Today's muscle car world is a shadow of its former self. The only player in this segment is Ford, as both Chevrolet and Dodge pulled the plug on the Camaro and Challenger, respectively, thus leaving the Dearborn automaker to roam free in this class.
Dodge's upcoming muscle car is reportedly a few months away and might be christened the Charger, an interesting move that makes us wonder if there will be a four-door alternative to it. Chevrolet promises we will hear from the Camaro nameplate in the future, and that's all they've had to say about it so far.
Over at Ford, the latest generation Mustang, which was unveiled in 2022 and has been on sale since last year, comes in the usual flavors, featuring a familiar engine family that comprises the 2.3L EcoBoost and the 5.0L Coyote V8 in two outputs with 480 hp in the GT and 500 hp in the Dark Horse.
The latter is the top-of-the-line grade until the GTD arrives with a targeted 800 horsepower. The all-new Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is said to launch sometime next year, and it will be better in every aspect than its predecessors. The previous GT500 put 760 hp and 627 lb-ft (847 Nm) of torque under the driver's right foot from its 5.2L supercharged V8, enabling the 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in three seconds and making it a ten-second car down the quarter mile.
Photo: Instagram | carmstyledesign1
Thus, even if it is currently the only company still making a muscle car, Ford has a lot on its plate if it wants to stay competitive against the likes of the upcoming Dodge Charger, which is rumored to feature both EV and ICE power. So far, several unofficial attempts have tried to imagine what a brand-new Mustang Shelby might look like, and we're fans of some of them. We cannot say the same about the latest we came across, as they're on the OTT side.
Signed by Carmstyledesign1 and shared on Instagram earlier this week, these renderings portray a very aggressive S650 Mustang that virtually adds the Shelby GT1500 suffix, as depicted by the decals on the sides. It has ultra-fat front and rear fenders, aggressively shaped bumpers, a large wing, an oversized diffuser, and rides on big wheels wrapped in rubberband tires. The pixel manipulator gave it a lime green finish that would be more suitable for a supercar.
This is obviously a long stretch, as no future Mustang Shelby will look anything like this, yet we couldn't have ignored it, as it makes the Dearborn company's muscle car look very exotic. But would you have considered buying one if it was real? Let us know your thoughts on it in the comments section below.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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