Thirty years after the last 1970 Shelby GT 500 was offered, Ford introduced the new modular 5.4L supercharged GT 500 at the 2007 New York International Auto Show. Ford SVT started offering a Shelby version of the Ford Mustang in 2007. With Carroll Shelby’s OK, Ford had been using the Cobra name on Ford cars since 1993. It was an on again and off again effort. The 2007 GT 500 was based on the new Mustang S197 body style. The Ford designers looked to the 1968 Shelby Mustang for the front fascia, the side & over the top stripes, and the rear spoiler. The car also had an offset Cobra snake emblem in the grille and the letters S H E L B Y across the trunk lid.
The engine was filled with modern technology. The 5.4L modular engine had 4 valves per cylinder on a V8 with a screw-type Eaton Supercharger with an intercooler. It was rated at 500 HP and was the most powerful Mustang engine to date. The GT 500’s came with a six speed transmission, a race tuned suspension, awesome Brembo 4 wheel disc brakes, and 19″ all aluminum 10 spoke wheels not unlike the 10 spoke wheels available in 1967-68 on the Shelby Mustangs. The interior was leather trimmed with brushed aluminum dash panels.
In 2008 Ford offered a GT 500 KR version with better cold air induction increasing the horsepower to 540 HP.
The 2007 Shelby GT 500 was a huge success. Almost 11,000 GT 500’s were sold in 2007. During the run of the GT500’s from 2007 to 2009 almost 23,000 cars were sold.
The 2010 Mustang was updated with the GT 500 getting a new front and rear end. The suspension was upgraded with a better six speed transmission. The rear axle gearing was changed from the earlier 3.31:1 to 3.55:1.
The last years of the SVT GT 500 were 2013-14. With Shelby’s guidance the horsepower was upped to 662 with 631 lbs ft. of torque. This was the most powerful V8 engine in the world. This increase was achieved by going with an all aluminum block and heads with the supercharger boost going to 14 psi. The 2013-14 GT 500 would do a quarter mile in 11 secs and a top speed of 202 MPH. The rear end ratio was dropped back to 3.31:1 with that extra torque. With that rear end the mileage was rated at 15 in the city and 25 on the highway.
The SVT GT 500 ended in 2014. During those eight years Ford sold almost 50,000 GT 500 Shelby Mustangs. Seventy five percent of them were coupes with 25% being convertibles. If you purchased one of these SVT GT 500’s you could ship your car to Shelby American in Las Vegas for a conversion to a GT 5000 Super Snake.
The next year Ford offered the awesome Shelby GT 350 on the S550 Mustang chassis. This very unique 2015 Mustang had a high revving, flat plane crank and race ready suspension.
In 2020 Ford is offering what will be known as the Ultimate Mustang, the 2020 Shelby Mustang GT 500.
I am calling these cars part of the Shelby Connection at TheCarSource. These Mustangs would not have existed without a connection to Carroll Shelby but were not built at his production facilities. In this section of the web page I will discuss these cars if for no other reason they are an important part of the Mustang evolution and the Shelby story.
Ford Shelby GT 500 Menu
- Return to the Shelby Connection prior menu
- 2007-2009 Shelby GT 500
- 2008-2009 Shelby GT 500 KR
- 2007-2009 Shelby GT 500 Super Snake
- 2010-2012 Shelby GT 500
- 20011-2012 Shelby GT 500 Super Snake
- 2011-2012 Shelby 1000
- 2013-2014 Shelby GT 500
- 2013-2014 Shelby GT 500 Super Snake
- 2013-2017 Shelby 1000
- 2015- Ford Shelby GT 350 – the flat plane crank S550 race ready Mustang
- 2020 Shelby GT 500 – the Ultimate Mustang
Source of information: Shelby.com The GT500 Super Snake by Donald Farr.