The Shelby Mustang is a high-performance variant of the Ford Mustang built by Shelby American from 1965 to 1967 and by the Ford Motor Company from 1968 to 1970.
In 2005, Ford revived the Shelby nameplate for a high-performance model of the fifth-generation Ford Mustang.
At the 2015 North American International Auto Show a more track-focused, hardcore and limited production version of the GT350 was unveiled called the GT350R, benchmarked against the Chevrolet Camaro Z28 and Porsche 911 GT3. The GT350R retains the GT350's 5.2-liter flat plane crank V8 engine, producing the same power, but grip was significantly increased by the means of wider Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, Carbon Revolution carbon fiber wheels (the first ever fitted to a mass-production road car) each weigh approximately 15 pounds less than the aluminum wheels on the GT350, and significantly more downforce thanks to a larger splitter and carbon-fiber rear wing to keep the car stuck to the ground. Items like the air conditioning, stereo, trunk floorboard, all the carpeting, the rear seats, and the backup camera could be removed from the factory resulting in the GT350R weighing 130 lb (59 kg) less than the GT350.
Serial #001 was sold at the 2015 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction for US$1,000,000 (~$1.13 million in 2021) with the proceeds to benefit the JDRF.
The GT350R won Road & Track magazine's 2016 "Performance Car of the Year" (PCOTY) and Car and Driver magazine's "10 Best Cars" for 2016.
