The 2015-16 Shelby GT350R has some big shoes to fill by carrying on the legacy of Carroll Shelby’s ultimate Mustang race car, and from everything we’ve seen and heard, Ford did a helluva job living up the legend. Kelly Hansen, lead singer from 1970s rock supergroup Foreigner was invited to ride shotgun in a Shelby GT350R with NASCAR’s Greg Biffle at the wheel for some “Hot Blooded” hot laps.
The only thing more impressive than Biffle’s driving skills and the sound of the Shelby’s 524 horsepower 5.2 liter V8 are Hansen’s vocals and his incredible hair. The guy has better locks at age 54 than most guys do at 34.
Back to the car at hand, Biffle was given carte blanche to put the Shelby GT350R to the test, and Ford really isn’t kidding when it says that this is the most track-capable street-legal Mustang it has ever built. From a fully-reworked lightweight six-speed manual transmission (the ONLY option for the Shelby Mustang) to cutting-edge carbon fiber wheels that reduce rotating mass, the GT350R is fast enough to give even the hardiest racers Double Vision as it were.
But don’t go thinking we’re just playing Head Games with you over these Hot Blooded hot laps. Biffle, ever the Dirty White Boy that he is, gets in on the singing with Hansen, and and we’re sure it Feels Like The First Time either of them have experienced a track Mustang quite like this. But even as he’s singing along with Hansen, Biffle remains as Cold As Ice in his focus on the track, and it’s clear that the Shelby GT350R is a real Spellbinder as they Rev From The Red Line.