The name and legacy of Carroll Shelby lives on, and the company that bears his name is stepping up its game in a big, big way. Last year at the New York Auto Show Shelby American rolled out the Shelby 1000, a 950 horsepower beast meant to challenge the most powerful exotic sports cars in the world.
But 2013 is proving to be an even bigger year for Shelby American, and at the New York Auto Show they’ve upped the ante yet again with the new, 1,200 horsepower Shelby 1000 S/C. Joining the S/C is the 300 horsepower Shelby Focus ST, as well as a mystery vehicle at the Shelby booth, a truck that we can only speculate is a Raptor-based Shelby beast.
First though let’s focus on the star of the show, the car that everyone has been talking about, the Shelby 1000 S/C. Based on the 2013-14 Shelby GT500 and sporting a huge 5.7 liter, 1,200 horsepower engine, the Shelby 1000 S/C lives up to its name and then some. This is a car designed to demolish the quarter-mile, and we would be disappointed with anything less than a single-digit drag time.
Alas, Shelby is still keeping a lot of details under wraps, including what the adjustable suspension and bigger brakes consist of. However, as you can see from the pictures, a great deal of detail work went into making the Shelby 1000 look and feel like a much more exotic Mustang…and it’s a good thing too. Shelby is asking $154,995 for the Shelby 1000 S/C package, on top of the $55,000 MSRP for a Shelby GT500.
Yup, this is a more-than $200,000 Mustang. Wrap your head around that for a moment, and then realize that Shelby will only sell, at most, 100 of these wicked rides. Why don’t we move on to something a little more, shall we say,
That brings us to the Shelby-tuned Ford Focus ST. With its 252 horsepower EcoBoost engine, the 2013 Focus ST is already a pretty potent hot hatch. But for the first time in decades, Shelby has taken a hand to a small car other than the Mustang, and the result is cool, practical, and undeniably fun.
To boost power, Shelby added a new exhaust, intake, and tune to the Focus ST, bumping up power by a respectable 20 ponies for a total output of 272 horsepower. Shelby then went to work on the suspension, dropping the already-low Focus ST a whole inch to give it better handling chops. The brakes also get an upgrade, and finally Shelby adds its own badging and seats to make sure everyone knows you’ve got the real deal in your driveway.
Best of all, the Shelby Focus ST package costs just $14,995, plus the $23,495 base price of a Focus ST. All told, for under $40,000, you too can own your very own Shelby…albeit not a Shelby Mustang. Still, it’s a bit more realistic than the Shelby 1000, eh?
Finally though, we have a bit of a dark horse, this covered crew cab F-150 at the Shelby booth. We can only assume from its stance and height that it is a Raptor, and that Shelby has done something wicked and cool to make it stand out from the crowd. Just what they did, we don’t know yet…but we’ll find out soon enough for sure.