Photo: SB-Medien; Screenshot from YouTube; edited by autoevolution
It’s finally happening, ‘Stang fans! In a recent teaser video, the Blue Oval is telling there’s a mysterious ‘performance model’ slated to be revealed on the 17th of November. Have a wild guess about what it will be... Why of course - it’s the much-talked-about 2016 Shelby GT350 Mustang our team of carparazzi spied for the better part of the current year.
Starting with the obvious, the Blue Oval notes in the video’s description: “Ford has a legendary performance heritage that spans almost every racing series around the world. Lessons learned on the race track help influence Ford’s lineup of performance vehicles for consumers.” That performance vehicles for consumers is the detail that implies the brand new Shelby GT350 is the one.
Even at the present moment, details on the new pony are scarce. Nevertheless, our diggin’ work paid off with a few juicy bits of data. The most important of them all is the guts of the beast - a naturally aspirated Coyote V8 displacing 5.2 liters. Yep, it’s not the usual 5-liter but a slightly bigger 5.2 unit. We know this thanks to a listing for replacement quarter panel insulators and brake master cylinder.
A convertible variant of the beast is also in the pipeline
As for firepower, expect the horsepower figure to stop somewhere between the 500 and 550 ponies mark. If you prefer grunt over horsepower, some voices say to expect around 450 lb-ft (610 Nm) sent exclusively to the rear wheels, which are kept in check by an advanced version of the 2015 Ford Mustang GT’s IRS (independent rear suspension system).
On the visual front, the track-focused muscle car from Ford has been spied a few times and we’re happy to announce there’s a lot of aesthetic goodies in store for you. Deep chin spoiler, a super aggressive aerodynamic diffuser with two exit pipes sticking through each of its sides, a boot lid spoiler, wide side skirts, all the racing paraphernelia Mustang fans dream of.
On an ending note, the teaser clip you can admire below features Mark Fields, the Blue Oval’s CEO. He’s talking about street creed and racing success to back up the vehicles Ford sells, which makes us wonder if those rumors about an all-new Ford GT is going to happen in the near future. That would be sweet.
In any case, let’s not get overexcited about petty wishful thinking and concentrate on the present moment - the 2016 Shelby GT350 Mustang’s launch date (the 17th of November) is one day ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show’s first press day. Fingers crossed we are bang on with our hunch on the GT350.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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