Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Looks Ready to Swallow its Rivals

After months of waiting, Ford has finally given us a sneak peek at the new Mustang Shelby GT500 in this teaser photo. One thing is for sure: This won’t look like a standard Mustang.

Arriving in 2019, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 receives more visual differentiation than any other car in the automaker’s pony car stable. The large, gaping grille completely dominates the front fascia. Compared to previous Shelby GT Mustangs, the Cobra logo is more prominent. Curiously, the headlights appear to take after the pre-refresh Mustang rather than the face-lifted 2018 model.

Ford has confirmed the new Mustang GT500 will be its most powerful production car to date. A teaser video released by Ford at the Detroit auto show announced the GT500’s return and revealed the car will pack more than 700 hp. If the leaked images we’ve seen are any indication, that power should come from a supercharged engine. The previous GT500, which concluded its run after the 2014 model year, made “just” 662 hp from a 5.8-liter supercharged V-8 engine. The coupe version managed to hit 60 mph in 3.5 seconds in Motor Trend tests, and we can only imagine the new version will be even quicker.

Right now, Ford only offers the GT350 and GT350R, which are impressive in their own right. We tested the GT350R, which makes 526 hp and 429 lb-ft of torque from a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter flat-plane-crank V-8, hitting 60 mph in 4 seconds. The GT350, GT350R, and past GT500 have all come with manual transmissions, so it’s likely the new GT500 will follow suit.

In other Mustang news, Ford confirmed plans for a hybrid version of the pony car. But even more interesting will be an all-electric SUV with Mustang-inspired styling. That model is destined to arrive in 2020.

Source: Ford