Shelby Mustang – “See It To Believe It!”

“Shelby America” unveiled it’s long awaited update to the classic Ford Mustang Shelby line. The new Shelby 1000, boasts a powerful 950 horses, more than enough to keep any Mustang enthusiast busy rackin up speeding tickets. But for those of you not acquainted with these ever evolving beasts, Shelby Mustangs are basically a beefed up version of whatever current years version and chassis The Mustang looks like. The company Shelby America is responsible for such classic models as the ‘Shelby Cobra GT350 or their famous ‘Super Snake’. Shelby America has been at this since 1965, establishing its name as one of the premier companies dealing in modifications to American muscle Mustangs, exclusively. Knowing the rich history of such a proud American company one could assume, that they could sell these supercharged beasts, no problem right? Maybe not, especially after USA Today brought forth an interesting point about the photo sent in to them and distributed to the media. The photos being of the new ‘Shelby 1000’ torquing off the line of some drag strip so hard, that it’s front tires are lifting off the road. Badass, right? No questions asked, right?  Wrong! But wait, someone was really inspecting this awesome photo. First and foremost someone noticed that, even though those were some sick ass wheels,  they weren’t drag radials, and you totally need those if you wanna pop an (oh so sweet) wheelie dude…The fraud was discovered a photo editor at the USA newspaper, which was posted on Drive On.

The photo editor questioned how the Mustang could lift off the ground, given its weight and that it has only street tires. Also, the tires in the photo do not appear to be under stress.” A close examination revealed photo manipulation techniques under the wheels. They  got us, or they tried. A rep called in for damage control. Scott Black, spokesman for Shelby American, initially said he was ‘aware of manipulation only to fix shadows, that the wheels actually lifted off the ground. But after checking with the company, he called back and elaborated: “That is a fake shot. That shot is not real. I am beyond embarassed.” He said the manipulation was done by the photographer and that he didn’t know the reason.

Let this be a lesson to all of us to stay sharp and always question images in front of you. This picture could have been of anything, and consumers were willing to accept it– no questions asked. If you look closely, the scariest part of this situation is that even the spokespeople for these companies are beginning to believe believe their own ‘smoke and mirrors’ act.

In the grand scheme of things, big industries have the consumers’ eye programmed to stay in a state of suspended (dis)belief. In other words, everything is not a movie or  a reality show.You have to constantly be on the lookout to validate truth in everything. Believe half of what you see ,and none of what you hear. We’ll all know what the  ‘Shelby 1000’ can do once the  specs are released because those numbers won’t lie.