The Shelby Mustang is Ford Mustang's big brother with bigger biceps. Since its inception in 1965, it has always been a suped up model with a star studded engine. The parts under the hood and chassis even have names that seem to glint.

With its Sixties cobra valve, Cobra hi-riser manifold and Ford Galaxie rear axels, each part has a title set to impress. Donning metallic lining, they were designed to glimmer. This year's GT 350 was designed for competition rather than comfort. SCCA rules beset the model with an uneasy lack of comfort behind the wheel. The following year brought a comfier GT 350 with back seats, hue options and the choice of automatic gear function. This was all at the expense of speed: its heavy frame and style alterations pilfered its capacity to slice weightlessly through air.

By the end of the Swinging Sixties Caroll Shelby left the design program, to be taken over by Ford. A clutter of designers gave the brand a confused identity through the Sixties, with badges showing alterations according to designer and plant. The San Jose plant gave their GT 350s an R in the Ford vin and 1960s Mustangs carried a T denoting their designer, A.O. Smith.

The 1965 GT 350s were all painted ivory with blue rocker stripes. Top stripes weren't a standard inclusion but 28% carried them at customer or dealer request. In 1966, Ford tossed the Mustang tag in favor of a pure Shelby title. Palette arrived on the G.T. scene, giving clients blue, red, green and black options. Over-traction bars saw their demise during this year, as did black-painted engines. Navy was Ford's standard engine color and Shelby was altered accordingly. Ranked with 440 horsepower, this was not an engine to be sniffed at.

Hertz models also saw their introduction in 1966. A handshake between Hertz Corporation and Shelby led to the production of a line of rental G.T. 350s, some of which were used in SCCA events. These were later refurbished and sold as G.T. 150-H models. A striking minority bragged white bodies with blue stripes but most wore gold LeMans and rocker panel stripes. Whispers of corruption were heard in the background when many returned to Ford without their high performance parts, which Hertz claimed had been lost.

Between 1967 and '68, the Cobra aluminium hi-rise rose to the front of every teenage dream, fully equipped with a Police Interceptor. 335 horsepower accompanied the 'King of the Road' debut, a Cobra GT-KR with a Cobra Jet V8 under the hood. The Seventies saw the temporary departure of Shelby Mustang and the permanent expiry of the Cobra tag. Facelifts took the body into Seventies trend relevance that was largely dictated by Ford. Shelby had taken a back seat only to end his Ford contract in 1969. The Shelby Ford models shuddered to a halt with a final jitter of lines produced from stock parts.

In 2007, Ford resurrected the line in the form of the Shelby GT-H. In 2012 journalists are falling over one another to secure a test drive of the 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. Pegged to be Ford's flagship model, it's a supercharged V8 with 580 horsepower amped for track and road driving. Consumers wait with bated breath.