What happens when a legend is coupled with high-performance talent? Masterpieces are created. There is no exception in this case either. Performance designer & developer Steven Saleen and legendary racecar driver Parnelli Jones teamed up to create a modern Ford Mustang cast in the appearance of the 1970 Boss 302 that Jones won the Trans Am Championship (in 1970) with. Was this a worthy concept? Worthy enough for Saleen to plunge forward and arrange for 500 of these Grabber Orange limited edition wonders to be produced.

Sunny Saturday afternoon? Check. Open pits at the track? Check. Racing license? Check. A 550hp Ford Mustang? Check. Favorite beer for after a hard day's play? Check. Reality? Check....if you have $200K and a racing license. Don't bother pinching yourself; it is not a dream.

Well, we can now lay the rumor to rest. A past blog I wrote mentioned the possibility of the Shelby GT350H returning to modern times. Sadly, it is not...for now. Instead of rekindling an old flame, Ford, Shelby, and Hertz have come close to the original, marking the 40th anniversary of the Shelby Hertz GT350H with the release of the GT-H. Making its debut in New York, the GT-H is a high-performance twist on the 2006 Mustang GT with black paint and stately gold racing stripes along the hood and on the sides. This new pony hints strongly at the noble signature series of its 1966 ancestor.

Ford Motor Company is recalling close to 20,000 2003-2004 Mustang Cobras for possible problems with the accelerator pedal. Ford has received approximately 100 complaints of the gas pedal getting stuck in the carpet, which could cause an accident (so far, there have been allegations of two accidents & one injury). The NHTSA opened an investigation into this regarding most models of the 2003 & 2004 Mustang in July of 2005; Ford's investigation found that the only problems were in the Cobras, due to a difference in pedal design.

Click here to read the MSNBC.com article

Ford has planned the California Special to be next in line for production, settling the question of which feature edition Mustang would be produced after the GT500. The proposed model is set to honor the original California Special model, which was released in 1968 and will be offered on both the coupe and convertible models in Redfire Metallic, Performance White, Vista Blue Metallic, or Black.

The Ford Mustang is the 2005 convertible sales champ in the US, selling 44,065 units (an 11,000+ increase over 2004). Coming in second is the Chrysler Sebring, with 35,360 convertibles sold.

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Today, Texas-based Unique Performance and AC Cars Ltd (United Kingdom) have officially paved the way to return genuine sports cars to North America from the British trademark. Unique Performance will serve as the exclusive distributor of the carbon fiber bodied AC MKV component roadster and will also offer limited numbers of other Anglo-American sports cars beginning in April 2006.

As if resurrecting one classic icon was not enough, various sources (including AutoWeek) have heard Ford will soon release a 1966 GT350H throwback concept. The well-known Shelby Hertz (designated with the "H" code) rental car of the 60s may soon get another lease on life with the same infamous gold and black color scheme and of course, plenty of pony power. All there is left to do now is sit back and wait for more morsels of information-hopefully more comes about at the New York Auto show, April 12th & 13th.

Two renowned Classic Mustangs are moving on to newer pastures. The 1967 Shelby GT500 replica dubbed "Eleanor" from the rehashed 2000 movie, "Gone in Sixty Seconds" will be up for sale soon & the 1967 Shelby GT500 previously owned by the Red Rocker, Sammy Hagar, has been purchased by a Nebraska man, Mike Patak.