2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 coming to Australia

Mustang Motorsport has today confirmed it will be bringing Ford Mustang Shelby GT500s to Australia, after it was expected none would be seen locally.

With Ford Australia saying it wouldn’t be able to supply RHD versions of the car locally, Mustang Motorsport managing director Craig Dean told MOTOR incoming legislation would allow cars to be imported and converted locally.

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Dean says “December 11, 2019 is when the new system will start.”

“The new legislation is called the ‘Road Vehicle Standards Act,’ it was voted through parliament November late last year.

“The new compliance regime allows [importation of] any variant that is not imported by full volume manufacturers after 3 months of its release elsewhere in the world.”

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He says the GT500 will be joined by the more affordable GT350, though hasn’t confirmed a price for either yet.

“Mustang Motorsport will be importing and converting Shelby GT350s and GT500s. Pricing on GT350s is affordable and but the GT500 will be sold as a premium and we are predicting five or six.

“I have sent inquiries to Vehicle safety Standards to see when importation can be organised, I suspect after December 11 2019.”

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He adds that while he expects conversions to take around three weeks, it depends when it’s commercially viable to begin the importation process under the new legislation.

Dean adds that specifications for the car will remain the same except where they need to be altered for the right hand drive conversion and for ADR approval.

As Ford still hasn’t put a specific figure on the GT500’s “700hp+” or 522kW+ output, we don’t know where it will sit.

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In terms of the authenticity of work performed during a Mustang Motorsport conversion, Dean says past experience and already-acquired equipment means Mustangs are always completed to factory spec.

“Our conversions are always factory style fit and finish. With Mustangs in the past there were no official right hand drives, so we had to make everything for the reengineering to right hand drive.

“Now the Mustang is built in right hand drive for the S550 platform it will be easier as we can source the parts needed.”

Mustang Motorsport is taking expressions of interest for Shelby GT350 and GT500, and contact details can be found at the Mustang Motorsport website.

UPDATE (25th June 2019) : Ford has confirmed that the GT500's 5.2-litre supercharged V8 will produce 567kW and 847NM of torque, and claims that the GT500 will be the most powerful Ford road car ever.

With a specific output of 109kW per litre, the GT500 outguns the Dodge Challenger Demon's 626kW engine of 101kW per litre.