Ford provided an early look at its 2018 Mustang lineup, destined to go on sale this fall without a V-6 design between the base turbocharged four-cylinder variation– now with more power– and the Mustang GT with its boosted 5.0-liter Coyote V-8. However the V-6 wasn’t the only pony missing from the steady; the most remarkable Mustang in history and a ruling 10Best Cars winner, the Shelby GT350, likewise was missing in action. And if this news release from Ford is anything to pass–“Ford Extends Shelby GT350 and GT350R Mustang Accessibility to 2018 Model Year”– the company hadn’t always prepared to bring it back.
Obviously, it’s not a huge surprise that Ford would choose to continue developing a high-demand, acclaimed, and most likely rather successful halo car at the very peak of its appeal. That said, with the GT getting significant powertrain upgrades along with the GT350’s technique magnetic shocks, and a much more effective (and still uncertain) GT500 likely to nab the GT350’s tiara when it shows up in the next several months to combat the magnificent Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Ford most likely could manage without the GT350. But that would be pretty unbelievable, particularly with archival Chevrolet’s answer to the GT350, the Camaro Z/28, likely to remain in Chevy’s corral up until the 2019 model year.
The 2018 GT350 designs will not get the mid-cycle improvements applied to the base and GT models, however, consisting revised styling and functions inside and out. The availability of 3 brand-new colors– Orange Fury, Kona Blue, and Lead Foot Gray– are the only modifications of note for 2018 GT350s. It deserves mentioning that GT350s from the 2017 model year forward have coolers for the transmission and the rear differential, following early GT350 examples not geared up with those features– which were optional in last year– presumably were prone to overheating on the track.
