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The SHELBY AMERICAN
Winter 2016 1
Idle Thoughts.
In designing components for the initial GT350 R-Model, Peter Brock re-
calls, “
We were so pressed for time to make that first race of the season at
Green Valley in Texas that we just had to cut away the top of the existing front
valence and go with it. It wasn’t pretty or as aero-effective as it could have been
but we won with it and that compromise became the accepted look
.” It was the
old “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” maxim. Over the past fifty years, every time
Brock saw an R-Model apron it bothered him that he had not been able to finish
the job on the original car the way he thought it should have been.
Second chances in life don’t come around often. But when some of the
Shelby guys who originally worked at the Venice facility contacted him with
their idea of “re-imagining” the R-Model, Brock was all-in. His first project was
designing a new front valence that integrated the lines of the Mustang’s orig-
inal front bumper while improving the airflow to the radiator through a lower
central air intake. The positioning of the brake ducts was also improved. They
eliminate the 90-degree ducting on the first generation of R-Model aprons that
snaked through the inner fender panels. The original second generation aprons
(with elongated openings) used a pair of one-piece fiberglass ducts that ran
outside of the inner fender panels, similar to the ones on the new apron.
BROCK R-MODEL APRON DO-OVER
The new Brock apron weighs only
16 lbs. and has built-in flanges, mak-
ing it a simple bolt-on piece. Of course,
it will have to be painted to match the
car. These are solid, quality parts
which are individually custom made
so they take two to four weeks for de-
livery. If they weren’t superior quality
Brock would not have his name at-
tached to them. Cost is $985.
www.bre2.net (go to “products” and
then “Mustang parts”) or call 702-
558-3374
We’ve often said that someone
has too much time on their hands
when they have completed some
kind of a project that has taken far
more time and effort than it was
really worth. We think it might
have begun about twenty-five
years ago, when toy wagons began
popping up at swap meets outfitted
with oversized wheels and tires,
aluminum wings and tricked-out
paint. When they first appeared
they were crudely assembled,
something obviously done for a kid.
Then adults began using them
as showcases for their abilities. The
next generation were not just
slapped together one weekend from
junk parts but were well thought-
out and painstakingly executed.
You walk by them and just have to
shake your head.