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96 BARRETT-JACKSON EXPERIENCE SPRING 2024CROSSING THE BLOCKUNIQUE GLASS-ROOF 2008 SHELBY GT500KR HEADED TO PALM BEACHALL HAIL THE KINGCome April, one very special 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR will be making its way across BarrettJackson’s renowned block during the Palm Beach Auction. But to fully appreciate this “King of the Road” model’s lineage, you’ll need to dial the clock back some 60 years, when the decades-long relationship between Carroll Shelby and the Ford Motor Company really began.The year was 1960, and Shelby, by then a racing legend, wanted to build performance cars. Ford, looking to produce a sports car that could beat Chevrolet’s Corvette, gave Shelby an AC chassis, a few small-block V8 engines and $25,000. Shelby got to work and came up with the 1962 Shelby Cobra 260 Roadster, which not only launched his career as a car designer but also gave him the momentum he needed to open his Shelby American auto shop in Venice, California.In 1964, Ford’s Lee Iacocca persuaded Shelby to produce a high-performance version of the then-new Mustang, leading to the birth of the GT350 and, three years later, the Shelby GT500, powered by the larger 428ci Police Interceptor V8 engine.Ford and Shelby, wanting to push the performance envelope even further, introduced the Shelby GT500KR mid-year in 1968. Based on the 1968 Shelby GT500, the car featured the new 428ci Cobra Jet V8 engine, with the “KR” standing for “King of the Road.” As the story goes, that was a rather aggressive marketing maneuver on the part of Carroll Shelby, who – after getting wind that Ford’s cross-town rivals at General Motors were preparing to promote the ’68 Corvette as the “King of the Road” – promptly registered the name and designed new badging for the Cobra Jet-powered Mustang, bringing the GT500 “King of the Road” to market before GM ever got a chance to apply the name to their product.Fast-forward 40 years. Shelby once again partnered with Ford on new Mustang concepts for the company’s centennial birthday. The result was the 2008 Ford GT500KR, a 540-horsepower version of the original “King of the Road” model. Ford unveiled the car at the New York Auto Show in 2007.The 2008 GT500KR was given a 5.4-liter supercharged V8 version of the base GT500 engine with functional cold-air intake, residing underneath a carbon-fiber composite hood with functional scoops and vents, as well as two twist-lock hood pins similar to those on the original 1968 KR. The KR’s suspension was specially tuned by SVT with unique spring rates, dampers and stabilizer bars, and the strut tower brace was sourced from Ford Racing.