. Each car is built to order and delivered as a rolling chassis, less drive train, with a 1965 MSO. The 50th Anniversary Edition cars have some unique differences. (more…)