.jpg?q=50&fit=contain&w=1140&h=&dpr=1.5)
The Ford Mustang has been the best-selling and most affordable American sports car for a long time. Ford has also enjoyed increased sales in Europe since 2015 due to this sports car's popularity spreading fast across the globe. These factors make this wicked American performer a safe bet for top-tuners looking to grab money from the Mustang brigade, while pleasing the most hardcore enthusiasts — those not satisfied with just stock performance. The result is unique cars that push the boundaries of the Ford Mustang to unimaginable territories. They come with mad power output figures and offer mind-boggling performance, ensuring they consistently feature in the most powerful muscle car lists.
For most gearheads, a car's horsepower is the favorite-to-argue-over metric. Ford-approved tuners like Shelby American, Roush Performance, and Saleen know this and slap superchargers and turbochargers that result in 700 to 1200 horsepower. Buyers get their bragging rights packaged as a reliable and fiery Ford Mustang with intimidating looks, while these shops get rewarded with handsome checks — a win-win situation for everyone. Some of these Mustangs are the best ever produced. They come as limited editions, while others are special editions modified and sold to celebrate various milestones and anniversaries.
Below, we've ranked the 10 most powerful Ford Mustangs of all time. Cars tuned to hammer out gobs of horsepower and leave the Ford Mustang's obvious rivals eating exhaust fumes.
10 2020 Ford Mustang Jack Roush Edition (775 Hp)
Based on the 2020 Mustang GT500, the $87,720 Jack Roush Edition Mustang produces 775 hp and 670 lb-ft of torque. It is Roush Performance's best high-performance Mustang to date, with only 60 units made for the U.S. and 10 for international buyers. Powered by a 5.0-liter V8 boosted by an in-house supercharger and armed by a manual transmission, it can rocket from 0 to 60 mph in a mere 3.4 seconds.
It was created to celebrate the company's founder, Jack Roush's career victories since 1970, his legendary racing heritage, and multiple Hall of Fame inductions. Roush is a Ford engineer who later went into racing and started Roush Performance to manufacture components for racing applications.
9 2012 Shelby Mustang GT500 Super Snake (800 Hp)
Ford's tuner extraordinaire, Shelby American, re-established its partnership with Ford in 2005, and 3 years later, the production of the Mustang Super Snake edition was resumed with a 605 hp monster. The boundaries were pushed much further in 2012 with a much more powerful limited-edition Super Snake. With a 5.4-liter supercharged V8 engine, it was the first to crack 800 horsepower aided by a polished Kenne Bell supercharger.
As part of the Shelby treatment, it was fitted with a 6-speed manual transmission with a short-throw shifter. More upgrades included a Shelby handling pack, Borla exhaust, Shelby forged six-piston brake calipers, cross-drilled rotors, a fiberglass hood with the iconic Shelby stripes design, 20-inch forged wheels, among others.
8 2009 Prudhomme Edition Shelby Super Snake (800 Hp)
Don Prudhomme, popularly known as "The Snake", kickstarted his drag racing career in a Shelby-tuned car. To honor him, Shelby built 6 Prudhomme limited-edition Ford Mustang Super Snakes that could be used on the track and as daily drivers. All came fitted with a 5.4-liter supercharged V8 which, when fed 93 octane gas, produced 750 hp. On the track, when using racing fuel, the engine could crank out a massive 800 ponies.
It unquestionably looked like a drag racing car with racing flag paintings on the door, a Kenne Bell air intake on its hood, and a big wing at the rear. Inside, rear seats were removed to accommodate an 8-point roll cage and 5 point safety harnesses for those planning to have fun on the drag strip.
7 Saleen S302 'Black Label' Mustang (800 Hp)
Saleen is another acclaimed Ford tuner and performance car parts manufacturer, and they've been in the business for 35 years. The folks at Saleen surely did their magic with the 2019 Saleen S302 Black Label Ford Mustang. An upgrade of the Saleen S302 White Label, it comes with an Orange Fury tri-coat aesthetic, Saleen body kit, sitting on custom 20-inch wheels for a menacing look.
Under its hood is a Ford's 5.0-liter Coyote V8 supercharged with a custom Saleen supercharger, which ensures 800 hp and 630 lb.-ft of torque are a reality. The engine is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission for some added fun, while its 3-inch exhaust delivers the mellifluous yet malevolent V8 burble.
6 2020 Shelby GT500SE Shelby Super Snake (825 Hp)
The look of the GT500 Shelby Super Snake drastically changed in 2018, with a new front fascia, ground-hugging splitter, bigger side sills, and a new ducktail spoiler. For 2020, took 100 units of the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and upgraded them with the Shelby treatment to produce the GT500 Signature Edition Shelby Super Snake Mustangs.
It still came with a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 but had extra cooling systems and a smaller supercharger pulley. Both helped it produce 825 hp — a boost over the 760hp made by the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, which is not made by Shelby but Ford, who licenses the "Shelby GT500" moniker.
5 2021 Shelby Mustang GT500 Super Snake Speedster (825 Hp)
The 2021 Shelby GT500 Super Snake Speedster is like a Shelbyfied Shelby. That's because it's based on the Super Snake coupe, with the biggest difference being it's a convertible. A tonneau cover hides the rear seats but can be easily removed to operate the convertible top.
For those not aware, this is the first Mustang-based roadster with Shelby's performance-car street cred. Offered to celebrate Carrol Shelby's 98th birthday, only 98 are to be produced late this year, with each coming with a Shelby serial number. The insane bit lives under its racing stripe-adorned hood — a supercharged 5.0-liter Coyote V8 capable of 825 horses. Mated to a standard automatic or manual transmission, this GT500 Super Snake Speedster can rip to 60 mph in only 3.5 seconds.
4 2014 Shelby GT500 Super Snake (850 Hp)
When Shelby America moved to its new assembly facility near downtown Las Vegas, the first car to roll out was the blue 2014 Super Snake with 850 hp. Only 500 units were made and featured a reworked version of the 5.8-liter supercharged V8 found in the standard GT500, which bumped up the power by a whopping 188 horsepower.
Other additional upgrades included a Shelby cooling kit, Borla exhaust, and a set of Wilwood brakes with drilled rotors. For tracking purposes, they had lightweight 20-inch rims and a revised suspension. Inside, the sound system was done by Shaker audio, and there were plenty of Shelby signatures.
3 1994 Ford Mustang SVT Boss 10.0L (855 Hp)
It isn't unusual for an American muscle car manufacturer to make a one-off car tuned specifically for straight-ahead thrust — a car meant to break drag racing records and get horsepower bragging rights. The project car was a 1994 Ford Mustang named the SVT Boss. Displacement was Ford's weapon of choice to beat Chevy, who had a similar project with the Camaro ZL1, which it was up against in a drag race organized by Car and Driver.
The SVT Boss used a 9.9-liter V8 block bored by Roush Performance, resulting in a machine that produced an unimaginable 855 hp. For context, the most powerful Mustang could only produce 300 hp. More insane, it could run a quarter-mile drag race in only 10.55 seconds and accelerate from standstill to 60 mph in just 1.9 seconds.
2 2018 Shelby 1000 (1,000 Hp)
The Preeminent modifier of Ford Mustangs decided to take things next level with the Shelby 1000. Revealed at the 2017 SEMA event, it was a car engineered to be the ultimate road and track Mustang. Only 50 units were planned. Each had an aggressive stance as it was made wider with flared wheel arches to accommodate the wider tires.
By ditching the 5.0-liter V8 for Shelby's 5.2-liter V8 Voodoo engine and using a 4.5-liter Whipple supercharger with a massive intercooler, a high flow fuel system, plus an ECU tune, it could churn out 1000 horses.
1 2013 Shelby 1000 S/C (1,200 Hp)
All the sickest Ford Mustangs' thunder was completely and utterly stolen in 2013 by the 1200 horsepower Shelby 1000 S/C. Due to the massive success of the 2012 Shelby 1000, Shelby brought it back in 2013 with even more power to offer uncompromising performance.
To achieve the massive power output, Shelby took the 5.8-liter V8 from the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 and swapped the internals with even stronger parts. These included pistons, rings, rods among others. To add on, Shelby also updated its adjustable suspension to help handle the 1200 hp, fitted bigger brakes, put on a new cooling package and new tires. This unit at the time was sold for $210,000, and only 100 were made.