Shelby American’s 597kW Mustang GT500 Signature to come to Australia

If you’ve considered owning a Shelby GT500, but didn’t think 567kW was quite enough, there’s good news for you.

Australians will soon be able to get their hands on the freshly announced Shelby American Mustang GT500 Signature Edition, which the eponymous company has taken and cranked up to make more than 597kW from its supercharged 5.2-litre V8.

Mustang Motorsport will be the Australian go-to for securing one of these beasts, as it has been for Ford’s own Shelby Mustang GT500 and GT350 models.

Shelby American VP and R&D chief Vince LaViolette outlines the changes Shelby American has made to the car to give it that extra potency over the ‘standard’ Ford Performance version.

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“We integrated a new pulley and coolers so the 5.2-litre V8 churns out over 800 horsepower,” says LaViolette,

“We lowered the car with more track-focused springs that match a new aggressive suspension tune.

Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 performance details

“Then we cut 30 pounds off the top of the Shelby GT500SE with the ultra-light dry carbon fiber hood, which is also much stronger and lighter. An optional wide body modification is even available for the serious driver.”

Mustang Motorsport will of course also offer the Shelby America GT350 in Signature Edition specification, which utilises the naturally aspirated version of Ford’s 5.2-litre, flat-plane Voodoo V8.

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Shelby American president Gary Patterson says the Signature Edition also coincides with the 55-year anniversary since the 1965 Shelby GT350, created in partnership with FoMoCo.

“To celebrate 55 years of collaboration, we created the Shelby GT350SE with a more aggressive handling package, sporty interior, stripes, special wheels, performance tires, and several functional styling elements.

“The 2020 model cars will wear a unique anniversary badge while 2015-2019 cars will have a standard one. The Shelby GT350SE package is affordable, distinctive and includes the coveted Shelby serial number.”

Affordable is unfortunately subjective, and in Australia there’s no pretending that the process of bringing a USDM car here is a cheap exercise.

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Mustang Motorsport is transparent about the likely expenses, with its specification and pricing estimator allowing you to select a base (stock from Ford) GT500 for around AU$245,000, or kit it out completely with colours, stripes (painted for $21k), a $40k track pack, and interior options for AU$322,450.

Then the price of the Shelby American Signature Edition conversion is an additional $49,990 over the price of your specified GT500.

With the modifications from Shelby American, it’s likely the best way to get a GT500SE is to simply add it to a base GT500 for a total AU$294,990 estimated spend.

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