- ford has announced that it will end production of the mustang shelby gt350 and gt350r this fall.
- the gt350 is powered by a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter flat-plane-crank v-8 that produces 526 horsepower and 429 lb-ft of torque. it was only offered with a six-speed manual transmission.
- now the only shelbified mustang is the 760-hp, dual-clutch automatic-only gt500.
pretty soon there will no longer be a shelby mustang with a manual transmission, and that leaves a foul taste when rolling off the tongue. ford is ending production of the naturally aspirated, flat-plane crank, six-speed manual-only mustang shelby gt350 and gt350r this fall in favor of the 760-hp supercharged shelby gt500, which, sadly, can't be had with a manual transmission.
the gt350's high-revving, naturally aspirated 5.2-liter v-8, code-named voodoo, won our hearts with its glorious sound when we put it through a one-year, 40,000-mile long-term test. it also was named to the car and driver 10best list two years in a row and won a comparison test against the also 10best-winning 2020 toyota supra. even better, ford decided to only offer the flat-plane-crank v-8 mated to a six-speed manual transmission. during car and driver testing, the gt350 launched to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and raced through the quarter-mile in 12.2 seconds at 119 mph.
get behind the wheel of the more powerful gt500 and you'll see a rotary shifter on the center console that's similar to the one found in the explorer suv. if you're going to do this to us, ford, at least add a do-it-yourself gearbox in the gt500. please?
ford said that ending production of the gt350 and gt350r "makes the way for new additions to excite [its] passionate mustang fans for 2021 model year – including the limited-edition mach 1.” it also offered a limited-edition gt350 heritage edition, which features a livery like the original 1965 mustang shelby gt350.
the ford mustang gt350 returned to the mustang lineup in 2015 and the 2020 model starts at $60,335 and the track-focused gt350r starts at $74,530. the 2020 model will be the last one with production ending this fall. #savethemanuals.