The Fox Body was one of Ford’s most successful and longest running platforms for the Mustang. From 1979 to 1993, the Mustang was built on the Lee Iacocca green-lighted chassis for 26 years. Being that he was also responsible for bringing Carrol Shelby over to work on the Mustang, which led to the Shelby Mustangs of the previous generation, it would be easy to assume that Shelby would have continued his work with Ford on into the Fox Body generation. But that’s not exactly how it happened.
After clashing with Henry Ford II, Iacocca left Ford for Chrysler and he took the good relationship that he had built with Shelby with him. While this move brought us gearheads incredible cars such as the Dodge Viper RT/10 CS and ensured that Chrysler stayed afloat, it immediately squashed the idea of a Shelby Fox Body Mustang. That doesn’t mean that fans of the Fox Body can’t dream though. To help enthusiasts envision what a Shelby Fox Body might look like, one of the automotive world’s biggest dreamers, Chip Foose teamed up with Hagerty to produce this video.
While you will have to rely solely on your imagination for the performance upgrades that the Shelby name would have brought the Fox Body’s 5.0-liter, Foose’s rendering of this notchback makes a good case for the visual enhancements that could have been. Focusing on the iconic Shelby stripes, an aftermarket wheel choice, and some subtle body modifications, the artists rendering came together in what would probably have been an accurate way. It can be said that Shelby probably would’ve gone for the fastback instead but this notchback does look like a true Shelby Cobra.
Even though this after thought of a model that never happened will never be officially built without the use of a time machine, there is good news. The Fox Bodies 26-year run left the world with an overabundance of these cars and plenty of high-performance parts for them and Shelby was not the last of the car builders.
Elizabeth is hardcore horsepower enthusiast with unmatched intensity for making things faster and louder. She wakes up for power and performance and only sleeps to charge up for the next project that’s heading to the track. From autocross to drag racing, Elizabeth is there with you, so stay tuned for her unique perspective on horsepower news, builds, tech info, and installs — with her, it’ll never be boring!
