Curators at the Segerstrom Shelby Event Center recently shipped two rare open-top muscle cars from Irvine, California, out to Las Vegas for a special desert residency: The first ’68 GT500KR convertible and a ’70 GT500 ragtop with the 428 Super Cobra Jet engine.
Sitting inside the 15,000-square-foot Shelby Heritage Center right next to the active factory floor, this vintage pair bookends a historic chapter of big-block street performance. Enthusiasts visiting Nevada have until December 15, 2026, to inspect both machines during free daily tours.
Halfway through 1968, Ford dropped the 428 Cobra Jet V8 between the shock towers and gave Carroll Shelby an excuse to crown a new King of the Road. That midyear engine upgrade birthed the blue Shelby GT500KR parked on the museum floor today.
Highlighting the provenance of the car, museum president Ted Segerstrom states, “Our 1968 Shelby GT500KR drop top was the first convertible sold to the public.” Factory crews assembled only 517 of these big-block convertibles that year, making any surviving example a serious treat for old-school Ford fans.
Parked nearby in special-order Wimbledon White paint with black hood stripes, a 1970 Shelby GT500 convertible closes out first-generation production for the classic nameplate. Beneath that striped hood sits a 428 Super Cobra Jet V8 paired with a special oil cooler, a close-ratio four-speed manual transmission, and a Traction-Lok rear axle.
Regarding that final run, vice president Rae Segerstrom notes, “In the GT500’s final season, only 36 total convertibles were equipped with a 4-speed and only 21 had the rare Drag Pack option.”
Throughout the year, both cars normally reside at the Segerstrom Shelby Event Center in Southern California, where the couple houses more than 90 classic vehicles and vintage signs. Proceeds from their two-story Irvine museum directly support Shriners Hospitals for Children and the Carroll Shelby Foundation.
Parking the first 1968 King of the Road beside a 1970 Drag Pack survivor gives gear heads a rare look at how quickly Detroit muscle changed in two years.
Nearly four decades passed after 1970 before another factory GT500 convertible hit the streets. Once this Vegas loan wraps up in December, both big-block drop-tops will head back home to the Segerstrom Shelby Event Center.
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