Dream car: John Young, proud owner of a Shelby Super Snake GT500. Photo by Nicole Thomson
Racing driver and car designer Carroll Shelby helped make the Ford Mustang the iconic supercar it is today, and John and Jan Young know the power of cars all too well.
John and Jan are proud owners of a Shelby Super Snake GT500, an 850 hp vehicle.
“It’s almost a racing car without the bars,” said John.
John has had the car for five years after it was shipped from the US and converted to right-hand drive in Melbourne.
“Shelby in America builds the cars and then it comes to Mustang Super Sports in Melbourne and they convert it from left-hand drive to right-hand drive,” he said.
“A new car probably takes about 15 months to get to you, from start to finish.”
Although this is the “dream car” for John, he said he didn’t drive it as often as he would like.
“We don’t drive it a lot, it’s mostly a show car,” he said.
“He only drove 11,500 km to get an idea of how much we’re going to do it.
“Now we’re retired, we’ll probably drive it a bit more, but I’ve now done the weddings of two grandchildren in it.”
The Super Snake’s racing car prowess has not escaped John, but the car has still some way to go.
“We saw Winton in it but it wasn’t on the track,” he said.
“You can pay so much money and they will set lap times for you.
“We will make it.”
The Super Snakes are custom built cars and come like designer handbags with a serial number of authenticity proudly displayed by the gear shift.
The powerful engine has the power to carry you around a racetrack and customizations can be made throughout the life of the car.
“It comes from Ford as a standard 4.5 liter engine and when it goes to Shelby they rebuild it and charge it,” said John.
“Everything about it is like a racing car: the calipers so they have bigger brakes; I can switch the chassis from sport to light, to touring.
“It’s very different from the Mustangs you can buy here.
“Even if you get a 5.4 liter V8, the power it has is nowhere near matched.
“If you’ve ever seen Ford versus Ferrari – the Mustang won.”
Powerhouse: The Shelby Super Snake GT500. Photo by Nicole Thomson
Design: With 850 hp, this car could well be a racing car. Photo by Nicole Thomson
Elite: The Super Snake was designed by the famous racing driver and designer Carroll Shelby. Photo by Nicole Thomson
