During Caroll Shelby’s remarkable career working with Ford Motor’s to create terrific cars that were a fusion of British styling and precision and American Horsepower, there is one of their efforts that stands as testament to their partnership. The 1968 Shelby GT-500-KR convertible is an amazing car, plain and simple. It is a car that collectors long to have, and that aficionados proudly recall seeing or driving at one point in time in their lives. The car is an achievement in style, and an achievement in power. The fact of those two factors combined with the car’s rarity makes it a true museum piece for any serious car collector. Of the GT-500 KR’s, only 517 were ever produced as convertibles.

Low production numbers of cars of this period frequently boost their value in the eyes of collectors today. But only when a car has hit that perfect combination of rarity along with the elements that made it popular at the time does its value soar into the stratosphere like the Shelby GT-500-KR convertible has.

The car had a 428 Cobra Jet V-8 engine under the hood. This is one of those legendary benchmark engines against which plenty of cars that come afterwards will be measured. Ford was conservative, (as most manufacturer’s were wont to do at the time) in rating the car’s horsepower and posted it at a safe 335 hp, however tests of the cars power later have revealed that it could reach over 400 hp in several of the models that were produced.

The KR in the car’s name stands for King of the Road, and Caroll Shelby certainly ensured that it looked the part. The regular mustang look was redressed by Shelby, with a new fiberglass front end, working hood scoops, decorative intakes on the side panels, and new taillights. All of these factored together to give the GT-500-KR the unique and distinctive appearance for which Shelby cars were gaining such a reputation. The interior was upgraded from that of the everyday mustang as well, with improved gauges and some wood paneling applied to give the car more of that sophisticated, British roadster feel for which Shelby had built his reputation in America upon.

Although there were other cars produced, especially those of the hemi powered muscle cars that could outperform this Shelby; the style alone earns it a place in the history books of great and collectible cars. For many people, anything designed by Carroll Shelby is a collectible, because of their amazing combination of that British styling with all the engineering that had gone into Ford’s high power engines. Amongst those collectible Shelby edition cars, the 1968 Shelby GT-500-KR convertible is defiantly a standout. This is due to its styling, but also influence hugely by its rareness. 517 cars of a specific model was low even for a limited edition car, and so collectors everywhere flock to auction when one of these fine pieces of American and British automotive history come up for bid.