900+-HP Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR Celebrates Shelby American's 60th Year (2024)

• Over 900 horsepower, lots of carbon fiber, and an extremely limited edition. Say hello to the new Ford Shelby GT500KR, nicknamed the King of the Road.
• Shelby will only built 180 GT500KRs—60 each from 2020, 2021, and 2022—as well as 45 for the international market. This is well below the two previous editions, which were built in 1968 and 2008–2009.
• Shelby will start building the new GT500KR in early 2022, with the first public unveiling scheduled for the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction in January.

Shelby American is returning to the past for its latest street-legal, limited-run Mustang special edition: an updated version of the Ford Shelby GT500KR. The new GT500KR is part of Shelby American's 60th-anniversary celebration, which takes place in 2022. Every 2022 model that Shelby will make next year will come with a 60th-anniversary badge, starting with the Shelby GT500KR, also known as the King of the Road.

Ford fanatics won't need to see the badge to know what they're looking at when they see the new GT500KR. This will only be the third time Shelby will release a King of the Road GT500—the others were in 1968 and 2008—and it will stand out thanks to a carbon-fiber hood as well as a carbon-fiber front splitter and rear diffuser. New performance-spec tires will ride on one-piece 6061-T6 forged aluminum wheels (20 x 11.0 front and 20 x 11.5 rear). Shelby rocker stripes and badges, a Shelby hood strut system, and leather seat re-covers are all part of the standard upgrade.

All of the GT500KR’s visual cues are backed up by an upgraded 5.2-liter V-8 powertrain that will offer more than 900 horsepower when using 93-octane fuel, thanks to a 3.8-liter supercharger with a high-volume intercooler and heat exchanger. The MagneRide suspension has been recalibrated, and there are Shelby adjustable front and rear springs, along with Ford Performance front and rear sway bars.

On top of all of those standard features, optional components include a Shelby widebody kit, a polished supercharger, painted stripes, rear-seat delete with harness bar, and Le Mans–style over-the-top stripes. Shelby said it will only make 225 units of the 2020–2022 model year GT500KR, well below the numbers it made in previous years. Shelby said that 1570 units of the first GT500KR models were sold in 1968: 1053 fastbacks and 517 convertibles. Those models used a 428 Cobra Jet V-8 that was rated at 335 horsepower.

When Shelby and Ford brought the GT500KR name back in 2008 and 2009—this time with 540 horsepower—it first made 1000 units, but then decided to make 712 more due to high demand, despite our 2008 assessment that the $80,000 vehicle was the “Most Ridiculously Overpriced Mustang Ever.” The price for the new edition? $127,895, or just $54,995 for the KR package if you bring your own 2020–2022 Shelby GT500 (only 60 packages will be available). The starting price for a 2022 Shelby GT500 is $72,900.

Shelby will make 180 GT500KRs, 60 for each model year, to be sold in the U.S. That leaves 45 for overseas buyers. Production will start in the first quarter of 2022, but the new Shelby GT500KR will be revealed to the public at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale event in January, with the first production car being auctioned there January 29 to benefit charity.