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Tuned Shelby GT350 Races Challenger Hellcat and It's Very Close, Until It's Not

In this day and age, the American muscle car supremacy is well established and timed by two of the traditional foes: Ford and Dodge. As such, we’re usually raising an eyebrow whenever someone tries to pit a Voodoo Shelby Mustang GT350 against the mighty Challenger SRT Hellcat. Even if we’re dealing with a tuned Blue Oval and a widebody stick shift in the opposing lane.
Tuned Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 vs. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on Auto Glory 11 photos
Photo: Auto Glory / YouTube
Tuned Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 vs. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on Auto GloryTuned Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 vs. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on Auto GloryTuned Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 vs. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on Auto GloryTuned Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 vs. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on Auto GloryTuned Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 vs. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on Auto GloryTuned Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 vs. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on Auto GloryTuned Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 vs. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on Auto GloryTuned Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 vs. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on Auto GloryTuned Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 vs. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on Auto GloryTuned Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 vs. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on Auto Glory
As far as official credentials are concerned, the now-retired Shelby GT350 rocked the world of Blue Oval fans with its mesmerizing 5.2-liter Voodoo V8 and Tremec six-speed manual that gladly sends 526 horsepower to the rear wheels.

Back in the day, it was thought as a perfect rival for the C7 Chevrolet Corvette and F82 BMW M4 (the one without the ugly snot) and it could still live up to the reputation even against the mid-engine C8 in terms of straight-line acceleration.

But the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody comes from a different league altogether, the one where some of the SRT Demon and Redeye madness trickled down to the mainstream creation to impose its 707-horsepower supremacy with factory-spec widebody flair.

Still, based on the description provided by the Auto Glory YT channel for this encounter, the GT350 might stand a fighting chance for the nightly race we see in the video embedded below. Though, judging by the modifications (an E85 tune, and cat delete), it’s probably going to be very close. The one thing they have going towards truly leveling the playing field is the fact that both rides feature a manual transmission.

The street encounter is kept short and sweet (just the way we like it) and from the 0:22 mark we’re already past the presentation stage and onto the highway at around 50 mph (80 kph), which is probably the agreed starting point for this singular rolling race.

Interestingly, during the first moments of the battle we can almost believe the unimaginable will happen and the GT350 will actually win the race... But it’s only for a few fleeting moments because after the cars go past the 100 mph (160 kph) threshold the furious Hellcat comes into its own element and gaps the Mustang without further need for commentary.

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About the author: Aurel Niculescu
Aurel Niculescu profile photo

Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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