S650 Ford Mustang Getting Shelby Upgrades
Key Takeaways
- Shelby American testing S650 Mustang with major cosmetic changes.
- Previous reports suggest a GT500 model is in the works for 2025.
- Pricing may be extremely high.
An Instagram user by the name of Stewart Webb has posted a few low-resolution photos of an S650 Ford Mustang development vehicle outside of Shelby American headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, hinting at the impending release of a new Mustang-based creation. The entire front end of the S650 is wrapped in camouflaging vinyl, with more of the stuff applied across the trunk.
At the front, a completely new bumper design is evident, different from what is offered on the EcoBoost, GT, and Dark Horse variants. There’s also an aggressive hood with a central “power dome” of sorts. This hood may also be vented, but it’s difficult to say. At the back, an integrated spoiler is also new.
What Are We Looking At?
It’s impossible to be sure what we’re looking at because Ford has introduced all-new names like Dark Horse and GTD with the S650, but we’d like to believe this may be a new GT350 or GT500. Around a year ago, forums were ablaze with reports that an S650 GT500 would arrive in 2025, thanks to what appeared to be a leak at the Mustang Owner’s Museum, and around the same time, S650s were spied with center-exit exhaust tips.
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At the time, reports claimed that the GT500 would be offered in both coupe and convertible forms. None of this has ever been confirmed, but if these reports are all true, now would probably be a good time to start putting the finishing touches on a car that would be revealed in the next year or so.
Is There Room For A GT500?
While the Dark Horse is said to effectively replace the S550’s Mach 1 variant, which itself took over in principle from the previous GT350 as the sweet spot of the track-biased naturally aspirated Mustang experience, the Dark Horse’s price would suggest that a potential GT500 would be ridiculously priced. We only say so because a fully loaded S650 Dark Horse is costlier than an S550 GT500. For the record, the Dark Horse Premium starts at $62,180. The last GT500 started at just over 80 grand and could exceed $125k with options, so if this is the new GT500, we can’t help but wonder whether it will price itself out of competition to become one of the most expensive Fords on sale. All that depends on what’s new for the next Shelby and how much Ford wants to charge for it. We’ll bring you more details as we get them.
