Ford’s late teaser video showing some deliberately close up shots of their GT500 Mustang came as some surprise, not by its content but by its timing as one might naturally assume the most appropriate venue to debut the newest and most powerful road-legal car yet would be in Detroit, nearest to the company’s headquarters and arguably the birthplace of the muscle car scene itself.
The teaser video, lasting just under 30 seconds, did not provide much visual aid at imagining the finer points of the GT500 over the most powerful and hardened version of the present-day Mustang, the GT350R. However, it did leave us with some concrete information: specifically that it would produce over “700hp”.
It seems that, despite missing the Detroit Motor Show, Ford are readying a big reveal at the next major motor show in North America, taking place in February in Chicago. This came as a tip off from a user on the very dedicated Mustang6G forums in a post that was curiously taken down, which is also where a couple of nicely done renders were posted, interpreting a possible GT500.
Concurrently, leaks have been consistently pointing to the GT500 using the same 5.2-litre Voodoo V8 as in the GT350, but now fitted to a sizeable 2.65-litres Eaton supercharger to extract some immense figures. Supposedly, boost pressure stands at 12PSI, and we wonder just how much power has Ford managed to coax out, and if the new ‘Predator’ engine will retain any of its high-revving glory when left in its naturally aspirated state.
Either way, the confirmed number (over 522kW) will definitely place in close contention with other flagship big-power muscle cars such as the Dodge Challenger Hellcat and Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, or more loosely, the Corvette ZR1.
Because of the close relation to the GT350, the ‘500’s exterior might not need to change in too many ways to accommodate its more powerful incoming big brother. Evidenced by these renders, most seem to be on the same wavelength in thinking that all Ford really needs to do is stuff more power into the already excellent GT350. Et voilà.
Naturally, there will be some cosmetic changes to differentiate the two, but insofar as many meaningful alternations to the silhouette and or aero package, it’s doubtful. A similar approach was employed by Chevrolet with the new ZR1 Corvette, which is essentially a Z06 with a more powerful supercharged V8 producing 563kW over lesser’s 485kW tune.
The playbook might seem crude, but just like the ‘Vette, Ford’s Mustang seems to find itself with a foundation that can take - without major alteration - quite a bit more power as well as a fervent base of fans clamouring for just that.
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