Under the camo, the Shelby GT350.
Ford’s new Mustang has been receiving rave reviews, and for good reason considering the new design, the shift to a long-awaited independent rear suspension and all the improvements in its powertrain mix.
For serious muscle car fans, the 435-horsepower 2015 Ford Mustang GT is the only option to consider – unless they want to wait for something bigger and better to come along. Members of the Mustang team have done nothing to hide the fact that they’re not finished with the pony car line-up – something made all the more obvious by this spy shot of what appears to be the next-generation Mustang Shelby 350GT.
Powered by the new Voodoo engine, it will be aimed at the likes of the new Camaro Z/28
You don’t see many of the changes in this view of the high-performance version being tested at Ford’s proving grounds in Michigan, but a few revisions are evident.
Note the hood scoop up front – critical for getting more air into the high-output engine, and likely for cooling purposes, as well. Is that an engine compartment vent in the front fender aft of the wheel well? And could there possibly be another exhaust vent in the rear fender just forward of the rear wheel well?
(Click Here for the first official pics of the new Cadillac ATS-V Coupe coming to LA next week.)
A slightly different angle.
Disregard the discs on the wheels. They’re there to hide the oversize brake calipers and the special wheel design for this model. But they can’t disguise the high-performance over-wide wheels and tires – which appear to require a fender lip at each corner.
What other changes are likely in store? Expect some improvements in aerodynamics to help keep the coming 350GT firmly planted to the pavement at track speed. Modified exhaust pipes for the production model would also seem a must.
The Shelby spin-off will retain the basic Mustang GT platform, albeit with the suspension further stiffened.
A modified version of the basic GT V-8 also will be used, transformed into the new 5.2-liter Voodoo engine. It’s expected to displace 5.2-liters, and some hints have surfaced about a modified, flat-plane crankshaft that could allow the big V-8 to spin up to an impressive 8,000 RPM redline – while churning out perhaps 550-hp.
Don’t be surprised to see two versions of the Shelby, a “base” GT350, and a track-tuned GT350R, the latter a stripped-to-the-basics pony car with one real purpose in life.
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As to Mustangs to follow, there are plenty of rumors about what will happen with the GT500, and that could depend on the ongoing relationship between Ford and Shelby American. Don’t be surprised to see that Nevada-based tuner come out with a variety of spin-offs of its own. After all, it has to outdo the 1,000-horsepower version of the prior generation Mustang.
Then there’s traditional tuner Steve Saleen. And, it appears, even one-time Ford designer Henrik Fisker is set to weigh in. He’s been working with Galpin Auto Sports, a subsidiary of Galpin Motors, the world’s largest Ford dealer. They’ve reserved a spot on the L.A. Auto Show media calendar next week to reveal the apparently Mustang-based Rocket, which Fisker is declaring “the ultimate American muscle car.”
(Click Here to check out a rendering of the Fisker Rocket.)
Considering the capabilities designed into the platform of the new Ford pony car, there will likely be a lot more spin-offs coming over the next few years.
(Paul A. Eisenstein contributed to this report.)