View Photos CHRIS DOANE AUTOMOTIVE, ROY RITCHIE, THE MANUFACTURER

UPDATE, November 17, 2014: The GT350 has now been officially unveiled. Read our in-depth story and see photos of the hot new Mustang here.

What It Is

Though it bears the Shelby name, this is the creation of Ford’s SVT group. It’s more the spiritual successor to the recent and beloved Boss 302 than the most recent Shelby, that ground-thumping supercharged beast known as the GT500. So why call it a Shelby instead of a Boss or a Cobra or a Mach (or a Sprint or a Ghia or . . .)? Because attaching the Shelby name allows Ford to charge more.

Why It Matters

Why it matters? Why it matters?! What’s wrong with you—are you only reading this because you’re waiting at the doctor’s office?

Platform

The GT350 uses the same “S550” platform that underpins the 2015 Mustang. We anticipate that this version will ride on a significantly stiffer suspension with adjustable dampers. Early test vehicles, spotted around the company’s Dearborn, Michigan, headquarters, wore cross-drilled carbon-ceramic brake rotors. Those mules were also rolling on 19-inch Michelin Pilot Super Sport summer performance tires, with bodies pierced by a center hood vent and what appeared to be functional fender vents behind the front wheels.

Powertrain

SVT isn’t trying to top its supercharged GT500 engine here. Instead, expect a version of the 5.0-liter V-8 that powers the Mustang GT. This engine might have a slightly larger displacement than the stock unit, and SVT is known to be working on a flat-plane crankshaft for the “Voodoo” engine. The lower rotating mass with such a setup should allow this V-8 to rev past 8000 rpm and deliver about 550 horsepower. We expect this engine to be mounted exclusively to a manual transmission and send its power through a limited-slip differential.

Competition

Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE, Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, other Chevrolet Camaros, Dodge Challenger SRT, a used Boss 302.

What Might Go Wrong

If the SVT team can do a performance Mustang as good as the Mustang team’s old Boss 302, not much at all should go wrong.

Estimated Arrival and Price

Figure about $50,000 for this 2016 model.

NICHOLAS WALLACE, AARON ROBINSON, MARC URBANO, THE MANUFACTURER

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