SCOTTSDALE, AZ (Jan. 2007) -- Two vehicles powered by Ford and produced by Carroll Shelby made auction history at the 36th annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event in Scottsdale, Arizona -- one with a little help from Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. A 2007 Shelby GT Mustang (Shelby serial No. 1) and the only surviving 1966 427 Cobra Supersnake scored record bids in front of an estimated 25,000 spectators and more than 1 million viewers who were watching live on the SPEED Channel.

With Mark Fields, Ford President, The Americas, officiating at the auction, bidding on the black Shelby GT raced quickly to the half-million-dollar mark. Then the auction staff opened the trunk and took out a bonus -- a matching black "Shelby GT Stratocaster" guitar. Shortly afterward, car collector Ron Pratte of Chandler, Ariz., had landed the first 2007 Shelby GT Mustang produced and the matching Fender guitar with a winning bid of $600,000. Proceeds were donated to the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation, which was created in 1991 to help provide assistance to children in need of organ and tissue transplants.

The 2007 Shelby GT is built off the Ford Mustang GT and employs genuine Ford Racing Performance Parts hardware. The "Shelby GT Stratocaster" guitar was built in Fender's Custom Shop in Corona, Calif., by noted Master Builder Christopher Fleming (who has built guitars for rock notables such as Pete Townshend, ZZ Top, John Mayer, Jeff Beck and the Rolling Stones). Actually, two Shelby GTs with matching guitars have been made as part of a new partnership between Ford Motor Company and Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The second pair will be given away in early 2008 to one lucky person who enters the Fender Play Loud-Go Fast Sweepstakes at  www.fender.com/ford through Dec. 31, 2007. Both sets carry actual Ford VIN tags, with the first as No. 001 and the sweepstakes guitar showing No. 100.

"The Fender/Shelby custom guitar was a work of art that represented a perfect complement to the first Shelby GT, capturing the spirit and heritage that both Fender and Shelby represent," said Barrett-Jackson President Steve Davis. "This amazing moment was further enhanced when you consider that Ron Pratte raised his own bid on the Shelby GT to match his successful $600,000 winning bid for a Shelby GT500 in 2006, knowing that all proceeds were again going to the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation."

Ford Car Division Marketing Manager Robert Parker was equally enthusiastic, noting at the auction that, "The Fender relationship is a natural fit -- we find that our consumers are very much alike. They're very passionate about playing their guitars, and they're very passionate about their cars, especially Mustangs."

Another headliner on the auction block at Barrett-Jackson was the famous "Supersnake," a rare dual-supercharged 427 Cobra built by Carroll Shelby in 1966, which Pratt also landed with a bid of $5.5 million -- the most ever paid for an American car sold at auction.

"I wanted it to be the fastest, meanest car on the road," said Shelby of the Supersnake. "Forty years later, it will still kick the tail of just about anything in the world. It's the fastest street legal Cobra I've ever owned."

Also receiving plenty of attention at the auction was the Dearborn Deuce, a stunning custom roadster commemorating the '32 Ford -- with its first-ever mass-produced V-8 that echoed the engineering genius of Henry Ford, as well as the groundbreaking styling of his son, Edsel. The first of 100 Limited Edition 75th Anniversary Dearborn Deuce roadsters being planned brought in a winning bid of $330,000, with the proceeds donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

"Edsel probably never got the credit he should have gotten for a lot of things he did," said Edsel's grandson, Edsel B. Ford II. "And I think celebrating his influence on the Deuce Coupe interests me a lot, and that is one of the reasons I'm here."

This year's Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event drew more than 200,000 attendees over the weekend, many of them taking in the auction and also participating in some Ford experiential events that featured ride-and-drives, contests and demonstrations. A popular stop was a Ford area that teamed a pair of dueling Shelby GTs on a "Dyno Dragstrip" designed to enable two cars to run a quarter-mile race on a stationary dragway. Based on chassis dynamometers where engine power is measured from rollers turned by the car's wheels as it accelerates, this setup added the same kind of "x-mas tree" lights and timing readouts found at the local dragstrip. Every half-hour, two drivers were chosen from submitted entries to stage a "race." Competitors included such celebrity racers as Paul Teutul Sr. and Jr. from Orange County Choppers, Chip Foose, Craig Jackson, Ken Gushi of the Gushi Auto drifting team, and a Shelby Auto team featuring Amy Boylan and Gary Patterson. Even Carroll Shelby got involved by holding special autograph sessions up on stage.

To showcase the hot new sport of drifting, the Gushi Auto team was also on hand for drift demonstrations and passenger ride-alongs on the specially built Ford drift track immediately outside the Ford display in the main tent. Headlining the demo was 20-year-old drifting sensation and NFS Formula D Champion Ken Gushi, who wowed the crowd with a series of hang-the-tail-out, tire-spinning runs in his 600+ horsepower, title-winning Mustang GT. Also churning up the tarmac was Tony Brakohiapa's 550-horse Mustang drifter and Dan Pena's 450-hp cop-car "Drift Patrol" racer. After each session, throngs of fans got autographs and the chance to get up close and personal with the drivers and their cars.

Ford Racing teamed up with Toyo Tires before the 2005 Formula D season to get the Mustang involved in drifting, and it didn't take long for Gushi to bring home a title. The 2005 Mustang GT Toyo Tire/Ford Racing drift car is powered by a 4.6L DOHC supercharged V-8 from the Ford Racing Performance Parts crate engine catalog. The car makes its 600+ horses with the installation of the Ford Racing/Whipple screw-type supercharger kit (instead of a standard Roots-type system). Applying power through a T-56 six-speed transmission, also listed in the catalog, the Gushi Auto team Mustang remains a strong competitor.

Over the last three Barrett-Jackson auction events, Ford Motor Company has not only raised brand awareness for the Mustang, but also has raised over $1.7 million for the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation at the same time. In addition to fundraising, the foundation also works to promote public awareness of the need for organ and tissue donation. To get more information about the program, visit www.shelbychildrensfoundation.org.