What else could I do with a pair of first-edition castings this nice? No other hub/tire combination looked nearly this good. And once I'd done the blue one, I knew I wanted the green one to make a matched pair. It was shocking enough to see Mattel do such a good job on the blue-metalflake version. But when they brought out that green-and-gold copy of the Hertz Rent-a-racer we've all seen on the Barrett-Jackson broadcasts, I was surprised almost beyond belief. But when I look at the mainlines list for '10 and see how many terrific-looking adult-collectible pieces are on the docket, I honestly wouldn't even be surprised if a white-with-blue-stripes variation appears later in the year. And have you seen the quantities of the blue casting? Mattel must have run off double their usual quantity of this casting to meet demand, because I'm finding these everywhere, and you gotta know adults are snapping these up like candy wherever they appear. So I don't want to hear "I can't find this casting" from any of you out there. Man, what a great year to be a mainlines collector!

It doesn't stop here, by the way. There's also a blue-and-green pair of '10 and '07 Shelby's in the same year to customize. And ya know ya gotta have 'em.

This pair has gotten more comments and compliments than any customs I've ever made, by the way. The first guy to see these waved a twenty in front of me for the pair. He wasn't happy when I asked double that...but he took 'em anyway. The next guy to see them wanted a pair, too. Even a well-respected redline restorer was surprised at how mouthwatering these look with nothing more than an axle swap.

One other note: I just noticed when posting the pictures that the left rear hub on the blue variation doesn't match. Aha...so that's where that extra Cragar hub in my wheel box came from!

Having sold my beloved redline GT500, I had to recreate a custom and chose instead to use lettered BFG's with the same Cragar hub...it's not an exact duplicate, and it adds a bit of brightwork through the use of a Pilot silver paint pen (note the window trim).
Is this one for sale? Well, of course. But the redline Shelby sold within days of being listed on eBay for $25. This one'll cost ya $30. the most I've ever asked for a custom., and includes the recloseable blister card shown here.