The S550-generation Ford Mustang may be dead and buried, as the Blue Oval replaced it with an entirely new one, but its spirit lives, especially in the hotter models bearing the signature of Shelby. The icing on the cake is the Shelby GT500, which was the brand's answer to Dodge's Challenger Hellcat series and the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Unveiled at the beginning of 2019, the sixth-gen Mustang-based Shelby GT500 is capable of giving supercars a run for their money on a good day. The 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) sprint is a three-second affair, give or take, and it's a ten-second car down the quarter-mile. Powering it is a 760 hp (771 ps/567 kW) and 625 lb-ft (847 Nm) of torque 5.2-liter supercharged V8, and with all that thrust on tap, it certainly doesn't need any extra oomph.
But that doesn't mean anything to tuners like Hennessey, which has turned the previous-gen Mustang Shelby GT500 into an even more impressive ride. Their top proposal is called the Venom 1000, and the number represents the output. Thus, it has no less than 1,000 horsepower (1,014 ps/746 kW) available at a hard push of the throttle, produced at 7,000 rpm. The thrust is rated at 850 pound-feet (1,152 Nm) and is available at 4,800 rpm.
There's no reference to the new 0-60 mph sprint time, as the Lone Star State tuner chose to say what they did to the engine to make it this punchy instead. It includes the upgraded supercharged, high-flow fuel injectors, upgraded intercooler, air/oil separator, new flex fuel engine calibration, transmission calibration, high-flow air induction upgrade, and a few other things. The result is guaranteed by road and dyno testing, and for extra peace of mind, the muscle car comes with a three-year/36,000-mile (57,936-km) warranty. In addition to the added elbow grease, the Venom 1000 features special badging and serial numbered plaques to set it apart from the non-Venom models.
You may be wondering why we chose to write another story about the fabulous Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 boasting the Venom 1000 package, and for good reasons, as it's not exactly a new entry in Hennessey's stable. The reason is a video released online by the tuner recently, which shows this dream ride doing its thing from the driver's perspective. Thus, get ready for nearly four and a half minutes of hard acceleration and the occasional cornering, sprinkled with the whining sound of the supercharger. Sure, this component may not whine as much as the one on the Dodge Hellcat models, but it surely is something to write home about.
In fact, Hennessey rhetorically asks if this is the best-sounding Ford Mustang out there, and we think it may just be. But you be the judge of that by watching the vid shared below and let us know if they're right by taking to the comments section after that.
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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