With brilliant explosion of fireworks, the Ford Shelby GT 500 made its official production debut. With “Le Mans” stripes, a Cobra logo visible in every view of the car, and an aggressive stance, one car in blue on white, one in white on red, it was as all-American a display of power as you can get. The 5.4L DOHC V8 in the GT500 is supercharged with a roots-style blower jamming tons of air through short intake runners and into the Ford GT’s heads. A Tremec 6-speed sends the torque o the rear end.

Official production specs have jumped from earlier estimations of 450 hp to 475 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque. Smokin’ hot.

14-inch Brembo vented discs up front, with 4-piston aluminum calipers, and 11.8-inch vented rear discs with –piston calipers handle the stopping of this heavier than the Mustang GT beast; curb weight is 3920 pounds.

The Shelby retains the base Mustang’s suspension setup of struts up front and a three-ink live axle with Panhard rod. A 34mm front and 24mm rear stabilizer bar keep body roll in check.

Mark Fields and Carroll Shelby step out of the Shelby GT500.

P255/45 front and P285/40 rear meats wrapped around 18 by 9.5-inch wheels handle communication of power to the ground.

The GT500, with all that power physically under and visually on the hood, will be available this summer for a price in the low $40,000 range.

Mark Fields stayed to introduce the car...Shelby was just there for the pictures