The problem with the relationship for Ford is that many in the public associate Ford with Shelby and Shelby with Ford. Meaning that they think Shelby is just an extension of Ford like AMG is for Mercedes or SRT for Dodge. This has caused major issues and tumult within Ford for some as Shelby needs Ford but Ford does not need Shelby. The GTD does not have Shelby association because it would further continue this confusion. With Ford taking the Mustang racing around the world they want people to be saying “Ford won, and not Shelby won” which is 100% fair because it is Ford money, engineering, personnel, etc.. along with Multimatic that did it—Shelby would’ve just been a name. The GTD and Dark Horse are Ford going back to making their own top level cars, and that has been the plan since 2022 when it was clear that Ford was not interested in signing a new contract with Shelby. It was Ford who wanted to go their own way, not Shelby.
As a journalist, I am privy to insights behind the scenes. The relationship ending has not been a good one with Ford’s marketing arm clearly viewing Shelby demographics as older than the desired 18-30 crowd. Products have been canceled and Shelby has not been invited to events.
Who has had the hot hand in that crowd for Mustang products? RTR. That is why Ford worked with them in the development of a drift brake for the 7th gen, and now developed a hot version of the Ecoboost. However, don’t think that RTR’s ambitions are done, if that car sells they will be pushing for a V8 pre-title version, as RTR wants to be the new Shelby within Ford.
That term pre-title and post-title need to be explained. Pre-title is a car that is made under license to use the name and trademarks of a third party company like Shelby or RTR, but it is designed and built by Ford. They have some input in it of course, but it is a Ford engineered and manufactured product. Post-title are cars that are fully completed cars that are then purchased and turned into a third party vehicle like Shelby, Saleen, et al.
Without a contract with Ford, Shelby American Inc. (SAI), a subsidiary of the Carroll Shelby Trust which owns the trademarks for GT350 and GT500, are on their own. They cannot design, build, and test anything on their own, in fact other than body modifications all of their products are manufactured and made by other companies and Shelby just licenses them.
I’ve heard many asking for a different engine choice, that was never in the cards because without Ford, Shelby can only make a post-title vehicles and EPA testing, government regulations cannot be circumvented if they want to make a road legal car. Thus, they cannot buy a GT and then say, “let’s drop in a different engine or transmission.” They also cannot so easily, without working with Ford acquire the Dark Horse. Ford would have to say “we will make 100 Dark Horses available to SAI, but then that would (1) blow up the number produced of that car, (2) take away from cars already allocated to dealerships, (3) require a contract for those cars that would also to favor Shelby over their competitors at Roush, RTR, etc… they could not do that. The only way to acquire cars is to buy a vehicle that is plentiful, the Mustang GT.
Some have mentioned that the snake 🐍 logo is different on the new car, that is because the snake on our cars is called the “Tiffany Snake 🐍”. It was developed with Shelby and Ford and can only be used if both companies are on a product together. Look at SAI’s merchandise. It does not have the Tiffany snake.
The issue that I have with this “new GT350” which I say in quotes is not that they cannot do it (they have every right since the trademark is theirs), it is that it hopes to build on the goodwill that the 2015-2020 Ford produced vehicle amassed in the public and media.
SAI knows that many who believe Ford and Shelby are the same will believe this is truly the next generation, when in fact it is a Mustang GT that has been hopped up. Many, and some journalists will never understand the difference, but when I drove an early Sixt Super Snake when SAI teamed up with that rental car company, the feeling was very different than my 350R. It was fast, but it was missing the aggression and the specialness that my 350R had, why is that? Because a Mustang GT was designed to be the every person’s car. It has to meet the sensibilities of the 18 year old who just got out of high school and the 80 year old who is a decade or two beyond retirement. It cannot be 100% harsh, it cannot be specialized, it cannot be niche. In contrast, products like the GT350/350R and later GT500 and GT500 CFTP (which was initially going to be called the 500R), were developed on a clean sheet of paper to be exactly that—specialized, niche, hardcore and only meeting the needs of a very particular aggressive customer base. You can feel that difference of DNA 🧬 when you drive a product that was developed for the masses versus one that was developed on a racetrack for 3 years in the 350/350R case and 5 years on track for the GT500. The Super Snake despite having the power did not have that specialness and you could feel that difference when driving. It felt tame, it’s core was the driving experience of a Mustang GT.
This new car will have the same feeling especially since the 7th gen is just a mid cycle refresh of the last car. This car, which is attempting to stand on the shoulders of the last is ultimately a mustang GT. And in my opinion, a true GT350 does not have a window sticker that says Mustang GT with a price of 40k before there is a Shelby American sticker besides it that says over $100,000 in upgrades. My 350R said it was a 350R, that means a lot in what it was. I doubt these will be acclaimed by the car media as the last one was and I doubt it will increase in value as the Ford developed car did. Many collectors will not be clamoring for this car.
A note on the original cars that I do think is being missed, yes the originals did use parts off the shelf but there was some sense that they developed some products on their own. Now days, everything on a SAI is a product that was developed and made by another company. If you are not in the know, then you will think that they did all of the R&D and made these parts, but if you are an enthusiast, then it is just an amalgamation of already available products with a premium for the Shelby name.
Why 100 cars? Yes history, but also Shelby American has a dedicated buyers group who will purchase almost anything that they make. They will already have many slots already filled—they are very good at selling cars. These are not people who owned the 2015-2020 Ford built cars, these are whales who just love and buy everything that they make from the Centennial car to the KR, etc.. I think however, that after those 100 or 136 (including the R), it might start becoming harder to sell as that well will start to run dry.
Also for the TransAm series do not expect Shelby American to be running that in house. They will team with an existing racer or team who will fit a majority of the bill just like their Pikes Peak and lesser known drift team effort. It will be a customer run program for the most part.
SAI is not under any threat of closing, they have a very loyal customer base. But this is them responding to the end of the contract and going fully their own way.
Ultimately what I believe is the largest point and what is most significant is what this says about the future: There will be no contract between Ford and Shelby in this generation. If there was even a glimpse of a contract, the name would have been reserved. What this also says is that there will be a Shelby American produced GT500 that again will be based on a post titled vehicle like the Mustang GT. This will have an effect on vehicle values as these new cars are in name only similar to the last SAI 2011 GT350 which no one—not even Ford viewed as apart of the 350 lineage. I expect the Ford built vehicles to rise as it is clear there will not be true successor for some time.
