Interested in watching a full hourlong documentary on the Shelby Mustang GT500 and its creation? Who wouldn’t be? Unfortunately, we have to tell you that you’re out of luck – this video is only 45 minutes and 29 seconds long. Fret not, Mustang fans – it was a full hour when it actually debuted on-air on the National Geographic Channel, but we have the luxury of partaking in the entire show, sans commercials, and we have to agree that this format is much more enjoyable.

In this episode of Megafactories, the Nat Geo crew heads to the Flat Rock Assembly Plant and speaks to a number of the movers and shakers in the Mustang world as they detail the creation of the Shelby GT500 machines. It’s amazing to get this back-door view into the assembly plant – we’ve been there to see the process up close and personal, but not to this level. From the bare side stampings to the complete car, it’s all here – the birth of a legend. 680 Mustangs per day roll off the assembly line in many different trim packages, but the GT500 is clearly the top-of-the-line product.

We all know the specs on the GT500 – the 5.8L supercharged beast of an engine outputting 660-plus horsepower through a six-speed transmission is the heart of the baddest Mustang ever built, knocking down insane speed markers in the process, while remaining easy to drive and relatively comfortable for a vehicle of this nature. It’s mildly amusing to see some of the benchmarks detailed in metric measurements – 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, and a top speed of 321 kilometers per hour. 

There are interviews with many folks on the assembly line including the plant manager, the engineers responsible for its creation, and even the chief designer.

We appreciated the look into the background behind the machine, and figure every ‘Stangbanger will too. We couldn’t possibly detail everything in this video in the space we have allotted for this article, so cue up the video and give it a watch yourself. Mustang fans unite!