Auto Performance Racing Blog

Stop rubbing your eyes, you’re not seeing double. This is not a reprint of our April 2008 “Pony Expressed” tuner Mustang shootout or a flashback from 1965.

Yes, this Mustang looks exactly like the winner of that comparison test, the Shelby GT-California — same Grabber Orange/silver-striped uniform, same finishing school (Shelby Automobiles, Inc., of Las Vegas, Nevada), and all the same upgrades. But while that GT-C graduated with only a dash-mounted Shelby diploma, this Shelby GT/SC got full honors.

Underhood is a Paxton high-output centrifugal supercharger system, complete with an air-to-water intercooler and exclusive Shelby/NOVI 1200 compressor that cranks out 462 horses and 419 pound-feet of torque. That’s 143 horses and 89 pound-feet more than the naturally aspirated GT-C and a difference that’s immediately noticeable.

While both Shelbys can reduce their rear tires to clouds of white smoke and piles of black filings, doing so is positively effortless in the GT/SC. The GT-C requires concentration to lay a fat stripe of rubber; the GT/SC requires concentration not to. Of course, there are slightly more practical advantages to all those extra ponies. At 4.6 seconds, the GT/SC sprints to 60 mph a half second faster than the GT-C and runs the quarter mile eight-tenths quicker (13.0 seconds at 110.2 mph).

Despite the similar, 14-inch six-piston front brakes and 20-inch wheel packages, the GT/SC’s cornering and stopping performance is worse than the GT-C’s: 0.92 g versus 0.98 on the skidpad, 122 feet versus 117 from 60 mph, respectively. Could be the tire size and type. Standard GT-Cs run 255/35 and 275/35 profile Pirelli PZeros front and back, while the GT/SC has 265/35 Nitto NT555 tires all around.

Want one? Shelby Mustang GT/SCs are being sold in limited quantities via a nationwide network of Shelby Mod Shops, including SoCal’s Galpin Ford, the guys responsible for this $55,963 one. Musclecar fans should recognize the Galpin, Paxton, and Shelby connection. In 1965, Galpin Ford became the first Shelby dealer in California, carrying the GT350 and Cobra. Paxton blowers were offered through Galpin as an option on the 1966 and 1967 GT350.