Barrett-Jackson Auctioning Three Hot Fords for Charity

The hood of the Cobra Jet Mustang is autographed by Ford drag-racing stars John Force and Bob Glidden, among others. Winning bidders can specify color and other details for the Shelby and the F-150, Ford says.

The auction will be televised live on Saturday, January 17, at 10 p.m. Eastern time on the Speed TV network.

Ford notes that it has helped raise more than $2 million for charitable causes through car auction donations in the past few years, including a one-off, glass-roofed Ford Shelby GT500KR sold by Barrett-Jackson last year for $550,000.

The 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 has a supercharged and intercooled 5.4-liter V8 making 540 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. The 1010 F-150 SVT Raptor has a revised suspension and is more than 7 inches wider than Ford's base F-150. A racing version of the truck finished 3rd in its class in the 41st Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 this past November.

Ford adds that visitors to the Barrett-Jackson auction this week can sign up for an off-road ride in the Raptor with a veteran of desert racing at the wheel.

The Ford Mustang FR500CJ, or Cobra Jet, has a 400-hp 5.4-liter supercharged engine with drag-racing wheels and tires. It's NHRA legal and comes with an optional graphics kit. The Cobra Jet coupe comes with a six-speed manual transmission.

Full details are available at Barrett-Jackson's Web site.

Inside Line says: It is better to give than to receive, but the winning bidders on these Fords will get to do both. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent