In the late 1960s, the fight wasn’t so much Mustang versus Camaro as it was Ford versus Mopar. The setting was NASCAR, the cars were the special aerodynamically-tuned jobs and the speeds were so high that NASCAR suits got genuinely worried about safety, worried enough to start banning models outright. It had been a battle throughout the 1960s that saw an Ford’s 427 Cammer get banned from competition. It was the time where both companies were at their highest: Mopar had a team of genuine gearheads running the engine development program, guys who raced in The Ramchargers, guys who craved more. What did Ford have? Henry Ford II, a red mist point of view towards Ferrari, the chicken farmer from Texas who wasn’t happy with basic performance, and a “kill ’em all” attitude towards competition. The names are legendary: Max Wedge. Thunderbolt. Talladega. Daytona. GT40. Challenger T/A. 

Come next year, we are at the 50th anniversary of what is considered to be the zenith of the original Musclecar Era for American performance cars. 1970 was one final blowout before the insurance company’s screws were finally felt, before the EPA came in swinging. In 1970 you could go to Ford and pick up one of the last of the Shelby Mustangs, equipped with a 429 SCJ mill or you could go to your local Dodge dealership and score a Hemi Challenger. Both cars would happily do their best to rip your face off. Both cars had the looks, had the guts. They were different in how they went about their mission, but either one would spike your adrenaline meter nicely.

Fifty years on, and what has changed? Apparently, not much. Over in Mopar’s corner, you have the Hellcat twins, the Hellcat Redeye, and last year’s sole-purpose-driven Demon. In Ford’s camp you had the screamer Shelby GT350, with it’s flat-plane-crank 5.2L unit that revved like an Acura Integra on spray and howled like a hungry wolf at the top of it’s lungs. But that car only puts out 526 horsepower. (Egads…”only”.) When the other guys are swinging 707 horsepower, 797 horsepower, and have an atomic bomb on standby just in case, do you heel and acknowledge greatness or do you become the challenger to the throne? Ford’s gone with Option B and has officially unveiled the 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500.

They are saying that it’s the most powerful street-legal Ford produced and we don’t doubt that. The 5.2L is hand-built and has been supercharged courtesy of a 2.65 Eaton roots-type unit that sports air-to-liquid cooling, and is putting out “over 700 horsepower”…and that’s all Ford is saying about that. The transmission is a dual-clutch unit from Tremec that shifts in less than 100 milliseconds and comes with several drive modes. It even has line-lock and a launch control unit with selectable RPM levels. The suspension geometry has been revised and is running MagneRide suspension, with Ford claiming that this Shelby has turned the highest-ever lateral acceleration for a Mustang of any kind. 16.5” two-piece brake rotors and Brembo six-piston calipers will slow things down in a manner your stomach will most certainly not appreciate. And if the basic setup isn’t enough, there will be two additional forms: the Handling Package adds in adjustable strut top mounts and a spoiler with a Gurney flap, and the Carbon Fiber Track Package brings on 20×11.5 wheels out back, a change from Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 4S tires to the glue-like Pilot Sport Cup 2s, and exposed carbon fiber on the wheels, GT4 track wing and splitter with dive planes. And you lose the rear seat in the name of weight savings.

Currently, Ford is claiming sub-11s in the quarter and a 0-60 charge of mid-three seconds. What Ford isn’t claiming is a solid horsepower figure yet, not one word on torque, and only the promise that the Shelby will arrive in the fall of 2019. We can’t wait for the comparisons with FCA’s big, brash monsters.