2008 Shelby Ford GT500KR: Going for a king’s ransom?

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Forty years ago, the Shelby GT500KR — a more powerful and capable version of Ford’s Mustang — came out. In celebration of this anniversary, Shelby will make a limited run of a new model, the 2008 Shelby Ford GT500KR. Incorporated in its look are several design nods to the original, such as Le Mans-style stripes and a sculpted hood.

Under that hood is a 5.4-liter V-8 engine sending 540 horsepower to the rear wheels via a six-speed, short-throw manual transmission. Which sounds like a lot of fun.

Less amusing will be the price. Ford is ‘suggesting’ a sticker price of $79,995. But limited-run cars typically see dealers charging a premium over the sticker amount. One has been seen on EBay going for $169,000, and the first car off the line was presold at a Barrett-Jackson auction in January for $550,000.

To commemorate the big four-oh, 1,000 examples constitute the 2008 run, while a further 746 (571 of which are destined for the U.S.) will be made for the 2009 model year. Incidentally, KR stands for ‘King of the Road’ — which might have sounded cool in a naive way back in 1968 but seems to have attained a certain cheesiness with the passage of time. The car should be available this month.

— Colin Ryan