Ford announces new souped up Shelby GT

American Dream Machine

9 August 2006 10:31 GMT / By Jonathan Goddard

Few cars are as evocative of the American dream than the classic Mustang, and Ford hopes to recapture some of its States-side kudos with its new jacked-up Shelby GT.

The latest addition to the Mustang family, a result of a partnership with racing hero Caroll Shelby, will be unveiled this weekend. The 2007 Ford Shelby GT was shown to dealers privately in the US last week and will be shown for the first time in public in an online documentary, which can be viewed at www.fordboldmoves.com and will demonstrate the new machine’s 4.6litre small block V8 engine, pumping out 325 raging horses.

The car is the third modern Shelby Mustang produced by Ford and fewer than 10,000 will be made. It has not yet been announced if any right-hand drive versions will make it over to this side of the Pond, but you can bet there will be a healthy number of lefties imported here by our ever-growing population of US car afficionados. In the States, however Ford and other indigenous car makers have suffered heavy losses to both sales and prestige while Japanese manufacturers are booming.

Predictably, Shelby said: “It's got the heart and soul of the Mustang GT pumped up with a great noise, strong motor, and nimble chassis. It's one of those rare cars that's really easy to drive really fast”.