2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500SE: The 800-HP-Plus GT500 With More Shelby

The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is already a car worthy of the Shelby name, but for those who want a more conspicuous connection to racing legend and entrepreneur Carroll Shelby, Las Vegas-based Shelby American is offering a Carroll Shelby Signature Edition package that turns your stock Mustang GT500 into a GT500SE with more power and an official Shelby CSM number.

Wondering why you’d want Shelby to tune and Shelby-fy a car that’s already a Shelby? The relationship between Ford and Shelby can be a little confusing, so here’s a quick breakdown: Ford licenses the Shelby name for the GT500 and GT350, which were developed 100-percent in-house at Ford. Shelby American is the company that Carroll Shelby founded, and still builds its own cars including continuation-series Cobras and modified Mustangs and F-150s. Shelby American is also the keeper of the official Shelby registry, which documents every Shelby-built vehicle going back to the early ’60s. Because the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is not built by Shelby, it doesn’t get a Shelby serial number.

But for $29,995, you can change that—and get a power boost and unique design touches to boot. Shelby American says the GT500SE will make more than 800 horsepower on 93-octane pump gas. The package includes a performance pulley for the stock 740-hp 5.2-liter “Predator” V-8’s supercharger and additional heat exchangers for better cooling. Additionally, you get a ventilated carbon-fiber hood, new half shafts, upgraded front and rear anti-roll bars, a suspension recalibration with new springs front and rear, camber and caster adjustment plates, special wheels measuring 20 x 11 up front and 20 x 11.5 in the rear, and performance tires.

Completing the look are Shelby stripes and badges, leather seats embroidered with Shelby’s signature, and badges galore. Then, of course, there’s that all-important Shelby numbered dash plate. Just 100 examples will be made per model year, with the first 15 orders granted perks like a visit to Shelby American’s Las Vegas headquarters. The Signature Edition program is also being extended to the 2015–2020 GT350 and GT350R, with the same production limitations in place for each model year.

So, if you feel like your GT500 just isn’t Shelby enough to get you into the exclusive Shelby owners club, don’t worry. Membership is just an extra $30,000 away.

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