Ford, Ending Production of Mustang Shelby

Ford will no longer offer the naturally aspirated, manual-only muscle car in favor of the 760-hp supercharged Shelby GT500.

• 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 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.