Massive muscle but old-school chassis for Shelby Cobra

Newswheel staff :: 26 April 2005 :: Filed under Coupe, Front engine sportscar, Ford, Ford Mustang, US,

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Most powerful factory Mustang ever sticks with live axle

First the good news. This is just the beginning of what is likely to be a long line of tasty special editions based on the new Mustang. It packs a massive 450 supercharged horses. It’s probably very, very quick. And the lowered chassis looks pretty sweet in contrast to the jacked-up, tippy-toed appearance of the stock new-generation 'Stang.

Problem is, the penny-pinchers at Ford have denied the Shelby Cobra a proper chassis upgrade: the dirt cheap solid rear axle of the standard Mustang has been carried over. That’s surprising (and disappointing) for two reasons. The 5.4-litre, 32-valve power plant can’t have been too costly to drop in: it’s merely a development of the supercharged V8 that saw service in 2000 SVT Mustang Cobra R. What’s more, the Mustang shares it’s core underpinnings and chassis with the likes of Lincoln LS, Jaguar S-Type and Ford Thunderbird, all of which enjoy fully independent rear suspension. We’d hoped, therefore, there’d be some bucks left in the bank to bag that independent multi-link setup for the new Shelby Cobra. It certainly deserves it.

Whatever, we’re still thankful for the existance of the new Mustang. For those who value pure grunt over chassis finesse this is an extremely attractive proposition. Pricing has yet to be announced, but sales in North America are due to start early next year. There’s no word on European availability, but one thing is for sure. UK Mustang fans will have to import their own left hookers. Bah.