#FordMustangShelbyGt500

When is a Mustang a reptile? When it’s a Shelby, of course.

And when the car has Shelby badging on it, you’re in for a treat.

I almost turned the invite down.

In early June, Ford lit up my inbox with an invitation to head to Joliet, Illinois, to drive the Shelby GT500 on track at the members-only Autobahn Country Club.

Ah, Joliet – best known for the now-defunct prison featured in The Blues Brothers and other media. Also home of the Chicagoland Speedway, where NASCAR has a Cup race most years, as well as the Route 66 drag strip, which hosts NHRA events. Too bad we couldn’t turn the Shelbys loose on the oval. Or the drag strip. The latter was actually part of the plans. More on that later.

$73,995 will be the cost of entry for the fastest production Mustang ever made, including destination and the gas-guzzler tax. Fully-optioned, the Shelby GT500 can top $100,000, which also makes it the most expensive production Mustang ever made.

The Mustang6G Forum first published leaked pricing and an order guide for the 2020 Shelby GT500, while Motor Authority has verified the information with Ford. At its base price, the 760-horsepower Shelby GT500 costs comparatively more than either the 797-hp Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye ($73,440) or the 650-hp Camaro ZL1 ($64,695) — though we don’t yet know exactly how the performance will stack up.

The GT500 will likely make up for the power deficit to the Redeye via better handling, even in widebody form ($79,440). Comparing to the Camaro ZL1 with the track-focused 1LE package ($72,195), the Shelby has 110 hp in hand over its historic rival. Even if it takes the $18,500 Carbon Fiber Track Pack and $1,500 Handling Package to do it, this author is expecting the GT500 will set the new benchmark for outright pony car track performance.

Ford Mustang fans won’t have to settle for 526 horsepower for much longer. That’s currently the model’s headiest output, churned out by the 5.2-liter V8 found under the hood of the Shelby GT350.

In 2019, however, a new snake slithers into Dearborn. Rumored endlessly, the Shelby GT500 will return as “the most powerful street-legal production Ford ever,” the automaker claims.

Ever since the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 disappeared after 2014, taking the pony car horsepower crown with it, the other members of the Detroit Three were only too happy to relegate the Blue Oval to third place.

While the GT350 has performed yeoman’s duty satisfying Mustang fans — minus a cooling omission and some spectacular fires — buyers with a need for speed can now hit up a Chevrolet dealer for a 650-horsepower Camaro ZL1, or perhaps wander over to the Dodge retailer for a 707 hp Challenger Hellcat. You just know Ford wants to hit back.

According to new spy photos, Mustang aficionados could soon have their horsepower prayers answered.

Ford Mustangs are hot. They’re hot in America, and they’re unusually hot in Europe, too. People like driving them, and they sure as hell like talking about them. But it’s no secret that Ford thinks the Mustang isn’t hot enough, given its third-place standing in the pony car horsepower wars.

We’ve heard that Ford wants a Mustang to challenge the Dodge Challenger Hellcat and Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, but a new report claims that the next Shelby GT500 will beat them both.

When you want to spend around $100,000 on a car in Europe, few ideas are dumber than buying a pickup truck. Except for this one.