Without a Doubt, the Best Bang for your Mustang Buck
Model year 2023 marked the end of the line for Ford’s factory Shelby variants of the Mustang, after six years of the GT350 from 2015 to 2020 and three years of the GT500 from 2020 to 2022. Instead, the Blue Oval decided to focus on the forthcoming GTD that paired a raucous supercharged “Predator” engine good for 815 horsepower and paired to a rear-mounted transaxle in a chassis built by Multimatic, all while eyeing a Nürburgring lap time battle versus Chevrolet’s gobsmacking Corvette ZR1.
American automakers stepping up into the supercar class certainly sounds fun, but Ford then announced that the GTD would be restricted to waitlist allocations only – and would come automatic-only, as well. In fact, the GTD uses the exact same eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox as the ZR1. So, not wanting to get left out of the game, Shelby American then doubled down by announcing a new GT350 of their own, offering 810 supercharged ponies, or up to 830 for a track-focused R variant.
The new GT350 pays homage to Carroll Shelby’s original that took the world by storm six decades ago. And critically, both the new GT350 and GT350R will come with a six-speed manual transmission as standard, all at a starting price of $109,995 for a much more livable Mustang that retains a backseat and trunk for storage, too.
The new GT350 begins life as a Mustang Dark Horse equipped with the factory Performance Pack that adds larger front and rear brakes. Shelby then strips off the bumpers and wheels to add a full Ford Performance suspension package with revised valving in the dampers and similar spring rates despite dropping the ride height by an inch. Different sway bars help to manage body roll, while Shelby-specific camber/caster plates allow the dialing in of perfect alignment for street or track.
All the removed plastics hit the junk pile, in favor of more aggressive and functional designs for the main grille, the front fascia’s lower and side grilles – with more effective brake cooling ducts – plus a three-piece front splitter. Shelby also specs an aluminum hood with a custom Shelby heat extractor, a rear ducktail-style spoiler (below an optional carbon-fiber pedestal wing), forged alloy wheels, and a burbling Borla exhaust.
Under the brilliant sunshine outside Shelby American’s Las Vegas HQ, the GT350 looks best in quintessential white with blue racing stripes. The crisp new details help produce a purposeful persona for this hardcore Mustang, which avoids some of the overt boy-racer muscularity of a GTD. But the power unlocked by that 3.0-liter twin-screw Whipple supercharger beneath the hood, itself larger than many SUV engines these days, transforms the Dark Horse into a different beast altogether.
Critically, Shelby tunes the supercharged Coyote V8 to retain some semblance of sanity at lower revs. The 5.0-liter engine can lope calmly around town, torquey but never touchy, even sounding relatively restrained given the burly brute nature available higher up in the tach. But rip off a few quick downshifts—by heel-toeing with the automatic rev matching off, of course – via the short shifter, and Dr Jekyll gives way to Mr Hyde immediately. Shelby only improves the action of the already solid shifter itself, with clean and precise gates into every gear.
The GT350 prefers second and third while driving hard, and by 4,000 rpm or so, the supercharger boost swells and swells under full throttle, seemingly pulling forever compared to so many other rev-limited V8 engines. Supercharger whine à la Dodge’s Hellcats only starts to creep in over the rich Borla exhaust note with the windows down, but rest assured, the sheer pace of acceleration more than compensates, slamming heads back into headrests, almost warping time and space in the low-slung Mustang chassis.
Even when warmed up, the 305 millimeter-wide rear Michelin tires struggle to maintain grip in a straight line between hard shifts, chirping regularly even with the traction control fully activated. Despite the power gains, the factory ECU still integrates traction control and Ford’s AdvanceTrac suite of driver aids – in fact, the Shelby tune reduces power with traction on and only reaches the full rating of 810 ponies with AdvanceTrac switched off. Shelby’s claims on paper likely underrate real-world output, however, and a healthy padding might prove out during dyno testing, especially when running 100-octane fuel or higher. Suffice to say, the GT350 takes a serious step up from the Dark Horse’s 500 horsepower.
The GT350’s suspension can support such newfound performance, without a doubt, but crucially, not at the cost of daily driveability. Despite the lowered ride height, the dampers and springs absorb bumps and ruts without sending jarring impacts into the cockpit. Instead, the tires simply stay glued to the tarmac while cornering or even trying to initiate slides via momentum alone, allowing for just enough weight transfer to provide clear communication of where grip remains, either shifting front to rear during hard launches or while dipping the nose into tight corners at pace.
The restrained 20-inch wheels probably help a ton to maintain this dual personality, absolutely looking the business but without going overboard in diameter in the name of low-profile tires that deliver style points in the name of compromised ride quality. And the nose over that long Mustang dash-to-axle stretch still rides high enough to very rarely wish for front-axle lift while trying to avoid scrapes.
All the Shelby performance enhancements and exterior cosmetic revisions match a restrained touch on the interior to help justify the GT350’s starting price tag that nearly doubles a Mustang Dark Horse. Leather seats go a long way, as do plenty of badges on the sill plate and dash, even in the engine bay, where Whipple nameplate (showing California Air Resources Board approval) and even a billet Shelby washer fluid reservoir cap. The base Mustang is still a budget-friendly sports car, though, and the typical Ford plastics for many surfaces do belie the more aspirational inclusions of premium materials, though not nearly as much as for a fully optioned GTD at nearer to a half-million-dollar ask.
Shelby’s not done working over the GT350, either. Future options available for the 2026 model year will include a wheel-stud conversion for easier wheel and tire swaps, another brake rotor upgrade to improve track performance, and a new splitter to match an even larger wing – again, to make the car more track-focused but still comfortable to live with.
I’d certainly take a cue-ball style shifter. But still, for about a third of the starting price of a GTD, the new GT350 arguably delivers 95% or more of the performance. (To go even wilder, hold out for the Super Snake R at the very top rung of the lineup.) As usual, the GT350 will still be relatively exclusive, because Shelby plans to match the original production run from 1965 with 562 built per year, including 36 of the hardcore GT350R.
This makes the GT350 quite possibly the most accessible way to acquire a Shelby Registry-eligible model with a true Shelby serial number. And unbelievably, despite the absurd power specs, Shelby somehow kept the GT350 50-state legal so that California buyers can get in on the fun, too. Historically significant, with borderline supercar performance, but still available with quintessential analog fun of a six-speed stick shift, everything about the GT350 makes this Mustang something of a dying breed in the modern era.
Images: Shelby American, Michael Van Runkle
