'96 Mustang Cobra SVT Vs. '68 Shelby GT500KR

With its deep exhaust growl exiting beneath the GT500KR's cool-looking '65 T-Bird taillights, the 428CJ engine is a paragon of late-'60s musclecar virtue. Come away from a stop with a light foot, and the Cobra Jet could be the weak-suck 390 V-8 packed into Mom's Country Squire. Then as the revs build past 2000 rpm, the engine strikes with the suddenness of, well, a Cobra. Staggered rear shocks in manual-transmission versions reduce the amount of axle hop on launches, but there's enough torque here to overwhelm any and all musclecar-era tires. MT tested an automatic GT500 convertible (March '68) and produced an easy 6.5-second 0-60-mph time and a quarter-mile performance of 14.7 seconds at 98.0 mph, despite the helplessly squealing rear rubber. With perfect throttle application and divine traction assistance, expect that the four-speed KR's 0-60 time would improve by a half-second or better.

That power's price was weight. Small-block GT350s were lithe runners, but GT500s and KRs carried 57 percent of their bulk on the front wheels. Shelby's suspension tweaks, including progressive-rate springs, made the ride comfortable, but could only do so much to overcome the big engine's mass.

The front-disc/rear-drum brakes on the vintage car aren't up to the task of many hard decelerations, despite the GT500KR wearing wider rear binders than those on regular GT500s. The new steed wears four big discs, helping it knock out stops like a 60-gallon drum of Drano.

On the road, the Cobra Jet is an engaging, easy cruiser that at partial throttle produces satisfying noises and tractable manners while consuming air and fuel through its 735-cfm Holley carb. Every GT500KR left the factory wearing the best Mustang interior Ford then offered, some came equipped with air conditioning, and the convertible's power-operated top featured a glass rear window. The most obvious Shelby interior modification is the plastic-covered rollbar, which features twin "surfboard tie-down" rings.

Cosmetically, the chrome snakes on both cars' fenders shout that the new pony was inspired by the old. These two are more than mere musclecars; they're among the most sophisticated road machines of their eras. They aren't just modified Mustangs, they're expressions of a confident, secure, wholly American character.