As Shelby American continues to celebrate 60 years since the Chicken Farmer from Texas first opened the doors to his shop in Venice, California, a leak from a reliable source this morning revealed that Shelby and Ford plan to unveil a new twin-turbocharged version of the GT500 this weekend at the Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit. The new model will revive the "Code Red" name used on a one-off experimental GT500 back in 2008—but this Code Red will actually enter production for a limited production run of only 30 units, with up to 1,000 horsepower on tap using pump gas and over 1,300 ponies when running on E85.
The exact details of how Shelby plans to build a Mustang that can handle such a serious power upgrade remain under wraps but for now, the few known facts point to a serious straight-line screamer worthy of the iconic Shelby cobra badge.
Calling A Code Red
The new Code Red drops the GT500's supercharger in favor of two turbos. Where Ford sells the Mustang Shelby GT500 rated at 760 horsepower and 625 lb-ft of torque, Shelby's already announced King of the Road variant bumps output up to over 900 horses. Of course, a pair of snails bolted onto the same 5.2-liter V8 can produce far more boost when compared to the linear power delivery of a supercharger, and in the modern era, electronic control of wastegates and blow-off valves even help to prevent significant turbo lag. The Code Red's ECU will detect fuel grades and vary the setup's output accordingly.
Code Red Carries On The Legacy
Earlier experimental cars from Shelby that preceded this new Code Red gained cult followings, from the 1967 EXP 500 nicknamed "Little Red" that Barrett-Jackson found and restored, to the '68 notchback commonly known as "Green Hornet" that Shelby used as a tester for independent rear suspension, and all the way to the legendary '67 Super Snake that employed an aluminum 427 borrowed from a Le Mans GT40 to hit a top speed of 172 miles per hour in period.
More recently, Shelby built a single GT500 in 2008 that initiated the Code Red moniker with a similar twin-turbocharger setup. But at the time, the potential power output proved overwhelming for the fifth-gen Mustang's technology so the project ended up scrapped after only one unit built.
For context, that Code Red ran a twin-turbo V8 displacing 5.4 liters and built by Nelson Racing Engines to pump out over 1,000 horsepower (and even logged over 900 at the wheels on only 16 PSI of boost from the dual 61mm Turbonetic turbochargers). Even though the original Code Red never entered series production, it achieved enough cult status for Shelby to now revive the name in 2022.
A Real Straight-Line Screamer
Where the new Shelby GT500 KR maxes out track performance with weight savings and carbon-fiber aero bits to go along with over 900 horsepower from the supercharged 5.2-liter V8, the new Code Red sounds like much more of a straight-line screamer. All the little goodies that anyone might expect from a limited-edition Shelby should fit into the mix, though right now, HotCars only knows about a widebody kit for the already aggressive sixth-gen Mustang styling.
Want to know more about reinforced engine internals, suspension upgrades, or launch control settings? You'll have to wait. The first Code Red received a host of upgrades far too long to list here: a billet intake manifold, a magnafluxed engine block, billet connecting rods, and fueling upgrades including 16 fuel injectors, a secondary fuel cell, and a 1,700-cfm throttle body. The main problem that prevented that Code Red from entering production surrounded the relationship between tire grip and power output—at the time, Shelby wanted to develop an electronic boost controller so perhaps that system finally performs well enough to release a new Code Red using a similar system.
The 2008 version also featured a manual gearbox, which seems unlikely to be the case in the current era. At the very least, HotCars can conclude that the revisions to support so much power must be extensive, since Shelby decided not to bother with federalizing the Code Red, which suggests more in the way of drag-strip domination than road-going driving dynamics.
60th Anniversary Celebrations
Leave it to Shelby to take a King of the Road offering over 900 horsepower and ratchet up the insanity to an entirely new level. Production will be limited to only 10 units per model year, based on the 2020, '21, and '22 Shelby GT500. Expect to learn more about the new Code Red when Shelby American President Gary Patterson and Ford Performance Marketing Manager Jim Owens officially unveil this radical new Mustang variant to the public in Michigan later in the week—only the confidence that comes with a very serious build could inspire Shelby to debut a new model capable of drawing enthusiast attention right at the height of Monterey Car Week.
Sources: shelby.com, woodwarddreamcruise.com, nelsonracingengines.com, shelbyprototypecoupes.com, and ford.com.