Classic Recreations Debuts The World’s Only Carbon-Fiber 1967 Shelby GT500
Classic Recreations is back at SEMA for the first time since Velocity Restorations took over the brand, and it picked a serious way to announce itself. The centerpiece of its 2026 display is the Shelby GT500CR Carbon, the world’s only production, officially licensed 1967 Shelby GT500 ever built with a carbon-fiber body. The car is recorded in the Shelby Worldwide Registry and fresh off its public debut at the Concours at Wynn Las Vegas.
Underneath the carbon skin sits a Wegner-built Coyote Gen 4X V8 topped with a Whipple 3.0-liter inverted supercharger, good for 1,000 horsepower. But the real story isn’t the number. It’s how Classic Recreations and FuelTech are managing that power, which the brand says is the clearest signal yet of where it’s headed under Velocity’s ownership.
A Carbon-Fiber Shelby Built For Precision, Not Just Power
Classic Recreations chose SEMA for this reintroduction because the aftermarket show judges builds on engineering and craftsmanship, not collector appeal alone. The GT500CR Carbon is meant to prove the brand can deliver both.
“A thousand horsepower only means something if the driver can use it, and that’s where FuelTech comes in,” said Cody Dabney, Director of Production at Velocity and Classic Recreations. “The FT700 runs the supercharged Coyote and its traction control, working alongside the Vaporworx fuel controller, so we control how the car delivers its power, not just how much it makes. That precision, paired with a carbon-fiber body and a modern chassis, is what separates the GT500CR Carbon from a Shelby with a big engine.”
Power runs through a Suncoast-built 10R80 10-speed automatic and a Panhandle Driveline carbon-fiber driveshaft to a Ford 9-inch housing with a Gear FX 8.8 center section. A FuelTech FT700 standalone ECU handles both the supercharged Coyote and its traction control.
Modern Chassis Hardware Built To Match The Horsepower
The carbon-fiber body, finished in BASF Glasurit paint, rides on a Detroit Speed Aluma-Frame front suspension and a Detroit Speed QuadraLink rear suspension, with Nitron Elec-Tron electronically controlled shocks handling ride adjustment. Brembo CCM-R carbon-ceramic brakes do the stopping, with 380 x 34 mm discs and six-piston calipers up front and 380 x 28 mm discs with four-piston calipers out back. Forgeline Carbon Grudge wheels, wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, put the power down.
Inside, Scheel-Mann seats and a Classic Recreations custom console pair with a Dakota Digital cluster, an Ididit steering column, and a Vintage Air A/C system, while a Focal K2 audio setup and Dynamat sound deadening keep the cabin livable despite the supercharged V8 sitting a few feet away.
A Statement Piece For Classic Recreations’ New Direction
FuelTech is hosting the car at its SEMA booth (#24431) in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Central Hall, a pairing that underlines how central the engine management system is to the build’s identity. FuelTech founder and CEO Anderson Dick called the GT500CR Carbon “more than a show car,” describing it as proof of what the company’s racing-proven FT700 technology can do when paired with the Shelby name.
For Classic Recreations, the car reads as a statement of intent under new ownership: officially licensed, registry-recorded, and built around modern materials and electronics rather than raw displacement alone.
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