This Brand New 1967 Shelby GT500 Is Just a Beautiful $230K Shell in Search of an Engine

Shelby is no longer among us, having passed away in 2012, but his legacy will probably live on for at least 100 more years. Not only because of the cars he used to make, but also thanks to organizations and people who are doing their best to keep the name in the news.

The company that currently does this the most is Shelby American, and what a busy year it has had. Not only was the group pivotal in organizing the anniversary Las Vegas Team Shelby Bash in September, but it also released an anniversary version of the F-250 Super Baja for the centennial.

Somewhat fittingly, it also managed to put an end to the legal battle over the mighty Eleanor Mustang, winning the case against the surviving spouse of H.B. Halicki, the producer of the 1974 Gone in 60 Seconds movie.

But perhaps the most exciting of all the things Shelby American has done this centennial year is this here 1967 Shelby GT500. Produced by Hi-Tech Automotive, the same company that makes the Superformance and Shelby Legendary Cars (meaning incredible machines like the CSX, 427 S/C, and Shelby Cobras, among others), the car is more than a simple restomod, and more than a simple reproduction.

In fact, it's a combination of the two, a kind of build its makers have dubbed REPROmod. And it's a build that needed several years of development to come onto the market, doing so just a few days before Shelby's centennial ends.

This "modernized reproduction of the iconic 1967 GT500" is all new, but purposely incomplete in a bid to allow future owners to leave their own mark on the vehicle. What that means is you're looking at a rolling chassis, with no engine and transmission fitted underneath.

A quick look at the car's body will have you believe you're looking at a Mustang Shelby himself tampered with. The all-steel body panels come together in incredible fashion, thanks to the fact they were all put together using traditional coach-building techniques.

The steel parts are mixed with composite components - the hood, the trunk, the rear extensions and the side air intake scoops that usually set a GT500 apart from the Mustang base car are made from the stuff, which is in essence glass-reinforced epoxy resin.

All the paint and primer used for the build are Glasurit-made. In the form that was shown earlier this week, the GT500 comes in blue with white stripes, but the company making the car says the body color and stripes can be specced in any color the customer desires.

Placed on top of a fully assembled chassis (tubular front and rear subframes), the GT500 is properly held off the ground by means of fully independent front and rear suspension backed by Bilstein coil-over shock absorbers, front and rear anti-sway bars and billet aluminum uprights on both ends.

Braking power for whatever engine the owner sees fit to install under the hood is supplied by means of Wortec brakes. Steering is handled by a power-assisted rack and pinion system, while the engine's power is sent to the rear wheels by means of a 3.73:1 limited-slip differential.

The engine choices for the rolling chassis are virtually unlimited, but given the nature of the build it would probably be best for owners of this GT500 to fit a Ford powerplant in there. Shelby American says the car is perfectly suited for the Coyote engine, in either naturally aspirated or supercharged form, but also for the Predator.

As far as the transmission goes, the car has been made in such a way as to accommodate either a 6-speed manual or Ford's newest 10-speed automatic.

The interior of the GT500 is as classic as you'd expect for a build of this caliber, only it shines away in beautiful Nappa leather all around - on the door panels, dashboard, center console, and, of course, the seats.

Speaking of seats, we don't get the classic Shelby elements but Recaro pieces of hardware. They are power adjustable fore and aft and sit on longer tracks to allow for more legroom.

Despite looking all classic and fine, the new GT500 REPROmod is as modern as they get. The headlights, park, and reverse lights, for instance, come as LEDs, the door locks are power activated, and there's a SONY Bluetooth multimedia system installed inside. It sends audio to a sound system comprising no less than six speakers and two amplifiers, all of them made by Rockford Fosgate.

Hi-Tech and Shelby are selling the rolling chassis 1967 GT500 for around $230,000. Adding the engine, transmission, and all other things required will probably boost that price to about $270,000.

That means this is not a car for everybody, so it will not be produced in large numbers either. Just 20 of them are planned to roll off the lines next year, with production to be supplemented if the need arises. With reassessed pricing, naturally.