When it comes to really cool and fun cars for less than $50,000, you might think there are not that many options. The current world in which we live in of course, everything is getting more and more expensive. To get anything really cool for less than $50,000 might seem like an arduous task to some. Well thankfully for us, automotive YouTube extraordinaire Doug DeMuro has put together a hugely impressive list of fun cars he would buy on a budget of $50,000, and we can't help but agree with this one.
DeMuro’s list contains plenty of excellent cars, but one of these is the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350. This is one of the fastest versions of the Mustang you can ever buy, that combines power and speed with the styling of an icon. The Mustang itself is of course one of the most iconic cars ever made, and certainly the one car everyone thinks about when it comes to muscle cars. It is little surprise that this car is on DeMuro’s list of cars you can get at this price point, as it has a lot to offer.
What DeMuro Thinks About The Shelby GT350
DeMuro himself does not think that this car is particularly special in several ways, mainly because there are so many Mustangs out there in the world and a lot of GT350s. Most people won’t be able to tell the difference between a GT350 and a standard Mustang and even then he says, you can see the GT350 quite often. But there is a very good reason for that says DeMuro, and that is that the GT350 is an amazing car and one that is incredible to drive. The amazing engine sound is an added bonus. Its rarity could also be credited to the fact that it uses a Tremec 6-speed manual transmission that shifts smooth, but most prefer to drive automatics.
Additionally, while Mustangs are supposed to be great on the drag strip with impressive straight-line acceleration, the GT350 is capable of even more. We don’t tend to think of Mustangs as cars you can really throw into corners, but as DeMuro says, the Shelby GT350 feels much lighter and tossable into the corners than a standard Mustang. Ofcourse the Shelby build on what is al already great product from the Ford Factory. But also what makes this car so good is that they are now a little bit more affordable.
The Shelby GT350 Is Still Expensive, But Not Quite As Much
The GT350 is not a cheap car. $50,000 is not a small amount of money. But prices are starting to come down gradually at the moment and for less than $50,000 you are going to get a lot of car. Of course, under the hood of the current GT350 is a V8 engine, a 5.2-liter Voodoo V8 and one that produces 526 hp and 429 lb-ft of torque. That is a whole lot of power and torque for anyone to handle, but the manual transmission makes it even more special to drive.
Manual transmissions are beginning to slowly fade away. But the Shelby GT350 is one of the few that remain true to being raw and exciting for gearheads. Not only that, but we are of course firmly in the beginnings of the hybrid and electric era, so the Shelby GT350 offers something refreshing in a world of increasingly digital cars. Throwing a huge V8 into gear via a clutch pedal and a gear shifter is something that one day, very few of us will manage to experience. This helps make the GT350 an excellent choice for many.
Driving The Shelby GT350 Is A Fascinating Experience
As DeMuro alludes to in his video, the Shelby GT350 is a lot more nimble in the corners than you might think. Muscle cars by their very nature are big, brutish and heavy machines, not designed for tight and twisty roads. Yet the shedding of weight and optimization of things such as the front and rear suspension, mean that this is one of the best Mustangs you could drive if you want to throw it through the corners. Of course, that 500 hp + V8 engine still makes it an absolute demon down the 1/4 mile, and the GT350 does like an upgrade or two.
One Of The Most Underrated $50,000 Cars
In some ways, the Shelby GT350 is an underrated car for its price point. It's easy to just look at it and think it is a slightly flashier Mustang, but it offers so much more than that. The GT350 brings in a lighter, more refined approach to the Mustang. There are definitely better cars out there. There are cheaper cars out there. But there aren’t many cars out there that are more enjoyable than the Shelby GT350.
Sources: Doug DeMuro YouTube Channel, Ford