Photo: screenshot from Ford.com
Historically speaking, Ford never made the Shelby GT350 and the Shelby GT500 at the same time. Be that as it may, the Ford website has a model page titled “2017 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 | The Cobra of Performance Cars.” What does this mean, though?
Following the link to the purported model, the page disappoints with no information whatsoever on the GT500. Instead, it says that the rental-worthy Mustang V6 Fastback for the 2017 model year starts from $24,915. Discovered by The Drive, this curious find is not exactly simple to explain. Case in point: knowing how Google works, most manufacturers pour tons of money in search engine optimization before debuting an all-new model.
At first glance, launching the all-new Shelby GT500 for 2017 is out of the question. Digging even dipper, a bigger surprise is unraveled via the page’s source code. I’m referring to a certain keyword: “Shelby GT500 5.8-liter V8 engine” (pictured). Before hypothesizing about how Ford will bring the Trinity V8 back, bear in mind that the IT guys might have forgotten to delete that keyword after GT500 production ended on June 20, 2015. The first-ever example of the 2015 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350, meanwhile, rolled off the assembly line of the Flat Rock, Michigan plant on August 20, 2015.
Even though the tried-and-tested Trinity is more powerful than the 5.2-liter Voodoo V8 blunderbuss in the GT350 and GT350R, things such as the lack of variable cam timing, twin cam timing, and direct fuel injection ushered in its undoing. If you ask me, I’m willing to bet on what the rumor mill has to say about what lurks under the hood of the 2018 Shelby GT500: the Predator V8.
Believed to come in the form of a supercharged take on the Voodoo, the Predator will reportedly make use of a 2.6-liter Eaton system. Likely inspired by what Dodge did with the Hellcat-spec HEMI, hearsay also suggests to expect anything from 750 to 810 horsepower from the Ford Predator V8. It’s a monumental figure, alright, but proper muscle is what the upcoming Shelby GT500 needs most to fend off the elephantine Challenger SRT Hellcat.
At first glance, launching the all-new Shelby GT500 for 2017 is out of the question. Digging even dipper, a bigger surprise is unraveled via the page’s source code. I’m referring to a certain keyword: “Shelby GT500 5.8-liter V8 engine” (pictured). Before hypothesizing about how Ford will bring the Trinity V8 back, bear in mind that the IT guys might have forgotten to delete that keyword after GT500 production ended on June 20, 2015. The first-ever example of the 2015 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350, meanwhile, rolled off the assembly line of the Flat Rock, Michigan plant on August 20, 2015.
Even though the tried-and-tested Trinity is more powerful than the 5.2-liter Voodoo V8 blunderbuss in the GT350 and GT350R, things such as the lack of variable cam timing, twin cam timing, and direct fuel injection ushered in its undoing. If you ask me, I’m willing to bet on what the rumor mill has to say about what lurks under the hood of the 2018 Shelby GT500: the Predator V8.
Believed to come in the form of a supercharged take on the Voodoo, the Predator will reportedly make use of a 2.6-liter Eaton system. Likely inspired by what Dodge did with the Hellcat-spec HEMI, hearsay also suggests to expect anything from 750 to 810 horsepower from the Ford Predator V8. It’s a monumental figure, alright, but proper muscle is what the upcoming Shelby GT500 needs most to fend off the elephantine Challenger SRT Hellcat.
Google News