Shelby American wasted no time coming up with its own take on the new 2011 Ford Mustang. Officially dubbed a concept, the 2011 Shelby GT350 will go into production later this year with few changes.
This is essentially an aftermarket package that you purchase after you plunk down the $30K for a Mustang GT. It includes a supercharger that pushes the new 5.0 V8 to around 500 horsepower, a set of Baer brakes, 19-inch Cragar wheels and "super sticky" Goodyear tires Shelby says. The suspension also gets new springs, struts and sway bars from Ford Racing along with adjustable camber/caster plates.
Shelby says all GT350s will be white with blue stripes. Not sure if that means you have to start out with a white car or not but it probably helps. Shelby also adds a new front fascia, revised taillight treatment and a center-exit exhaust.
All this for only $34K -- that's on top of the original car, not total. So you're looking at a minimum of $64,000 for a Shelby GT350. Hope you like white.
bankerdanny says:
07:46 AM, 01/19/10
So what does this mean for the GT-500? The current GT-500 is what, 200hp over the standrd Mustang GT, so are we going to see the 2011 up to 600hp?
I'm not digging the street racer A pillar gauges or the center exit exhaust. I'm a traditionalist, I want my Mustang to have full width dual's. I do like the blue valve covers and tail light treatment. Shouldn't the seats be a bit more aggressive in their bolstering?
exigeb says:
08:15 AM, 01/19/10
Soon Mustangs that Carroll Shelby has not been involved with will be more rare and collectible than the ones he has.
firstclass says:
09:03 AM, 01/19/10
Why does every “special” mustang have some tacky piece of plastic glued to the rear windows? I see so many mustang owners with this and it’s a shoddy way to honor the past.
About 8 years ago I had a prescription a mustang magazine; articles would constantly blast “ricers” for cheap and tasteless body kits. Now I see more “riced” mustangs than imports. Do the performance and make a kit that doesn’t say boy racer.
hondacura4 says:
09:49 AM, 01/19/10
I think it looks horrible! The idea of a $64K Mustang is just ridiculous.
Also, when will Ford stop using fixed antennas? Integrate it in the glass!
subytrojan says:
10:41 AM, 01/19/10
I love the main photo!
Does anyone knows where it was shot?
My guess is the infield road course of Texas Motor Speedway.
orbit09 says:
12:54 PM, 01/19/10
$64k for a fairly rare, 500hp car isn't bad IMO. It looks stunning too. I vote Nice Price...wait wrong site.
fuhteng says:
01:16 PM, 01/19/10
Why is it called a GT350? What does it have 350 of? It is not cubic inches, or horsepower I would imagine.
00s10 says:
01:19 PM, 01/19/10
Why make the GT350 $16425 more that a GT500. If the GT350 has around 500HP, then the GT500 has 40 more HP for less?????. Not to mention a GT500 has 6 other colors besides white.
alman08 says:
01:24 PM, 01/19/10
awesome! american aftermarket tuners just know how to keep them ugly!
estreka says:
01:57 PM, 01/19/10
No thanks. I'll take a Roush.
beermagazine says:
03:21 PM, 01/19/10
$64K for a Mustang? No thanks. You can slap a super charger on yourself and get more power. It makes less sense since the stock GT is going to be over 400hp anyway. If anybody is going to buy this please send me $10k for a stupidity tax.
breif says:
03:27 PM, 01/19/10
Those airdams are heinous. Yeesh.
jmaroun says:
04:09 PM, 01/19/10
34 more G's for 100 more ponies??
What's Ford smokin now? I want some. :)
Joseph
San Diego
wallabyguy says:
05:32 PM, 01/19/10
You guys are focused on the HP (like typical Americans) and missing the significant suspension upgrades. How about the fact this car has more HP and exclusivity than the Nissan GTR for less money? The 2011/12 GT500 will likely have a significant boost in HP to around 600 to satisfy all of you HP nuts. Those of you complaining about HP must confine yourselves to drag strips because road racing requires proper suspension settings. All the HP in the world won't compensate for bad driving and poor handling. Just look at any real track car. Or perhaps a better example is a Lotus. Keep the weight low and you don't need the outrageous HP numbers to slaughter the competition.
This is a great looking Mustang and Ford will sell all of the cars they can produce.
rkr says:
05:44 PM, 01/19/10
$64k and still don't hear anything about independent rear suspension? HELLO who gives a crap about the 500Hp if you can't make it around the chicanes! Dear Ford, can you rename the GT350 to GT NASCAR?
isend2c says:
08:47 PM, 01/19/10
It's worse looking, gives barely any extra power, and costs double. Count me in! Oh wait... If I feel like spending $64K on performance I'd buy one sports car... and then another.
roadburner says:
07:58 AM, 01/20/10
For $64K I'd buy a nice used Bullitt or Shelby GT , slap a few mods on it and use the @$25K left over to buy a low mile E39 M5 for when I need to carry more than 1 passenger.
grover432 says:
09:32 AM, 01/20/10
I like the '65 model (??) that is beside it in the cover picture.
chevy598 says:
11:04 AM, 01/20/10
I had a 2000 stang GT and wouldn't buy another until they put an IRS in it. A live axle performance car is unacceptable in todays world. The Mustang would be a MUCH better car with an IRS.
I agree with Beermaker. You could do all the work done to that stang with bolt on kits for half that money, and make it look how ever it appealed to you. After market bolt on supension, supercharger, brakes, and other kits are not that difficult to do with basic hand tools. Any body with any mechanical inclination can do the aftermarket work for well under $15k.
chevy598 says:
11:12 AM, 01/20/10
Bottom line, a mustang with a live axle rear end is a straight line performance car. It will never perform like a comparible IRS car on a road course situation.
$34k in do it yourself aftermarket bolt on performance parts could make a stock GT a 1/4 mile drag strip MONSTER. $34k would have you racing on "pinks".
carlos2174 says:
01:32 PM, 01/20/10
the new one is UGLY.
lightninmcqeen says:
09:16 PM, 01/20/10
Well, the exterior styling is nice on this ride, but I wouldn't buy one if I had that kind of change to spend. The market is flooded with mustangs of every variant and driven more or less by some dudes wife/girlfriend/daughter. Personally, I love my Charger and being able to take 5 adults and a trunk full of golf clubs is a nice feature.
Charger SRT8 = 30,000 (ebay)
Supercharger = 10,000
Misc mods = 5000
Look, I just saved 20 grand ...and got a better car!
toxic_science says:
09:39 AM, 01/22/10
Hey Wallaby guy, if you take the lotus to a high hp track with a few long straights, you're going to get slaughtered by a GT500. Any time you make up on the turns will vanish as seen in real life at Willow...
svt_man says:
07:44 AM, 01/23/10
I can't believe people are still comparing SN-95 Mustangs' live axles to the current setup. They are NOTHING alike. I own a 99 Mustang GT, and yes, it hops the rear a bit on mid-corner bumps. I would rather have an IRS. However, I have also been in a 2005 + Mustang which uses the new 3-link setup. It is like NIGHT AND DAY. You could hardly tell the new car had a live axle at all. Live axles provide a constant rate of camber, no matter what, and they also provide the durability that an IRS cannot provide. Would I love an IRS? YES! I would. However, I can see why Mustangs are still riding with live axles out back: THEY WORK. Mustang GTs outhandle Camaros and Challengers any day of the week. Just ask Car and Driver.
09cobaltsstc says:
12:29 PM, 01/23/10
svt_man....... funny you should say that. caranddrivers lighting lap 2009 the mustang gt with the track pack got spanked on the track by not only the 2010 camaro ss but the cobalt ss beat it and its a fwd lol hahaha so please tell how it handles better then the camaro ss any day of the week it can't even hang with the 260 h.p cobalt ss on the track let alone the camaro ss. so no the mustang does not handle better then the camaro ss since it got beat by 4 seconds by the camaro ss chew on that for a second and realize the mustang is a joke on the track shoot the gt500 with 120 more h.p only beat the camaro ss by 2 seconds pretty sad indeed!http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09q4/the_lightning_lap_2009-feature http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/original/application/0bdac1a2dd935c9bfe7b0c75bda77559.xls
calspecial68 says:
10:40 PM, 01/23/10
This has got to be the worst Shelby product ive ever seen for such a premium price. Forget the exclusivity. A cheezy body kit, a center exit exhaust, basically blacked out taillights, and less performance upgrades than a cheaper GT500, all for 64K?
What a bad tribute to a great car.