850bhp Shelby GT500 Cobra
One-off tribute to legend that was Carroll Shelby
By Shahzad Sheikh
We lost a legend earlier this year (read our tribute here) and ‘Friends of Carroll Shelby’ including Frod, Shelby American, Ford Racing and many others got together to build this unique 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra as a tribute to the man – and fittingly it’s got a Ford Racing supercharged V8 with an astounding 850bhp!
‘Even at 89 years of age, Carroll was an inspiration to us all,” said Ford’s group vice president for sales and marketing Jim Farley. “This year marks the 50th anniversary of the original Shelby Cobra. The one-off car we have created represents the very idea he had about making the 2013 Shelby GT500 into a true Cobra.’
Using the 662-horsepower 2013 Shelby GT500 as a foundation, “Friends of Carroll” created the one-of-a-kind 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra wide-body Mustang that now generates more than 850 horsepower with the help of a Ford Racing 4.0-litre Whipple supercharger.
Understandably the rubber has been uprated to 345-section high-performance tyres on 13-inch wheels on the rear. There’s a new bonnet, and of course a wide-body kit at the back to accommodate those massive boots. The brakes are uprated and the whole car is finished in the same Guardsman Blue with Wimbledon White stripes that graced so many of the Cobra roadsters built in the 1960s.
