Shelby Mustang GT350
By Chuck Kantwell with Greg Kolsa
This book is subtitled: “My Years Designing, Testing and Racing Carroll’s Legendary Mustangs,” and since the author was hired by Shelby to be the project manager of the GT350 program, that pretty much tells the prospective reader what lies ahead.
After being recruited from an increasingly unchallenging role with GM Engineering in Detroit, Cantwell moved everything to California to oversee the conversion of what some called “a secretary’s car” into a fire-breathing racing machine. Working closely with Sam Smith, another GM refugee who was Ford’s engineering liaison with Shelby American, Cantwell evaluated every part on the Mustang to determine which went and which stayed, and which would be replaced with improved, high-performance versions.
The first GT350s were built with a typical racer’s approach of cut-and-try, trial-and-error, as Cantwell and company solved a variety of problems in both race and road versions—as well as the GT350H program for Hertz—but once everything was finished, what a car they ended up creating!
The GT350 operation ultimately morphed into Shelby’s championship-winning Mustang Trans-Am effort, while also producing later GT350s and GT500s that were nowhere near as raw or strong as the originals. The details of how all that happened are told in Cantwell’s authoritative words, which are accompanied by excellent period photography that helps give readers the full story behind one of America’s great performance cars.
Available for $49.95 from enthusiast bookstores or direct from publisher Bull Publishing at www.bullpublishing.com
