Upcoming Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Might Ditch Manual Transmission: Report

A new report suggests that Ford's upcoming Mustang Shelby GT500 may not be offered with a manual transmission option. This latest rumor emerged in the wake of an alleged specification sheet that was recently leaked to The Drive by an anonymous source.

A source "familiar with internal spec sheets" claims that the upcoming super 'Stang will only be fitted with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic and that a manual variant isn't in sight, according to Jalopnik. The report also states that the automatic gearbox that will allegedly be used will not be the same unit that's currently found in the mighty Ford GT. 

Past rumors pegged a Tremec TR-6060 six-speed transmission to the new Mustang, which is the same unit that was fitted to the last-generation GT500 and can withstand up to 650 pound-feet of torque—the exact amount of torque the new car has since been rumored to produce. However, newer rumors claim that Ford will use Tremec's TR-9007 DCT instead which can handle 664 pound-feet of torque, 10,000 rpm and be adapted to all-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive platforms.

According to the leaked specs, the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 will produce 720 horsepower from a supercharged 5.2-liter V8, weigh 4,225 pounds, have a 56/44 percent front/rear weight distribution, top out at 190 miles per hour, and feature a carbon fiber driveline. It is scheduled to arrive sometime in 2019 and will likely be one of the last and most extreme variants of the current-generation Mustang before its replacement drops in 2021. 

We've reached out to Ford for further comment and will update this story when we hear back.