By Andrew Ganz
Friday, Jul 2nd, 2010 @ 12:36 pm

What’s old is new again – or so the saying goes.

Such is the case with Shelby American’s “reborn” GT350.

Times have changed quite a bit since the original GT350 was launched all the way back in 1965 as a response to Carroll Shelby’s assertion that the stock Mustang was a “secretary’s car” not suitable for high performance driving. Now, the secretarial-specification Mustang V6 offers 305 horsepower and can sprint to 60 mph faster than all but the most fire-breathing muscle cars of the ’60s.

A new era, indeed.

Reborn – but not in the same vein
The original GT350, as those who have had the pleasure (some might say the displeasure) of driving one will eagerly admit, was a beast of a vehicle. Although Ford mandated a few luxuries for the second model year, a balky locking rear end, ultra stiff suspension and steering heavier than the RMS Queen Mary’s made it a track day tool only. It was, of course, a legend in its own time on a closed course – and under the careful supervision of some urban dragstrip racers.

Rather than take that approach with the new GT350, Shelby’s Las Vegas operations decided to make a high-performance Mustang-based track star that would also be comfortably composed on the road. To find out if their efforts paid off, we traveled to the Mid-America Shelby and Ford Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. By far the biggest gathering of Blue Oval and Shelby-powered muscle, it also served as the first public showing of the GT350. Interest in the new machine was clearly strong; we watched Shelby President John Luft’s pockets fill as he collected business cards from interested parties.

Despite its white paint scheme with blue Le Mans stripes, the Larry Wood (of Hot Wheels fame)-penned 2011 GT350 doesn’t look much like the original until you take in the details. The body kits on the two prototypes Leftlane sampled will lose their unsightly seam lines for production models, but the inset grille and classy flat black tail lamp surrounds will stay. Don’t let the early press photos fool you; the GT350 is actually a substantial improvement over the standard Mustang in many ways, especially in the simple yet aggressive tail that sports a pair of center-mounted Borla exhaust pipes. Production GT350s will be delivered with the plastic triangle-shaped rear window covers in their trunks to allow buyers to make their own decision whether to use them. We like the idea, but the execution looks a little too aftermarket for the otherwise pleasingly high quality, factory-feeling GT350.

We’re anxious to see final production models, which promise to have a better integrated body kit and revised badging, as well as Shelby-branded Cragar wheels.

Inside, only a handful of things change; the leather seats gain new covers with red stitching and GT350 labels and a set of rather aftermarket-looking floor mats will be standard.

For 2011, you can have your GT350 any way you like it – as long as it’s white with blue stripes and a black interior. Ford actually drop ships Mustangs directly from its Michigan factory to Shelby’s skunk works in Las Vegas, but buyers can select certain factory options to custom tailor their GT350. Like the original, Shelby hinted that the second model year might offer more color combinations and maybe even a convertible.

It’s in the details
Acing high-performance driving is hardly a tough task for the Shelby crew; the company’s most important modern venture, the Shelby GT, dominates SCCA racing. The big challenge would come in adding in some refinement to an even more high performance machine.

Shelby plans to offer two suspension setups in the GT350, one put together in conjunction with Ford Racing and another by Eibach. Both suspensions were thoroughly engineered on Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but in our testing on Tulsa’s pavement and Hallet Motor Speedway’s challenging course, we couldn’t tell much of a difference between the two. That said, the GT350 is remarkably composed on undulating pavement, revealing none of the suspension slap or jitteriness we’ve come to expect from non-factory applications. On the track, the GT350 proved infinitely more adept than a standard Mustang GT. Body lean has been all but extinguished and the coupe provides never-ending grip thanks in part to terrific new Goodyear Eagle F1 tires.

Shelby chose to leave Ford’s steering tuning alone; the electric setup provides great feel from the factory and its quick responses are only amplified by the tightened suspension.

Track-oriented users will be glad to know that they can easily adjust wheel camber, but they’ll be even happier the first time they hit the brakes. Huge Baer six-piston front brakes combine with Eradispeed rear rotors to provide virtually fade-free, high performance braking that simply refuses to feel uncomfortably grabby in daily driving.

But the real fun, of course, comes from the other pedal.

Two powertrain choices motivate the GT350: Naturally-aspirated and Ford Racing/Whipple supercharged variants of Ford’s brand new 5.0-liter all-aluminum V8 Shelby hasn’t released performance figures for the blown version; figure somewhere in the 530-540 horsepower range by the time they’re done with it. That’s about the same as Ford’s new Shelby GT500, but in reality the two vehicles are worlds apart.

That’s not to say that we don’t like the GT500; we do, but it is bulkier in the nose by around 100 lbs. and, with its Tremec six-speed, more overtly aggressive – an oddly stark contrast when compared to the original GT500. The new GT500 uses a much heavier 5.4-liter V8, and while it’s plenty powerful, comparatively speaking it’s more along the lines of a drag strip racer than a tuned, high-revving track machine like the GT350. Offering much more accessible power than the 5.4-liter, the new 5-oh is plenty quick even without the supercharger. Slap the blower on and you’ll find no lack of power whatsoever. Both models come standard with Ford’s slick new six-speed manual transmission from the Mustang GT, while the naturally aspirated car will offer a six-cog automatic. We’d like to see a short throw kit make its way into the manual, but at least shifts are smooth and clutch action is positive without being uncomfortably stiff.

We rode along with Shelby’s chief engineer as he easily kept pace with – and routinely passed – professional drivers in track-only, non street-legal performance Mustangs. His driving skills way exceed ours, of course, and he showed us how the GT350 possesses remarkably quick turn-in without feeling darty.

All that in a 50 state legal, daily drivable coupe. We’d say Shelby hit their target on this one.

Leftlane’s bottom line
At $33,995 for a supercharged GT350 – and that’s on top of the $33,000 2011 Mustang GT – the price of admission is tough to swallow. But for those who want an out-of-the-box performance machine with a warranty and Shelby’s unique, resale-enhancing pedigree, the GT350 is something of a bargain given the amount of research and development that went into it.

Sure, pundits would argue that a similar GT500 runs about $12,000 less. But the difference in suspension precision and accessible power are obvious after just a few minutes behind the wheel.

Words and photos by Andrew Ganz. Interior photos courtesy Shelby American.

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