Yahoo Autos Ford Cancels the Mustang Shelby GT350 for 2021
With the arrival of the track-optimized Mustang Mach 1 and the 760-horsepower Mustang Shelby GT500, the top end of the Mustang lineup was getting a little crowded. It always seemed unconventional for Ford to offer two $70,000 ultra-performance Mustangs in the GT350 and GT500. That problem, if you can call it that, has been solved: The Shelby GT350 and GT350R will be discontinued for 2021.
This isn't particularly surprising. Aside from the obvious benefits of simplifying the lineup to focus on the more high-profile Shelby, there was a document leaked this spring that suggested the imminent demise of the GT350 and GT350R. The Mach 1 has most of the GT350's performance upgrades, and the GT500 goes even further. If you're thinking like an automaker product planner, the GT350 had become redundant.
Make no mistake, this is sad news. The GT350 was one of the most special cars in a generation, a Road & Track Performance Car of the Year winner, and my personal pick for the best new car on sale today. It didn't have the thunder of the 760-hp GT500, but it still had a six-speed manual and makes 523 hp. More importantly, it did so with a naturally aspirated flat-crank V-8 that spins to 8250 rpm and sounds like The End Times.
It's the perfect Mustang, fast and brash but not so overpowered as to require tons of electronic supervision and a dual-clutch transmission. The steering is phenomenal and talkative, the suspension firm but not bone-shattering, and the sound cataclysmic. It's a rewarding, enthusiastic driver's car. Or, I guess, it was.
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