Hey all, This may sound like a stupid question, sorry, but what does the 500 mean in GT500? Same goes for 350 in the Shelby GT350 of the 1960s. Although I'm not an expert, I think I know a lot of about the history of the Mustang, but I can never find any info on what the GT500 or GT350 designation meant. Does it really mean anything (i.e. engine size, HP)? Can anybody enlighten me on this? Thanks!
the 350 and 500 meant nothing, other than a way to differentiate the small block cars from the big blocks.
Legend has it, the 350 was the number of steps between Shelby's office and his shop or something to that effect. The Mustang 350's were all small blocks whereas the 500's had the big block motors but the numbers didn't designated horsepower.
The reason they used 500 in the name is also because it was a higher number than any other car of the era had in it's name. Shelby wanted to put the name at the top of the list with the higher number.
