Ford Announces Mustang Shelby GT500 With More Than 700 Horsepower
Looks like the Mustang Shelby GT500 will banish more demons than Van Helsing.
As The Drive prophet Will Sabel Courtney foretold: the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 doth exist, and it doth pack more horses than a cavalry charge. Ford announced Monday evening through its company-maintained Ford Mustang page on Facebook that its pony car icon will again bear the Shelby GT500 name for the 2019 model year.
The official horsepower figure produced by the car's supercharged V8 is "projected" to be over 700 horsepower, putting it in line to compete with the 707 horsepower Hellcat twins from Dodge, and maybe even the 808 horsepower Demon.
The statement of the 700-plus figure being a projection suggests that the figures are not yet finalized—perhaps Ford has not yet finished development on the Shelby GT500's power plant, and cannot guarantee the production car will make this much. Even if the Shelby GT500 just scrapes the 700 horsepower mark, it stands a good chance of remaining lighter than its competition, the 4,493 pound Dodge Challenger Hellcat. The GT500 would have to weigh well in excess of 700 pounds more than the 3,713 pound GT350R to even be within spitting distance of a similar power to weight ratio.
Ford's media release on the Shelby GT500 makes direct implication that the car is meant to see track use, similar to the Shelby GT350R already on the market. Its announcement video even showcases a tremendous wing, more extreme than that fitted to any factory Ford in the past. The mere prospect of the Shelby GT500 receiving the party pieces of the GT350R—like carbon fiber wheels—is enough to get even pony car snobs to turn their heads. I have never once desired a Mustang in my life, but my attention is rapt.
