2024 Ford Mustang Shelby imagined, as new GT500 rumoured for 2025

The next-generation Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 may be right around the corner, rumours suggest – as new computer illustrations give a clue of what to expect from Ford's flagship muscle car.

Revealed last week, the standard GT and new track-oriented Dark Horse V8 models will sit at the top of the Mustang range for now – but it's the high-performance Shelby variants that many Ford fans are waiting for.

Launched in 2014 for Model Year (MY) 2015, the outgoing Mustang was available in two Shelby-badged flavours: the naturally-aspirated GT350, sold between MY2015 and 2020, followed by the supercharged GT500, limited to Model Years 2020 to 2022.

But Ford may be preparing to flip the previous timeline, as insiders cited by US Ford enthusiast website Ford Authority say a new Shelby GT500 is due in 2025 – two years into the new Mustang's model cycle, rather than five, as per the previous model.

The report doesn't comment on a new GT350, or its two-seat GT350R track-focused derivative – though it's possible its place in the line-up may have been filled by the new Dark Horse, which offers similar power (373kW-plus for the Dark Horse vs 392kW for the GT350) and track-focused enhancements (semi-slick tyres, Brembo performance brakes, carbon-fibre wheels).

Ford Authority claims the new GT500 will launch in the US in 2025 for Model Year 2026 – following the regular Mustang, which goes on sale in the US in mid 2023 for Model Year 2024, with Australian deliveries to follow later next year.

No additional details of the next GT500 are given, including whether it will retain or build upon the current model's engine: Ford's 5.2-litre supercharged V8 (known as the 'Predator'), which develops 567kW (760 horsepower) and 847Nm.

Other highlights of the current GT500 include a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, larger brakes, adaptive suspension, six heat exchangers, and an optional Track Pack with a carbon-fibre rear wing, carbon-fibre wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 track tyres, and more.

Many of these features – including the carbon-fibre wheels, which are manufactured by Australian company Carbon Revolution in Victoria – are already available on the Dark Horse, leaving room for Ford to push the bar further for the next Shelby model.

While there's no firm indication a new Mustang Shelby GT350 is on the way to join the next GT500, Drive tasked resident digital artist Theophilus Chin with imagining what one could look like – drawing parts from the outgoing GT350 and GT500 duo.

Highlights include a larger front grille akin to the departing GT500, wider wheel arches, a single-piece rear wing from the old GT350R, and a signature blue and white exterior colour scheme.

Our imagined GT350 has an evolution of the outgoing model's 5.2-litre 'Voodoo' V8 – the naturally-aspirated version of the GT500's supercharged 'Predator' engine – under its bonnet, with a six-speed manual transmission built by Tremec, and rear-wheel drive.

To create space for the 373kW-plus Dark Horse below it, the Voodoo V8's outputs would need to be increased, from the 392kW/583Nm of the 2015-2020 GT350, towards an output beyond 400kW or 410kW.

For now, we can only dream. If a new Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 is in development, expect to hear more in the coming months – while the new GT500 is rumoured to go on sale in the US in 2025.

An Australian launch is yet to be confirmed. Neither of the previous-generation Shelby Mustangs were sold locally.