| Nicholas Cage and crew released a remake of a
"B" movie from the 60's in the summer of 2000 called "Gone in Sixty
Seconds." I still get numerous requests for
information about one of the cars in the movie, a 1967 GT 500. So
here is some information on the car, the movie and answers to some
questions I see repeated. (This is an update story over the one found in
the 1967 Shelby Mustang section.)
The story goes something like this. Cage's character, Randall "Memphis" Raines, was the number one car thief in his home town. But his mother didn't think he was much of a role-model for his younger brother and asked him to quit his occupation and leave town. No role model is better than a bad one. Well, his brother choose to steal cars anyway. He got involved with a bad guy that was doing business with a South American "business guy" that had need for 50 specific cars from Ferraris to a Hummer to a Cadillac and a Porsche. (List below) Lots of unique cars. A deadline was imposed as to when the cars had to be at the docks to be shipped. Well the younger brother's operation is raided by the police and put out of business. An old friend of Cage's contacts him to give the message that if Memphis doesn't accept the job of acquiring the cars and deliver them by the designated time, the brother will be killed. Devil and the deep blue sea story. So what's a brother to do? He tries to negotiate and finally agrees to deliver the cars. One of the cars, the one Memphis/Cage leaves for last, is a highly modified 1967 GT 500 Shelby Mustang. Memphis has more than respect for this particular model of car. He had a history of trying to steal a 67 GT 500. The heist always turned out bad for Memphis. He and this team locate the one in the area, check it out and make the necessary preparations to steal it and the other cars. The local police, who know Memphis/Cage well and are on to the deal, locate the list of cars to be stolen, including the 1967 GT 500. And there is only one in the area. Memphis/Cage calls this car Eleanor. The cops get there just as he drives off in the GT 500. The chase is on. Cage, who did his own stunt driving, races through the streets with the police hot on his tail. "Bullit" this is not, but there are some great scenes. He flips on the nitrous to outrun a police helicopter. Flies down streets and alleys. The top stunt is on a bridge, with the police just behind him. An accident has stopped traffic. The bridge is two way, so the opposing lane is empty. Memphis/Cage sees that there is no way to get around the traffic. He also sees a truck getting ready to pick up one of the disabled cars. And it just so happens the bed of the truck is down, like a ramp, in the opposing lane. The cops know they have him, he backs the GT 500 up towards the cops, to get some running room, floors the accelerator, and runs through the gears. The Shelby hits that truck ramp at high speed, flies over a questionable number of cars, remember this is Hollywood, and lands on the other side in a clear area. Gets the car under control and drives off. (Actually the first time the jump was done, the car landed and hit some cement dividers. In the original movie the Mach 1 used did survive the landing and actually did drive off. The driver, H.B. "Toby" Halicki, was injured with a compressed spine.) If you want to know what else happened and how it ended, see the movie. It won't be the best car movie or Nicholas Cage movie you'll ever see, but it's worth seeing. It will be a classic car flick. The Shelby GT 500 comes at the end. On the links below you can read and see much more about the movie and the GT 500. Check out the Recon section on the movie studio for some QuickTime clips from the movie.
Questions and Answers I want to answer some to the emails I am getting on the bottom of this page and give you some links. The hits on my pages tripled after the movie was released. America is being reintroduced to Shelby Mustangs. By the way, if you are reading this because you saw the movie and think the car was neat, Shelby American manufactured Shelby Mustangs from 1965-1969 (1970 if you count the carryover 69's that became 1970's.) The 1967 GT 500 was the first big block Shelby Mustang. Big block Shelby Mustangs were offered from 1967-1970. Check out some of the other years. All Shelby Mustangs are unique cars. Each year had its own design. Read about the 1968 GT 500KR if you are a big block fan. Q: Was the car a real Shelby Mustang GT 500? A: Yes and no, the movie cars were not Shelby Mustangs. The car used for the sound effects of Eleanor was an original 1967 GT 500. Eleanor was built from 1967 Mustangs with modifications. The modifications were:
So what is a Shelby Mustang? The web site you came from has a lot of information on the Shelby Cars. Simply put, Ford asked Carroll Shelby, whose firm Shelby American, had been having some great success with the Cobra roadster, to campaign the Mustang and give it a performance image. In 1965 Shelby American offered a real limited production, highly modified Mustang GT he called a GT 350. The 350 had little meaning except it sounded like a large number. To race that car, the rules said the street car, and there had to be 100 of them, either had to have the same suspension or the same engine. Shelby opted for selling the GT 350's with the racing suspension and the hot stock Ford 289 Hi-Po. Things legends are made of. Shelby American offered Shelby Mustangs into 1970. The cars changed as Ford and the buyers dictated what they wanted. By 1968, the hi-po engine was gone, power steering was standard, air was an option. The cars were more cruisers than race cars. 1965 was the only year, except with some left over 65's that became 1966 GT 350's, that the Shelby Mustangs were all out sports cars. But all the Shelby Mustangs were very unique and rare. Less than 15,000 Shelby Mustangs were built in total. Compare that to the fact that Ford built over 3,000,000 Mustangs. Yes, very rare. By 1970 Shelby American's biggest competition was from Ford with the Boss Mustangs & the Mach 1's. The 1970 Shelby Mustangs were left over 1969's. Q: Was that a real Shelby at the end of the movie, the own given as a gift to Cage? A: Sure looked like it except it had a bench seat. No Shelby Mustangs had bench seats. In fact very few Mustangs had bench seats. However, a bench seat will fit a Mustang. Q: What would a 1967 GT 500 cost me? A: You can find them for sale with some effort. The prices I see range from $30,000 to $60,000. In the movie Cage says that car is worth $80,000. Willing buyer and seller. Just because a car is modified doesn't necessarily hurt the value. Shelby Mustangs are very rare cars. Altogether, Shelby American made fewer than 15,000 cars in total. SAAC figures 75% of the cars are accounted for. That leaves maybe 25% out there somewhere if they survived. Q: Where can I find a 1967 GT 500 in non-restored shape that I can restore myself and it is cheap? A: Good luck, Remember people have been looking for these cars for many years. They have been collectable and highly sought after cars since the sixties. It is possible to find an un-restored Shelby Mustang but not likely. Shelby Mustangs are collectable cars to a lot of people. Especially after this movie. I still get emails weekly from people wanting to find cheap to restore. Check in the classifieds on this site. Watch Hemmings Motor News. But the best place to find a Shelby Mustang is from SAAC ( The Shelby American Automobile Club). SAAC sends out a regular newsletter with members' cars for sale. If you are a fan of Shelby Mustangs you need to join SAAC, support the club and read about the cars. Ownership is not necessary. Q: Why aren't there more pictures of 1967 GT 500's on TheCarSource.com or CarMemories.com. A: I post pictures of owners cars in the car galleries. I post what I receive. If you own a '67 GT 500, or 350 or any Shelby Mustang let's put your car and you on these pages. People want to see your car. The cars were given ladies names as code names to protect what they were doing to what cars. Q: What was the Mustang used in the original version of the film, "Gone in 60 seconds"? A: For this "Eleanor" ...the 1973 Mach 1 Ford
Mustang, a true lady both Check out the official web page for this movie, click here. Q: Did all 1967 GT 500 Shelby Mustangs come with 4 speeds? A: No, Ford offered an automatic transmission. The GT 500 could be purchased with a Ford C-6 automatic transmission. Q: Do I have any pictures of Eleanor A: The best place to find some are on these links. Check out the current movie web sites in the links menu above. Or go to these sites.
Q: Were any GT 500's damaged in the production of the new film? A: "No. According to the July issue of Car and Driver ( "Gone Again"), Jerry Bruckheimer retained one authentic Eleanor, outfitted to resemble the movie's car, for his own use. The other twelve vehicles were customized 1967/68 Mustangs. One was chopped up for camera work. Two were destroyed for The Jump along with others for the scene at Calitri's wrecking yard. Seven Eleanor's survived. Some were modified for high-speed driving, others for sharp turns. Engines ranged from stock 289 to crated 351s. Keep in mind the actual GT 500 used the Ford big-block 428 cid mill which produced an advertised 355 horsepower. The "350" and "500" model designations were numbers chosen almost at random by Carroll Shelby and bore no relation to engine displacement or power."- Tom Cotrel "The Unofficial Fan's Web site" for the original movie Q: What was the color of Eleanor? A: Dupont 44490 with stock black for the stripes. The color is silver/pewter. Q: I want to build my own Eleanor, what are the modifications and where do I get them? A: A true Shelby enthusiast would not take a Shelby Mustang and do these modifications to it. Not to mention, the cost of the Shelby would add tremendously to the cost of the project. Suppose you used a regular 67 Mustang and to build your own Eleanor. Remember, except for the unique Shelby American serial number, a Shelby Mustang is a GT Mustang modified with Shelby parts. There is a lot of interest in acquiring the parts to build an Eleanor so the expectation is they will be offered. Total Performance Control has a page on their web site that lists the modifications. They say they will update the page as the parts come available. Q: What is the switch that Memphis flips to out run the helicopter? A: Eleanor had a nitrous oxide system on the big block motor. Nitrous is a gas made of 2 atoms of nitrogen and one of oxygen (N2O) that is injected into the gasoline & oxygen mixture being feed into the cylinders. This gas is also called laughing gas. Nitrous is more dense than air alone, so the effect is to supercharge the oxygen ratio in the combustion chamber. Nitrous offers a 25-35% boost in horsepower when the gas ignites in the cylinder. Use of this gas in an engine can be tricky and expensive. Getting the right combination of fuel and N2O is important. Too little or too much fuel can be hard on the engine. A 20 pound bottle of N2O will give a V8 about 20 secs of explosive power. Personally I would add a supercharger instead of nitrous. You don't have to keep refilling your N2O bottle and get up to 50% increase in horsepower by pumping more air into the cylinders with less concern on the durability of the engine. Regardless of what option you select, your engine should be built to handle the extra horsepower and last. |
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This page was built in July 200. It was updated on Wednesday, August 22, 2001 .