Hennessey Just Gave the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 a Beastly 1,204 Horses

Bryan Hood
·2 min read
5

Only Hennessey Performance Engineering could look at the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and see a car that needs more power.

The Texas-based tuner has just announced the over-the-top Venom 1200 Mustang GT500. The upgrade package, which includes a slew of powertrain modifications, doesn’t just boost performance a little—it boosts it by over 400 horses.

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The “standard” Shelby GT500 is a beast, plain and simple. It’s the current-generation Mustang that comes closest to recapturing the nameplate’s 1960s glory days. It’s powered by a 5.2-liter cross plane-crank V-8 equipped with a 2.7-liter supercharger that can generate a truly impressive 760 hp and 625 ft lbs of torque, easily making it the most powerful factory-produced ‘Stang of all time. It’s even more powerful than the outgoing Ford GT—which, let us remind you, is a supercar.

Hennessey Performance Engineering Venom 1200 Mustang GT50's engine
The Venom 1200 Mustang GT500’s V-8 comes equipped with a 3.8-liter supercharger

That wasn’t enough for company founder John Hennessey, though. He wanted to turn things up a couple of notches, something it sounds like the tuner has done and then some. The muscle car’s mill is now equipped with an even bigger 3.8-liter supercharger, a high-flow induction system, new fuel rails and injectors, as well as an air/oil separation system, according to the shop. Thanks to these fixes—along with a transmission recalibration and a few other upgrades—the powertrain is now capable of pumping out up to 1,204 horses and 902 ft lbs of twist. That’s 58 percent more horsepower than before and 44 percent more torque. Rounding out the package is special exterior badging and a numbered plaque.

“The stock Shelby GT500 is an extraordinary muscle car, but we take it to the nth degree with our Venom 1200.” Hennessey said in a statement. “Our engineers were able to coax more than 400 additional horsepower out of the engine, which takes performance to supercar levels. Only a handful of vehicles in the world offer this level of power… especially at this price point.”

As for the price, Hennessey is charging $59,950 for the Venom 1200 and plans to build just 66 examples. That price doesn’t include the base Shelby GT500, which starts at $79,420, so the actual price is closer to $140,000 for the muscle car. That’s a lot, but considering how powerful this Mustang is, it’s unlikely Hennessey will struggle to find buyers.

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