Goodbye tyres, hello Mustang Shelby GT500

It’s another Ford Mustang, of course, and while we have become used to hot ‘Stangs over the decades there’s never been one quite like this new Shelby GT500 before, not officially anyway. This one is – officially – the most powerful street-legal Ford ever. Ford GT supercar? Pah! It might be faster but its twin-turbo engine has two cylinders missing and develops “only” 647PS (638bhp).

The latest Shelby Mustang’s 700 ponies (690bhp) are courtesy of a supercharged 5.2-litre V8. In this form the familiar all-alloy lump is hand-assembled and has a Roots-type blower tucked into its vee. There’s no mistaking the supercharger whine in the video.

The power is doled out by a seven-speed double-clutch transmission (lifted from the GT) to a carbon-fibre driveshaft, and then onto what must be two of the hardest-working Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres on the planet, 20-inchers on 11-inch rims at the front and 11.5-inch rims at the rear. There should be plenty of smoke then…

Cut down on the wheelspin – via an rpm-selectable launch control system – and the car will blast from standstill to 60mph in around 3.5 seconds, says Ford. The standing quarter mile is reckoned to be 11 seconds.

The new transmission brings with it the fastest gear changes ever in a Mustang, along with drive modes including Drag, Track, Sport and Normal. Claims to fame don’t end there, as with lots of Ford GT race knowhow and parts the Shelby GT500 can generate the most cornering force of any Mustang. Not only that but it also boasts the biggest brakes of any Mustang, or indeed any American sports car, the Brembo six-piston calipers offering 20 per cent more swept area than the Shelby GT350’s brakes.

Aero tweaks give the car more downforce while keeping the mighty motor cool, and also deliver just the right amount of track focus in the styling that this pinnacle pony car deserves.

If the looks aren’t extreme enough, though, you can ramp up the aero, and the looks, with the Handling Package (adjustable struts and a Gurney flap) or, for the truly committed, the Carbon Fibre Track Pack which throws in carbon wheels and GT4 splitter and rear wing, among other things.

To Jim Farley, Ford’s President of Global Markets, the fastest, most track focused Mustang ever is a “takedown artist” in that it will “surprise supercar owners with its racing tech, supercharged engine and visceral swagger.

“Carroll Shelby was always working on the next faster Shelby, I think he would love this Mustang more than any other.” 

Plenty of people on this side of the pond will surely love it too. Alas while we get Mustangs in the UK we don’t get the Shelby GT350 (not officially at least) and it’s unlikely the new GT500 will change that.