Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang Announced for 2018

Ford Motor Company has announced that the Shelby GT350 Mustang will continue into the 2018 model year and while the rest of the 2018 Mustang lineup gets a slightly refreshed exterior design – the 2018 Shelby models retain their 2017 look.

Ford Motor Company surprised us all earlier this year when they rolled out the facelifted 2018 Mustang with new headlights, a new front end and a handful of other exterior revisions when compared to the 2017 models. The 2015-2017 Shelby GT350 and GT350R have their own unique front end, so when FoMoCo rolled out the revised 2018 Mustang GT, it raised some questions about a new Shelby GT350 front end. Then again, it wasn’t clear if the Shelby GT350/GT350R would continue beyond the 2017 model year, until now.

The Motor Company has officially announced that the Shelby GT350 and GT350R Mustang will return for the 2018 model year without any real changes – including no refresh for the new model year.

The 2018 Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang
The 2018 Ford Shelby GT350 and GT350R Mustang are basically full carryover models, meaning that all of the standard features from 2017 will be included in the 2018 models. This includes the 5.2L flat plane V8 engine, which delivers 526 horsepower and 429lb-ft of torque, a 6-speed manual transmission, the MagneRide suspension system, the gigantic Brembo floating rotor brake system and all of the rest of the features which make the modern Shelby Mustang such an impressive machine. It should be noted that all 2018 Shelby GT350/GT350R Mustangs come with a differential cooler, an engine oil cooler and a transmission cooler as standard equipment.

Basically, there will be no functional differences between the 2017 Shelby Mustang and the 2018 Shelby Mustang.

The only real change for the 2018 Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang comes to the color palate, which will get Orange Fury, Kona Blue and Lead Foot Gray for the new model year. With this announcement comes the image above, which looks a great deal like Grabber Blue, but with the announcement introducing the new Kona Blue option, it would lead us to believe that this is a 2018 Kona Blue Mustang GT350. The “problem” with this idea is that in the past, Kona Blue was darker, like the current Lightning Blue.

It is unclear whether these colors replace existing colors or if the Motor Company is just adding them to the lineup, but were I a betting man – I would guess that Kona Blue will replace Grabber Blue (provided that the image above is a new, lighter Kona Blue) and Lead Foot Gray will replace Magnetic. As for Orange Fury, there is currently no orange hue offered for the 2017 model year, so this could be a new premium color which could replace Ruby Red or Triple Yellow, or it could just enter the lineup without replacing another color.

There has been no word on Shelby GT350/GT350R pricing for the 2018 model year, but we can expect that information once we get closer to the dealership launch of the 2018 Ford Mustang – presumably sometime in the late summer or early fall.