BOLD RIDE
Back in 1965, famed racer Carroll Shelby took Ford’s youthful pony car, added a high-rise intake, Holley carburetor, tri-Y headers, plus a handful of other modifications, and the end result would become a track legend—the ’65 Shelby GT350 Ford Mustang.
Fast forward to modern day and Ford has rekindled its GT350 nameplate, but the question in the minds of many Blue Oval fans is this, “will a new Shelby GT500 follow suit,” perhaps even in two years?
While Ford has in no way confirmed or even hinted that such a car will arrive, the Internet is yet again abuzz with rumors pointing to the contrary.
The latest comes from Torque News, which cites “a guy who knows a guy who works for Ford,” and they state that a new Shelby GT500 is in the works, soon to pack a twin-turbocharged V8 with anywhere from 750 to 800 horsepower.
Admittedly, that’s far from a concrete source, but if there’s a grain of truth in that, the Dodge Challenger Hellcats and Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s of the world better be on guard.
From a status standpoint, the move would surely make sense. Ford can’t possibly be thrilled about all the buzz that surrounds Dodge’s 707-horsepower Hellcat muscle cars, and even more so considering the Hellcats usurped the late-great GT500’s title of housing the “world’s most powerful production V8.”
If indeed Ford is eyeing a horsepower war though, it has a good car to do it with as well. The current generation S550 Ford Mustang GT (with 5.0-liter V8 in tow) weighs around 700 pounds less than the Hellcat-powered Challenger, which (if generating the alleged power figures) ought to make it more nimble on the road.
And whereas the last-generation Shelby GT500 netted its colossal 662 horsepower thanks to a supercharger, a turbocharged V8 setup would seem the likely route to go for the Blue Oval in any future GT500 endeavors. Ford already sells the current Mustang with a turbocharged four-cylinder, the Ford F-150 with the popular EcoBoost V6 engines, and the all-new Ford GT is going twin-turbo.
Of course, absolutely nothing has been confirmed about any new Shelby GT500, so we’ll all just have to wait and see. Nevertheless, consider our collective attentions piqued.
Photo Credit: Ford
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