Welcome, Internet, to the wild, wild world of the Shelby GT500 Signature Edition. We hope you’re sitting down…
You’d have been forgiven for thinking that the circa 750bhp in the standard Mustang GT500 was plenty to be getting on with, but Shelby is now offering a US$29,995 (RM126,250) upgrade pack which includes engine updates to take the 5.2-litre V8 over the 800bhp mark.
The new hardware includes a smaller performance supercharger pulley as well as a new intercooler and heat exchanger sitting under a vented carbon fibre bonnet. Nice. It’s not all about out and out power, though, as the ultimate Mustang has also been lowered on track-focused springs and been given a ‘more aggressive suspension tune’.
Then there’s new wheels and tyres, plus special Signature Edition seats and badging to let those in the know just how bonkers you really are. Plenty of that madness goes to a good cause though, with part of the proceeds from each of the 100 Signature Editions made per year going to the Carroll Shelby Foundation.
The GT500SE isn’t the only thing to come out of Shelby American’s Las Vegas facility today either. The company has also announced Signature Edition upgrades for the track focused GT350 and GT350R.
At just US$9,995 (RM42,070), the GT350 Signature Edition updates seem like a bit of a bargain and can be applied to any of the 2015 and onwards cars (although you’ll need a 2020 model year to get the Shelby 55-year anniversary badging).
There’s no power boost for the manual gearboxed 350, so you’ll have to make do with the standard 526bhp, but Shelby has somehow developed a more aggressive handling package to go along with the visual upgrades. Check out those images above – looks mega doesn’t it?
Again, the updates will be limited to 100 examples per year and, oh yeah… both the GT500SE and the GT350SE can apparently be specced with an optional widebody kit for maximum impact. Crikey.