Would you rather own a GT500E Super Snake or an authentic Orange County Chopper "theme" bike in the image of that famous car? Both are supercharged, both have a Shelby heritage, and both are muscle-bound. We were fortunate to be close to both vehicles when the American Chopper met the great American musclecar while the American Chopper TV show filmed the wild event in Las Vegas this past November.
The GT500E is an authentic Shelby continuation car, based on the '67-'68 Mustang fastback. Built by Unique Performance for Carroll Shelby, the car is a combination of vintage good looks and contemporary speed equipment. Shelby and Unique also offer a second continuation car, the '65 GT350SR. Each of these genuine Shelbys receives a Shelby identification number and will be documented in the next Shelby American Automobile Club registry.
The Super Snake is even more special than the Shelby GT500E. The car may be the most powerful production Shelby Mustang ever offered to the public. It features an aluminum Shelby 427 engine, a Unique Performance rear suspension, a Tremec transmission, and other modern performance features. With the optional supercharger, the Super Snake churns out over 725 horses. Only 75 total will be built with an MSRP beginning at $159,000.
The GT500Es are built in a 30,000-square-foot facility in the legendary racer's home state of Texas. Unique Performance is owned by Richard Kearby (CEO), Douglas Hasty (president), and Chris Layne (chief operating officer).
Most musclecar fans also appreciate cool motorcycles and we all know about Orange County Choppers from the hit cable TV show, American Chopper. The group's patriarch is Paul Teutul Sr., who used downtime from his Orange County Ironworks business to create custom bikes. In 1999, he recruited his son, Paul Jr., as the chief fabricator and designer for Orange County Choppers. The company jumped onto the scene at Daytona Biketoberfest in 1999 with "True Blue," a classic chopper. Today, OCC has grown into what American Iron recognizes as one of the world's top-12 motorcycle builders.
Their reality TV show, American Chopper, is a family affair with loads of drama and tension from building custom "theme bikes" for customers worldwide. It first aired on The Discovery Channel in September 2002 and quickly became an international hit.
A Chance MeetingUnique Performance CEO Chris Layne explained, "It's ironic how the OCC deal unfolded. Douglas, Richard, and I had business with a company in New Jersey. At the time, Richard wanted one of those cool bikes. This was the early part of 2003 when American Chopper, the TV show, was only about six months old."
Hasty recalls, "Richard had been following their TV show. While we were in the Montgomery, New York, area on business, he wanted to run by this company called Orange County Choppers. I had not seen the show yet."
The trio drove to the OCC shop and priced some bikes. While they were there, the Teutuls walked in. Out of curiosity, they pulled up Unique Performance's Web site and ogled cars. Chris explained, "Paul Sr. saw the GT500E and was wild for the car. He immediately pulled his producer into the trailer, and we spent a couple of hours talking about different things."
During the lunch break, Richard brought Doug up to speed on the Teutuls and what they did on their show. Doug remembers becoming "pretty excited and pumped about the possibility of a Shelby theme bike." After lunch, they brought up the subject of a Shelby GT500E theme bike. The Teutuls accepted the idea as an "unbelievable challenge," Doug recalls. Before the trio of Texas Shelby builders left New York, the wheels were in motion to build a car and a bike.