Ford has finally released a top speed for the bonkers $325,000 Mustang GTD, and it stands at a whopping 202 mph. There are a lot of Mustang firsts with this car, from the inboard rear suspension to the drag reduction system, but that top speed claim isn’t one of them. Unencumbered by a big wing or a dinner table-sized splitter, Ford claimed the 2013 to 2014 Mustang Shelby GT500 could also do 202 mph, although it did so using a rather different formula.
Instead of crazy precision and a careful aerodynamic balance, the 2013 to 2014 Shelby GT500 just threw bulk power and heat exchangers at a problem until it stopped being a problem anymore.
Oh, and best of all, if all you want to do is go crazy fast in a straight line, you can pick up a 2013 to 2014 Mustang Shelby GT500 for about $275,000 less than a Mustang GTD, and you won’t have to get on a special approval list to buy one. For flyover country, this might be a better tool for the job.
A Mustang With An Asterisk
It’s safe to say that the 2013 to 2014 Mustang GT500 is a juggernaut of a car. We’re talking about a Mustang with a 5.8-liter supercharged V8 pumping out 662 horsepower and 631 lb.-ft. of torque. It also had dual fuel pumps, a stout Tremec TR-6060 six-speed manual transmission, a carbon fiber driveshaft, and aero tweaks that Ford claimed were good for a 14 percent reduction in drag compared to the previous GT500. All insane stuff, but there’s a little bit of unfinished business around top speed.
Ford claims to have achieved a top speed of 202 mph at the Nardò Ring in Italy, and while that’s a herculean figure, it’s also one that other drivers at other venues have seen difficulty coming close to. See, Car And Driver managed a mere 189 mph two-way average on the 4.7-mile oval at Chrysler’s Chelsea Proving Grounds back in 2012, and Motor Trend came closer with a top speed of 196 mph on the five-mile oval at Chrysler’s Arizona proving grounds, albeit 5,000 feet above sea level. Under absolutely ideal conditions with at least 17,000 feet of tarmac, 202 mph seems very plausible, but who outside of Ford will be brave enough to find out more than a decade on?
A Relative Bargain
Thankfully, you won’t have to spend GTD money to find out. If you search hard enough, you can find one of these ludicrously powerful Shelby GT500 models for less than $50,000, which isn’t bad for something purported to be a 200 mph car out of the box. Mind you, because Ford only made 4,885 of these 2013 to 2014 GT500s, for the most current pricing, we need to turn to traditional classifieds. Take this 2014 model, for example. Finished in silver with blue stripes and sporting a mere 24,408 miles on the clock, it’s up for sale at a Toyota dealer in Florida for $46,999. Yeah, that’s a whole lot cheaper than a GTD if top speed is your only concern. With a squeaky clean Carfax and the desirable Recaro seats, this ain’t a bad way of spending 47 Gs.
Want to go the auction route? You’ll likely have to wait a while, but you could end up with something like this 2013 GT500 that hammered on Cars & Bids for $46,750 with just 24,500 miles on the clock. This one even includes the coveted Track Package, which offers functional upgrades like Bilstein dampers, uprated rear springs, a transmission cooler, a differential cooler, brake cooling ducts, and a Torsen limited-slip differential. All nice stuff to have when you’re really pushing the limits.
Alright, but what if you want to stack the deck? Well, this 2013 Mustang Shelby GT500 recently hammered on Cars & Bids for a mere $38,000, it’s been juiced up to a claimed 810 horsepower, largely thanks to a VMP Performance Gen 3R supercharger. This is definitely the cheapest 2013 GT500 I’ve seen in a while that isn’t a rebuilt wreck with an unclean Carfax, but the modifications aren’t for everyone.
Singular Purpose
Don’t get me wrong, a Mustang GTD will absolutely whoop a 2013 GT500’s ass around a racetrack. The tires, the suspension, the aero, the dual-clutch gearbox, it ought to all add up to substantially faster lap times. However, if all you’re looking for is a claimed top speed of 202 mph, a sub-$50,000 2013 to 2014 Mustang Shelby GT500 should, given a long enough stretch of tarmac, reach the same top speed as the $325,000 GTD, and that’s pretty neat.
More importantly, the last manual GT500 is still a proper experience. It’s a devourer of worlds, proof that absolute power corrupts absolutely. We’re talking about an involving machine producing obscene numbers that’ll never quite fade into the background. As Car And Driver put it:
With a car like this, you inevitably focus on the numbers. The $54,995 GT500 coupe turns in a 0-to-60 sprint of 3.5 seconds. Ferociously tall gearing means third gear is good for 140 mph and first gear is long enough to reach highway speeds. Even so, the quarter-mile passes in 11.8 seconds. Slam a redline shift from second to third, and you’ll hear the rear tires chirp. We also saw an even 1.00 g on the skidpad.
A college professor of mine once used the words “big juice” to describe America’s above-ground nuclear tests in the 1940s, the ones that vaporized entire Pacific atolls. I will now borrow the phrase: This car is big juice.
Big juice indeed. Welcome to the other fastest factory Mustang of all time, one that deserves to be remembered.
(Photo credits: Ford, Autotrader Seller, Cars & Bids)
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if no one outside of the manufacturer could hit that number then it couldnt do it. cause ford lied about this one. ford never produced any kind of data or video showing the task was done and we were well into the age when they wouldve been able to if theyde actually done it.
Yep, power for tools. Perfect car the rich asshole who’s not quite rich enough for “doors that open like this.”
For $50k, I’d rather have a well-rounded sports car than a one-trick Pony.
Funny you should write this article, I just started looking at a few last week and saving them in autotrader. Great looking cars. It’s surprising how well they’ve held their value. That being said, you could also buy a similar year mustang GT and slap on a Whipple supercharger for much less.
Not a straight line guy, I’d love to have the Boss 302 from that era though.
shhhhh don’t remind people about the older GT500s, they need to stay this cheap so I can buy one in a few years
I think it’s only a matter of time before these “last of the true pony car” Mustangs rocket up in value even against contemporary versions.
We’re in that moment where, relatively speaking, the market as a whole hasn’t really picked up that the current Mustang isn’t a a pony car anymore but a proper sports car.
Sure, it’s a better performer all around, but getting there has meant it lost a fair amount of the rough n raw character that made a Mustang a Mustang for so many decades.
With the EV revolution now offering a future of huge, near-instantaneous power, that character will be the one thing they can’t offer. I mean, unless it’s artificially simulated.
Performance versions of S197 Mustangs remain undervalued. This is, in fact, an enormous amount of car for the money. I’ve toyed with the idea of an S197 GT500, and the earlier ones are even cheaper. I’ve seen them in the 30s. You can also get Boss 302s in the 30s all day every day and even in the high 20s if you don’t mind a lesser example.
I think all will probably go up in value eventually, and as they continue to get cheaper unfortunately we’ll lose a lot of them to…well, Mustang things. But these are cool and a relative bargain. Just be aware that this was still when Mustangs were Mustangs. They aren’t the relatively refined GT cars they’ve become.
They’re absolute brutes that need to be treated with respect, and they aren’t for the faint of heart. I’ve seen a lot of S197 GT500s find their way into Mustang crash compilations. If you decide to return to monke with the go pedal make sure your life insurance is up to date.
The S197 GT500 has crossed my mind occasionally, but I feel like it would be a car I’d get sick of fairly quickly. You would only be able to use such a small percentage of what it’s capable of, and if you are able to open it up for a little bit, you’d have to be extremely careful while doing so. That just sounds like a chore.
Oh I agree. You also have to factor the astronomical cost of gas and insurance into the day to day as well. Muscle/pony cars make for terrible dailies. And trying to keep a car like this under control and operating smoothly in normal applications is probably quite a pain.
I’ve had Camaros as week long rentals twice and I couldn’t give them back fast enough. They’re super fun for the first couple of days but then reality sets in pretty quickly. I guess that’s how I always wind up in hot hatches. Well…that and the wife’s demands for practicality.
This is actually a decent argument for the Mustang GT, no matter the generation. Sure, some enthusiasts have to have the most powerful version available at the time, but for actual livability, the GT has always ensured you get plenty of Mustang fun but in a package that’s reasonbly streetable.
I actually think the S550 and 650 GTs are a bit overkill. 500ish horsepower is just too much to safely enjoy on the street. By the time you wind the Coyote out like it’s designed to be you’re already breaking the law. I legitimately wish there were lower power V8 options.
I’d love to get the full auditory experience without risking my license. I actually think the 5.7 liter Hemi in the Charger/Challenger is a good compromise. It’s enough to enjoy V8 goodness but not necessarily enough to get you in trouble if you aren’t paying close attention.
My ’84 Subaru GL had the same top speed as an ex’s Monte Carlo SS thanks to gearing, but I wouldn’t compare the two performance-wise.
it is like everyone has forgotten about he 2019 and up GT500 with 760 HP. I saw one the other day selling for a bit over 50K. Seemed like a hell of a deal to me.
I had a 2012 with “only” 550 hp, and part of the discussion I remember at the time was that the quest for 200 mph (and especially the longer gearing required) was actually a detriment in normal driving compared to the more aggressive gearing of the 2007-12 cars.
Man… are there any high-power, “cool” cars you haven’t owned?? 🙂
I wish I could say yes, but there’s tons that I haven’t.
From the English-speaking world, I’ve had 2 Holdens (a G8 and an SS), the GT500, and the Viper. I very briefly owned a rough 996, but that’s it for German performance. Apart from a decidedly low-power MR2 Spyder, I’ve never owned a Japanese performance car.
Plenty of time to experience more though, I hope.
The Spyder is such a cool forgotten little guy. Always dug the rear hatch cover for its rectilinear oldschool racecar look.
I loved it. 1-200 lb lighter than a Miata and the engine behind you made for a super cool experience.
I couldn’t justify keeping another 2 seater around at the time though, and it was having trouble passing emissions, so it had to go. Still wouldn’t mind finding another one someday.
Knew a guy who traded up his Celica for one so he could autocross better…he loved the pretty damn close to neutral handling it provided.