The Mustang remains one of the most widely recognized, respected, and desired nameplates in the automobile business. The Ford Mustang defined the pony-car segment in 1964; Plymouth's Barracuda may have beaten Ford to the showroom by 16 days, but it was the Mustang that set the sales records. The 'Cuda is gone now, and so are the Camaro, Firebird, Cougar, Javelin, Challenger, and every other would-be rival, leaving Ford's pony to prance alone. At least for now.
For 2007, the 210-hp Mustang V6 and 300-hp Mustang GT are joined by the new 500-hp supercharged Shelby GT500, offering its own look, tuning, and equipment.
The GT Coupe ($25,275) comes with all the same equipment as the V6 Deluxe, plus sport seats, in-grille fog lamps, complex reflector halogen headlamps with integral turn signals, a rear spoiler, performance suspension, and performance tires on 17-inch painted aluminum wheels. Its 4.6-liter overhead-cam V8 produces 300 horsepower.
The Shelby GT500 comes as a coupe ($40,930) or convertible ($45,755). The GT500 is powered by a 5.4-liter supercharged V8 developing 500 horsepower. It incurs a gas-guzzler tax ($1300).
The new Shelby GT500 kicks up yet another notch. Its 5.4-liter V8 is derived from the same modular engine family as the smaller 4.6, but has an iron block for rigidity, and four-valve-per-cylinder aluminum heads topped by a total of four overhead camshafts. A Roots-type positive-displacement supercharger feeds air at 8.5 psi through an air-to-liquid intercooler and dual 60mm throttle bodies. The official output is 500 horsepower at 6000 rpm, and 480 pound-feet of torque at 4500. The only available gearbox is a Tremec close-ratio six-speed manual.
