Carroll Shelby, performance car icon, and Ford Motor company unveiled the Ford Shelby Cobra GT500 at the New York Auto Show. It’s the first Shelby Mustang in 35 years as well as the most powerful mustang ever.
Developed in conjunction with Ford’s Special Vehicle Team, the 450-plus-horsepower, supercharged, six-speed roadster takes its design cues from the muscle-bound Shelby Mustangs from the late 1960’s.
“I’ve worked with the SVT guys for several years now, and I know they have the guts, the talent and the passion to deliver the best performance Mustangs ever,” said Shelby in a statement issued by Ford.
According to Ford, the car shown at the Auto Show is officially a concept vehicle. But it does closely resemble the vehicle as it will be produced for sale.
In 1964, when asked to add some real performance to the company’s new sporty coupe, Shelby began to create high-performance Mustangs in partnership with Ford. Since then, he has done work on several models, including the 1968 GT-500DR, which is also known as the “King of the Road.”
Although Shelby parted ways with Ford in 1970 and later worked with Chrysler, he again began a partnership with Ford in 2003