Government extends 5p fuel duty freeze
Is now finally the time to buy a 5.2-litre Shelby GT350R Heritage Edition?
It was too much to hope that the chancellor might throw motorists a juicy bone during the first Budget of Andy Burnham’s government - though we did at least get confirmation that the 5p discount on fuel duty introduced by Rishi Sunak (remember him?) back in 2022 has been extended till July. AA president Edmund King had encouraged him to cut an additional 5p to stave off the worst effects of higher pump prices, but Mr Healey was unmoved. The BBC reckons the 5p/litre increase would’ve added £2.75 to the cost of filling a petrol tank.
How best to celebrate this saving? How about spending 120 big ones on a Shelby Mustang GT350R Heritage Edition? This will allow you to turn the 52.95p per litre total fuel duty into blissful noise at a furious rate courtesy of the 5.2-litre ‘Voodoo’ V8 it keeps beneath the bonnet. This, in case you didn’t know, is arguably where the sixth-generation model peaked. Shelby would later supercharge the unit, but the naturally aspirated 526hp version is the one you really want. Or the one we want anyway.
And that’s because when it was done with boring and stroking the 5.0-litre Coyote V8, it installed a flat plane crank - and then benchmarked the result against Ferrari’s F136 motor. This combination was always likely to lead to something special, and it did: the GT350R revs to 8,250rpm via a different firing order and sounds like nothing else. To say it had a keener appetite for its top end than the standard Ford unit is like saying Hugh Hefner had a keener appetite for blondes than Pope John Paul.
The car around it was pretty special, too. Revealed in late 2014 for the 2015 model year, the revived GT350 was a serious attempt to make a better circuit car of the Mustang, but the R version took the sentiment to extremes. It was around 60kg lighter than even the Track Pack model thanks to the deletion of many non-essentials, including the air con, stereo, rears seats and even the boot floor. Those wheels? Carbon fibre. And only 8kg a corner.
On this example, imported in 2022, they come clad in Michelin Cup 2 R tyres, which likely speaks to the seriousness of the upkeep. It also returns some of the items originally exorcised in the name of weight saving, though we’ll forgive it that because it’s also the Heritage Edition, which means that its Wimbledon White paint and Guardsman Blue stripes reference the original 1965 Shelby GT350R competition car.
According to the selling dealer, it also means the car is one of just 280 sold globally, a properly small number for a modern Mustang, though not quite so inconveniently small that the model immediately qualifies as a museum piece. This one has only covered 2,550 miles, mind, so could do with taking in hand. Granted, you’ll have to make your peace with the steering wheel being on the wrong side, but what better way to finally exercise your right hand than putting it to work on the modified six-speed Tremec manual ‘box? That pleasure at least is free.
. Love it.Drive one on track (my uncle had one of the early ones which could have an engine issue, but boy oh boy it really was a cracking drive on the road or track.
I always used to use it when I was over in the states, he's now stopped using it on track & has it sat as a high gays & holiday car.
He replaced it with a C8 with the Z51 Pack good car but not as special as the Mustang.
He actually wants another Mustang but apparently it's already at unobtanium levels,, it's the Shelby Mustang GT350 TA.
Time to fire up the V8 to V12's
I think it’s saved us 31p a litre plus VAT…
I'd love that.
V8 for the win although when I had my M5 mpg always below 20 was "interesting"!
TX.
I'd love another V8 in my life again for sure at some stage(as a weekend car anyway).
And didn't the vibrations like to snap the nose off the crank?
The more recent GT500 always seemed more interesting, purely on the 'more is more' basis of the Predator. Code Red flavor of that maybe being a step too far!
Time to fire up the V8 to V12's
I think it s saved us 31p a litre plus VAT
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