There was bound to be something special to be birthed out of Shelby American to celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2022, and that special thing is the 2022 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR.
The new Shelby GT500KR is poised to live up to its name when it was first introduced in 1968 as the King of the Road powered by a 428 Cobra Jet V8 with an impressive-for-its-time 335 horsepower. Today, the Shelby GT500KR continues with a tradition of being the most powerful pony you can buy having 900 horsepower from its supercharged V8 thanks to a 3.8-liter Whipple supercharger – and you can outfit your current Shelby GT500 to have the GT500KR treatment for a price!
With the current Shelby GT500 already having 760 horsepower, there’s an excellent foundation for the GT500KR to build off in many areas, such as the platform’s suspension where the GT500KR adds Ford Performance front and rear sway bars along with recalibrated MagneRide dampers and ride-height-adjustable springs all around. In addition to the larger supercharger, there’s a high-volume intercooler, heat exchanger, cold air intake, and a Borla exhaust system.
In the looks department, which serves many functionality purposes, the Shelby GT500KR gets 20-inch wheels that come polished or finished in gloss black and are fitted with extended wheel studs. There are plenty of carbon fiber bits including the hood, front splitter, rear diffuser, and Gurney flap fitted to the rear spoiler. The vents are all functional and it gets Billet caps throughout the engine bay and the proper 60th anniversary badging with Shelby rocker panel stripes, embroidered leather seats and floor mats, painted stripes, an optional rear-seat delete, and best of all, a widebody kit.
The 2022 Shelby GT500KR will be limited to 225 cars where 40 of those go to the global market or you can outfit your current GT500 (up to 60 per model year from 2020 to 2022 will have the option to outfit their GT500 with the GT500KR spec package). The starting price is set at $127,895 for the complete new vehicle (up to 60 new units from the factory) or you can spend $54,995 to outfit your current 2020-2022 GT500 with the package. Orders open on February 1, 2022, and production starts during the first quarter of 2022 just in time for the first production GT500KR to be auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale, Arizona on January 29, 2022.
