'96 Mustang Cobra SVT Vs. '68 Shelby GT500KR

Remember the racer's adage, "Speed costs money; how fast do you want to go?" It turns out that many people who can afford to go fast want to be comfortable doing it. Hence the '68 Shelby GT500KR and '96 Ford Mustang Cobra SVT convertibles: good-looking, luxurious Mustangs that are musclecar quick.

Carroll Shelby's first Mustang, the '65 GT350, debuted with just one mission: Beat the Corvette on the racetrack. It didn't need to be comfortable and came with a bare fiberglass panel where the back seat should be. But just two years later, because the larger, heavier '67 Mustang didn't need race homologation, Shelby's focus shifted to styling, roadworthiness, and bigger engines. More distinct from mortal Mustangs than was the original GT350, Shelby's '67 offerings came as either the 289-powered GT350 or, stuffed with Ford's 428-cubic-inch/335-gross-horsepower Police Interceptor OHV V-8, the legendary GT500.

In '68, Shelby's production line moved from Los Angeles to A.O. Smith Company's efficient facilities in Ionia, Michigan, and for the first time, Shelby offered a convertible version of his modified Mustang. Midway through the model year, Shelby replaced the Police Interceptor with Ford's new 428 Cobra Jet featuring bigger valves, dished alloy pistons, and a 10.6:1 compression ratio. Trying to fool the NHRA tech inspectors, Ford rated the 428CJ at only 335 horsepower, but anyone whose Thom McAn has crushed the accelerator knows it knocked out closer to 400 gross horsepower. Shelby, with no modesty, named this Cobra Jet-powered beast the GT500KR-KR for "King of the Road." It was as gorgeous as it was fast. Having spent upwards of the base $4594, 318 brave souls left their local Shelby dealers as GT500KR-convertible owners.

But 28 years of improvements have made a difference to the Mustang. By a wide margin, the 4.6-liter/305-horsepower DOHC 32-valve all-aluminum version of Ford's Modular V-8 in the '96 Mustang Cobra SVT is the most advanced engine ever installed in Ford's ponycar. With its lightweight reciprocating assembly and elegant valvetrain singing contentedly toward the heady 6800-rpm redline, it becomes obvious that in character and nature this engine hardly could be more different from that iron brute powering the old Shelby.

Running through the five nicely spaced ratios of the new Cobra's excellent Borg Warner T50 transmission, it's the uncanny smoothness of this drivetrain that separates it from any previous ponycar's. Though it will propel the 3565-pound, $27,580 Cobra to 60 mph in just 5.6 seconds and cleave its path through the quarter mile in only 13.9 seconds with a 102.1-mph terminal velocity, it does the task with remarkable gentleness. This isn't a race engine, it's a luxury-car powerplant unbridled. This engine has manners, and the convertible, with its penchant for stylish touring, makes an even more appropriate home for the V-8 than the Cobra SVT coupe.

Sweeping north along the precipices and undulating curves of California's Highway One headed toward Carmel, the Cobra SVT proved vibrant, confident, and downright swift. Power delivery off slow corners builds with seamless, perfectly linear throttle response and in harmony with the precise steering, gentle chassis tuning, and well-developed brakes. The engine is a prism through which the Cobra's other talents are magnified and its flaws diminished. Once you get to the very edge of the car's performance, however, the solid rear axle can betray you. That limit, though, is well beyond what most convertible owners likely will approach.