Photo: Canepa
By the time the calendars showed the year 1968, the name Carroll Shelby was pretty much on everybody’s lips in the U.S. and abroad. The man going by this name had already proved his worth on the world's most famous tracks, and was by now in the process of doing the same when it came to high-performance road cars.
Always evolving and always looking to give people more, Shelby introduced in 1968 the KR variant of the GT500. KR stands for King of the Road, and it’s been added to the car’s moniker as a means to make sure everybody understands this was the most powerful Shelby Mustang conversion out there.
The title is owed to the engine used for this version. The GT500KR packs under the hood the 428-ci (7.0-liter) Cobra Jet V8 engine that is known to develop 400 hp and 450 lb-ft (609 Nm) of torque.
As you might guess, there weren’t that many GT500KRs made, and the convertibles were even rarer. For the year 1968, for instance, there were about 518 of them made, of which about half paired the Cobra Jet to a 4-speed manual transmission.
The car we have here is one of them. Wrapped in the iconic Wimbledon White, the vehicle is presently listed as for sale on the lot of Canepa and comes in tip-top shape thanks to the restoration process it went through not long ago.
The asking price for the 1968 Shelby GT500 King of the Road is only available per request. For reference, back when it was new decades ago, the GT500KR was sold for $4,983, which should be about $37,000, factoring in the inflation.
Buying it now will probably be more than that, especially considering the fact the car comes with the original build sheet, MartiAutoWorks Report, original VIN tag and temp, and warranty card. It is also documented in the Shelby American World Registry.
The title is owed to the engine used for this version. The GT500KR packs under the hood the 428-ci (7.0-liter) Cobra Jet V8 engine that is known to develop 400 hp and 450 lb-ft (609 Nm) of torque.
As you might guess, there weren’t that many GT500KRs made, and the convertibles were even rarer. For the year 1968, for instance, there were about 518 of them made, of which about half paired the Cobra Jet to a 4-speed manual transmission.
The car we have here is one of them. Wrapped in the iconic Wimbledon White, the vehicle is presently listed as for sale on the lot of Canepa and comes in tip-top shape thanks to the restoration process it went through not long ago.
The asking price for the 1968 Shelby GT500 King of the Road is only available per request. For reference, back when it was new decades ago, the GT500KR was sold for $4,983, which should be about $37,000, factoring in the inflation.
Buying it now will probably be more than that, especially considering the fact the car comes with the original build sheet, MartiAutoWorks Report, original VIN tag and temp, and warranty card. It is also documented in the Shelby American World Registry.
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