Published by Tim Huber
Aug 25, 2022
Carroll Shelby is unequivocally one of, if not the single most renowned and well-known American automotive tuner in history, and though the Texan tuner sadly passed away just over a decade ago in 2012, the Shelby brand lives on, continuing Carroll’s neverending mission to exact ever-more performance from today’s cars. Shelby American produces ultra-capable test mules to help develop its production models, though now, for the first time in the company’s history, it has just turned an experimental car into a limited edition vehicle.
Christened the Shelby GT500 CODE RED, this highly-modified, limited-edition Mustang was inspired by an experimental Shelby project from back in 2008. The car has been cloaked in a Shelby widebody system and aero kit complete with a slew of carbon fiber components including the car’s rear wing, vented hood, rocker wings, front splitter, and open rear diffuser. Carbon was also used for numerous interior parts including the heavily revised, custom cockpit’s instrumentation surrounds, bezels, and trim.
Under the hood, the CODE RED packs a completely rebuilt powertrain. This 5.2-liter V8 engine sees the regular GT500’s supercharger replaced with a twin Xona 7869S Dual Ball Bearing Turbo setup — marking the first-ever use of a twin turbocharger arrangement on a limited Shelby model. The most powerful limited edition Shelby Mustang of all time, the CODE RED and its bi-turbo V8 crank out a whopping 1,000hp and 780ft-lbs of torque while running on 93-octane pump fuel, though can also put down up to 1,300hp and 1,000ft-lbs when sipping on E85 ethanol fuel. On top of a custom paint job, the car is rounded up by an enormous slew of other top-shelf upgrades and performance parts.
The 2023 Shelby GT500 CODE RED is available now with pricing starting at $209,995 — an MSRP that does not include the $79,420 cost of the Mustang Shelby GT500 donor car. Shelby American will also be producing only 30 examples in total — just 10 for each model year from 2020 to 2022.
Purchase: $209,995+
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