New York Auto Show: 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR

This is the first of three special edition Fords debuting at the New York Auto Show. Like the recent Shelby Mustangs, the Shelby GT500KR is a throwback to the musclecar ‘60s. KR stands for King of the Road and this new version of the classic certainly has the power to back up that claim. The vanilla GT500 had exactly 500 horsepower; the GT500KR will have 540 hp and 14 inch Brembo brakes to pull in the reigns.

Ford will only produce 1,000 of the new Shelby GT500KR coupes, so go put your order in now if you need to upgrade your GT500. Of course, you'll have a long wait. The GT500KR won't hit the streets until spring 2008. No prices have been announced, but we’d have to assume the GT500KR will be more than the GT500’s $40,930 price tag. 

More photos below.

Comments

I have a new dream car.

Ford should be spending the little money they have on something else like getting new naming persons to come up with better names for their vehicles, like to live on the Edge only matter of time before you fall off!!! they are going to give the Taurus a 2nd burial and this time there will be no resurrection. One

Toyota:
What are you talking about?
Anyway...the GT500KR follows the established trend of Ford bringing back a significant number of old trims. Yes, its a little repetitive to most but to the car crazies it's a lot of fun

ok you can only branch out a mustang so much before it gets so freakin old...i mean they wore out this new design! it needs to be updated again or something because reactions used to be "Thats the new mustang!" to "ah crap another boring mustang"

It's like Culver's Custard shop's "flavor of the day". Or how Taco Bell keeps making new combinations of the same meat, cheese, beans, and tortillas to make "new" meals. How many variations of the Mustang can Ford cook up? New wheels, spoilers, and stripes, and hey! You've got a "new" Mustang! Please. I still like the plain simple base V6 models best of all.

It's just about generating buzz, and keeping their name in the news. If each year the Mustang gets more powerful, or more extreme, that means it's changing, without the high cost of a complete redesign. If they only offered the exact same Mustangs year after year, it'd get old REALLY fast. Plus, this keeps people salivating over a Ford product, and helps form and maintain a positive brand image.

Dave T
this is a subliminal post, its not my fault the public school system failed you. holla at me if you need me to break it down 4 u. One

The Mustang continues being the King! It killed the sales of the camaro/firebird/trans am for GM and challenger/GTX/satelite cars for Chrysler. NOW that Ford is reeping all the sales even more, again, the other two are taking notice and finally waking up, but they will never compare to the Mustang. Sorry, the proof is in the pudding, cannot change the facts and history non-Mustang Lovers!

How much does this one weigh? Over two tons? At automobilemag.com they give the HP and torque numbers at over 500, saying it handily beats the Corvette. We'll see how it stacks up against the MUCH LIGHTER Vette when a comparison test finally occurs.

When Ford does finally re-engineer the Mustang (they're probably waiting until after the Camaro and Challenger come out), they need to use some of the profits they've made from the myriad of "new Mustangs" to make it lighter....and give it an IRS.

This car is absoutly beautiful. it is flawless in just about every aspect other than the weight. the oversized hood and tall grill scream power. Also, these come equipped with Sirius satelite radios with six free months of service. The trunk of this car is nearly filled with ungodly sized subwoofers. The power that this car has is enough to go twice as fast as you could go even if there wern't speed limits.

of course, nothing is perfect. If you get this car, you are entitled to paying for all of the speeding tickets that you'll definatly end up getting...

You still have to admit that this car is a step up from the Mustang. Just look at it, you cant argue with how good it looks. Its about the only thing Ford's got going for them right now. Just leave it alone, its a great car!

Hi, you say that "No prices have been announced, but we’d have to assume the GT500KR will be more than the GT500’s $40,930 price tag." I was wondering how much MORE you think they might be?

thankyou

ford continues the tradition of manufacturing high-end muscle cars. Mustang GT500KR is a magnificint car with killer looks. I see that many fellow bloggers mentioned that Ford's new model is similar to its predecessors, but they should also realize that Ford is doing what it does best and continue to create an all-American classic.

I talked to car dealership guy this past weekend and the price of a GT500kr is very expensive. He said it would be about 138,568 and some change for a car like that. I personally see this car as being anyones dream so this price isn't a problem. People want to be able to say they own the King of the Road so why bother with how much it costs?