Ford teases its most powerful road car ever
New Mustang Shelby GT500 will go beyond 700hp when it launches next year
Of course, when we say 'reveal' we mean it in the teaser trailer sense (the car isn't actually due until 2019, and there isn't an actual car in the video). But computer renderings or not, the salient news is hammered home with no mistake: the next Shelby will have more than 700hp, making it by some margin the most powerful street-legal model Ford has ever produced.
That's rather appealing, and even - when you think about it - rather necessary given that the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat already outputs 707hp and the Challenger SRT Demon, 840hp. Rumours have the manfacturer supercharging its rather lovely 5.2-litre V8 to achieve the target; suggesting that 700hp is at the lower end of its expectations. It makes no bones about the car's intended destination either: the accompanying press release insisting in the headline that the GT500 will "attack tracks, drag strips in 2019".
Given the Shelby name's long and illustrious history with motorsport, that's nice to hear, too. Somewhat less pleasing is the unlikelihood of the model ever making an official on-sale appearance at a Ford dealership in the UK. The GT500 will be a limited volume prospect (probably built by a third party) making export to Europe highly improbable.
That's not an insurmountable barrier for a determined (and cash-rich) individual, of course. And there's undeniable appeal in the idea of shipping yourself a Mustang with more power at the wheels than a Ford GT. Alternatively, if the Blue Oval's direct involvement isn't a deal-breaker, you could pay a little trip to the classifieds right now, and ponder dropping £129,750 on a 2017 750hp Shelby Supersnake.
Track day toy? You'll get black-flagged for drifting if you try it, and your traction issues mean that the guy in the 911 GT3 is going to be much, much quicker than you. If you try using the power to overtake anywhere other than the straights, black flag again - so most of the time you'll be using no more than half throttle to avoid tripping over a Clio 197 (that's if you're not sitting there bonfiring your tyres or oversteering wildly as you try to accelerate out of the corner).
As a road car? Well, maybe in Germany... otherwise, it's just a one-way ticket to license loss. Even in the wilds of Australia or the Nevada desert, police speed traps are increasingly common.
The original Mustang was 183mm narrower, 81mm lower, 175mm shorter overall and 23mm longer in wheelbase. Smaller, lower, with shorter overhangs and more of its weight within the wheelbase. Oh, and it was about half a ton lighter. In terms of width, it's 3mm narrower than a current MX-5 (although the Mazda is a lot shorter). Now, imagine a long-wheelbase 2+2 MX-5, think RX-8, but with the classic Ford styling and a V8... a sub-1400kg kerb weight should be doable even with the V8...
As for the engine, a 4.3 or 4.7 litre (260/289ci) displacement would carry historical resonance... if the old 260/289's short stroke of 72.9mm were to be retained, a redline of 10,500rpm could be doable with modern materials, optimised heads, valvetrain etc, running about the same piston speed as the modern Voodoo motor...
If you want a car for the drag strip, just buy a tube-frame special with four-figure horsepower and all the safety gear required at this level, not a road car that's been compromised for both road and strip.
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