---
title: "2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake Is an 800-HP Drag Racing Concept"
description: "Shelby American calls the delightfully named GT500 Dragon Snake \"the ultimate weapon of track destruction in the quarter-mile.\""
date: "2019-11-05"
modified: "2019-11-05"
authors:
  - name: "James Gilboy"
    job_title: "Contributing Writer"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/james-gilboy"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/30855/2020-ford-mustang-shelby-gt500-dragon-snake-is-an-800-hp-drag-racing-concept"
categories:
  - "Ford News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
tags:
  - "concept car"
  - "Ford"
  - "Mustang Shelby GT500"
  - "race car"
---

# 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake Is an 800-HP Drag Racing Concept

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2019/11/2020DragonSnake4.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Even the most fervent of Ford fanatics can admit that it's sometimes hard watching Dodge get all the attention in the muscle car space for its grandiose, comic book-tier model names. Super Bee, Daytona, Demon. Fords are rarely shipped with names as evocative, and when they are, [their connotations aren't always positive](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Probe>). Fortunately, Shelby American is here to help Ford fight this battle, with a drag-oriented [Mustang Shelby GT500](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/30681/2020-ford-mustang-shelby-gt500-review-a-911-gt2-rs-clone-with-fewer-homicidal-tendencies>) concept called the Dragon Snake.

![2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake SEMA Concept](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1572981445975-2020dragonsnake1.jpg>)
*2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake SEMA Concept*

*, *Shelby American**

![2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake SEMA Concept](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1572981452995-2020dragonsnake3.jpg>)
*2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake SEMA Concept*

*, *Shelby American**

The Dragon Snake is a callback to a rare, drag racing-ready [Shelby Cobra](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/22501/original-shelby-cobra-attacked-by-a-bear-in-alaska-over-fig-newtons>) of the same name, of which only six were built. Just one Mustang GT500 Dragon Snake exists so far, but a Shelby American spokesperson told *The Drive* that the company is "gauging interest for possible production," so if you've got cash set aside for a monster Mustang, keep reading to find out what Shelby American has done to it and whether it's worth your acorns.

![2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake SEMA Concept](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1572981496478-ds1.jpg>)
*2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake SEMA Concept*

*, *Shelby American**

![2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake SEMA Concept](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1572981478462-2020dragonsnake2.jpg>)
*2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake SEMA Concept*

*, *Shelby American**

![2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake SEMA Concept](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1572981505431-ds2.jpg>)
*2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake SEMA Concept*

*, *Shelby American**

Like its namesake, the GT500 Dragon Snake is built to go as fast in a straight line as possible while maintaining a warranty and street-legal status. That means it still has its full, 50 state-compliant emissions system and road-legal tires around its forged aluminum wheels, but that doesn't mean it'll disappoint at the drag strip. No, it has upgraded axles for a good reason, that one being its 5.2-liter V8, whose supercharger has been upgraded to bring the engine [beyond the 800-horsepower mark](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/23857/ohio-ford-dealer-sneaks-800-hp-into-its-mustangs-for-39995>).

Helping to put that power down is Ford's MagneRide magnetic shock system, rebalanced for straight-line performance with custom Shelby springs and sway bars front and rear. Shelby's considering a widebody variant that could presumably give the Dragon Snake even wider tires, meaning a still-harder launch, one terrifying enough to make you ruin the car's specially upholstered leather interior. Whatever you do, keep those body fluids—[emitted voluntarily](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/20315/indycars-james-hinchcliffe-admits-to-peeing-himself-amidst-race-delay>) or otherwise—away from the focal point of the Dragon Snake's interior: The slightly tacky but signature Shelby serial plaque.

![message-editor%2F1572982267896-ds3.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1572982267896-ds3.jpg>)
*2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Dragon Snake SEMA Concept, *Shelby American**

"The 2020 Shelby GT500 is truly amazing in stock configuration, but we wanted to explore its pure acceleration capabilities," said Shelby American's Vice President of Operations and Chief of R&D, Vince LaViolette. "So we worked closely with Ford Performance and other partners to create the ultimate 'weapon of track destruction' in the quarter-mile."

While it's hard to tell without driving it, we doubt the Dragon Snake is as [surprisingly tame as Its standard Shelby GT500 brethren](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/30681/2020-ford-mustang-shelby-gt500-review-a-911-gt2-rs-clone-with-fewer-homicidal-tendencies>).

## Author
James is a former staff writer for The Drive. He has changed the conversation around electrification, debunked misinformation online, and become a prominent hunter of what he calls "automotive cryptids."

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/jamesgilboy>)