Sure, there’s more to a car than sheer horsepower, but when your neighbor has a 580hp Camaro and your other neighbor’s getting a 780hp Gumpert Apollo, you need to do what you can to keep up. And if you can afford it, the Shelby 1000 is exactly the car you need to get the entire block drooling with envy.
Remember last year when Shelby introduced the 800hp Super Snake? Yeah, that’s old news. The new vehicle posts even more insane numbers: 950 ponies for the street version and 1,050 for the S/C track model, guaranteeing your neighbors will have a hard time one-upping you in the immediate future.
The Shelby 1000 builds on the standard GT500 and tunes it to behemoth levels of power. The 5.4-liter V8 engine gets fitted with new rods, crank, pistons and supercharger, along with upgraded cooling and exhausts, resulting in the massive performance upgrade. Complementing the new power are a beefier suspension (with new struts, sway bars and bushings), larger brakes, a solid single-piece driveshaft and a nine-inch rear end.
No word on how many Shelby 1000 models will be produced, but it will be a limited edition. Pricing, excluding the donor GT500, will start at $149,995, so expect to fork out at least $200,000 for one.
Stay tuned for more pics from New York Auto Show 2012.