Shelby American will be reviving the legendary Mustang Shelby GT500KR. Based on the 2022 GT500 and assembled at Shelby's Las Vegas facility, it'll be offered in extremely limited numbers. With upgraded suspension, a bunch of carbon fiber, and a claimed 900-plus horsepower, it should be the most capable Shelby-badged Mustang ever offered.
KR, in case you're wondering, stands for "King of the Road." Cars wearing the KR nameplate are meant to be the very best of their kind, with every performance part available included to make them as extreme as possible. As the name suggests, it's a sort of apex predator for the streets. Shelby has only offered KR-badged Mustangs twice in the past. The first was in 1968, and then again in 2008.
Judging by the upgrades available on this latest GT500KR, we'd say it lives up to the name. Shelby is able to squeeze an extra 140 hp from the GT500's 5.2-liter V-8 thanks to a new supercharger, bigger heat exchangers, a cold-air intake system, and a Borla exhaust. Suspension-wise, there are stiffer springs, new Ford Performance sway bars, and adjustable camber plates. The MagneRide system has also been recalibrated.
Those wheels are Shelby originals measuring 20 inches in diameter, and come wrapped in high-performance summer tires. Other changes to the exterior include a carbon fiber hood with extra venting, a carbon splitter, a carbon diffuser, and a carbon gurney flap. There's also Shelby-specific striping and badges. You'll be able to option a widebody kit too, but Shelby hasn't released any details or pictures of such an upgrade just yet.
Shelby American plans to build just 225 examples of the GT500KR starting in the first quarter of 2022, with the first set to be auctioned off for charity with Barrett-Jackson. Pricing for the whole car starts at $127,895, though if you already have a GT500, you can send it to Shelby to get KR-ified for $54,995.
