Portland Man Builds World's First Bagged 2020 Shelby GT500, Purists Retaliate

People will get upset if you swap in an engine from another manufacturer. People will get offended if you use wheels that are too big in size. And people will get offended when a car that was destined to shine out on the racetrack gets an upgrade worthy of the stance community. The GT500 shown here belongs to Alex, who resides in Portland, Oregon, and this is reportedly the world's first bagged 2020 Shelby GT500.

The car is now using an Airlift Performance setup, and it sits on Signature Wheels, with Precision Series SV705 in Sahara Brushed Sand upfront and Track Series SV502 in Racing Red on the rear axle. This is just an initial setup for now, as the owner hasn't decided on the final wheel design and color. Talking about the air suspension system, the guys over at Signature Wheels give us an insight on how this matches the car.

"The bagged system operates interestingly. Dancing around the fender liners takes some care. Sidewall profiles matter with only millimeters of clearance. Playing with the wheels and spacers allowed us to dial in the fitment needed, make adjustments to the ride height, and identify potential camber changes for the final form." There are certainly a series of benefits with such a system, as the ride height is now easily adjustable.

Of course, there will be people that will argue that a bagged car is a ruined car, at least from a dynamic point of view. Talking about his decision to install bags, the owner stated that: "It's essentially the same thing as a coilover, but instead of a spring, it's a bag. The suspension still has all the adjustments for dampening, compression and rebound. Yes it's more complicated than a strut and spring and there can be more maintenance - but that's the game of modded cars in general."

It didn't take long for the purists to show up and complain: "Not bad. I recommend just tilting the wheels at a 45-degree angle like the kids are doing on their Hondas." One other user even went as far as recommending the owner to buy a different car: "All that money spent on obtaining the car and you go and do this. Sorry... not a fan. The car is ruined. If you want Stance Nation, get an Infiniti."

All in all, you can't deny the fact that Alex's GT500 looks great. Some will love it; some will hate it. We're not completely certain that going for a bagged system will drastically affect this vehicle's dynamic characteristics, but then again will this car ever be driven hard at the racetrack? If not, complaining about something like this doesn't even seem relevant. Just go out there, modify your car the way you want it, and have fun!