Photo: Screenshot Youtube | hycade
Ever since the grand unveiling of the seventh-generation Ford Mustang last fall, enthusiasts have wondered when the new Shelby versions are due. More importantly, they've been curious about the range-topping Shelby GT500, which will inevitably become the Blue Oval's most powerful production car ever, just like its iconic predecessor. And we now have an answer to that question, or so it seems anyway.
Well, not us, but the Mustang Owner's Museum, on a plaque sitting next to two clay prototypes of the new-gen muscle car, one showing the exterior, and the other the interior. Images of the respective plaque were shared on the Msutang7G forum a few days ago, and they reveal some technicalities about the vehicle that were already known.
Mind you, it is one particular phrase that we are interested in, as it says that “the Shelby GT500 will be discontinued in 2023, but expected to make a comeback in 2025 for 2026.” Although speculative, this would mean that only two years would separate the regular versions and the range-topping flavor of the new-gen Mustang. Do you know when that last happened? On the fifth-gen muscle car, as its successor, the one based on the ultra-popular S550, had a five-year gap.
A pair of prototypes with a much sportier makeover were spotted in the open not long ago, and it appears that one of them was the upcoming Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, whereas the other was believed to be a street-legal version of the GT3 racer. Nevertheless, the GT500 was in a different body style, convertible, otherwise expected to join the coupe flavor in the lineup. Telling it apart from the lesser variants of the pony car was easy due to the stance, for one, as it rode closer to the ground, and it had more muscular fenders. Quad exhaust tips were on deck, too, apparently larger than the ones equipping the V8-powered GT, and so were the special wheels made of carbon fiber.
Besides the visual upgrades, it will get a reworked chassis, with emphasis on the suspension, as it will be stiffer. The brakes will be beefier compared to the GT, and it will feature some upgrades on the inside as well, with everything sprinkled with the usual Shelby logos. No one knows anything about the icing on the cake, namely the firepower, for now, though it has been reported that it will still pack a V8 and a very serious one, for that matter. Its predecessor uses a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 with 760 hp and 625 lb-ft (847 Nm) of torque. It’s a ten-second car on a good day, in the dry, and needs roughly three seconds to deal with the zero to sixty miles an hour (0-97 kph) sprint. So, what do you think, is the new one really due in a couple of years?
Mind you, it is one particular phrase that we are interested in, as it says that “the Shelby GT500 will be discontinued in 2023, but expected to make a comeback in 2025 for 2026.” Although speculative, this would mean that only two years would separate the regular versions and the range-topping flavor of the new-gen Mustang. Do you know when that last happened? On the fifth-gen muscle car, as its successor, the one based on the ultra-popular S550, had a five-year gap.
A pair of prototypes with a much sportier makeover were spotted in the open not long ago, and it appears that one of them was the upcoming Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, whereas the other was believed to be a street-legal version of the GT3 racer. Nevertheless, the GT500 was in a different body style, convertible, otherwise expected to join the coupe flavor in the lineup. Telling it apart from the lesser variants of the pony car was easy due to the stance, for one, as it rode closer to the ground, and it had more muscular fenders. Quad exhaust tips were on deck, too, apparently larger than the ones equipping the V8-powered GT, and so were the special wheels made of carbon fiber.
Besides the visual upgrades, it will get a reworked chassis, with emphasis on the suspension, as it will be stiffer. The brakes will be beefier compared to the GT, and it will feature some upgrades on the inside as well, with everything sprinkled with the usual Shelby logos. No one knows anything about the icing on the cake, namely the firepower, for now, though it has been reported that it will still pack a V8 and a very serious one, for that matter. Its predecessor uses a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 with 760 hp and 625 lb-ft (847 Nm) of torque. It’s a ten-second car on a good day, in the dry, and needs roughly three seconds to deal with the zero to sixty miles an hour (0-97 kph) sprint. So, what do you think, is the new one really due in a couple of years?
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