The Shelby has been synonymous with Mustangs for decades. Hell, the S550 had two different Shelby variants: the brilliant Shelby GT350 with naturally aspirated 5.2-liter Voodoo flat-plane crank V8 and the mind-numbingly powerful supercharged Shelby GT500. However, since the S650 Mustang debuted for the 2024 model year, the Shelby name is nowhere to be found, from Ford at least. Sure, the Dark Horse, Dark Horse SC and GTD are sick, but they’re not Shelbys. There’s a very good reason for that, and it’s exactly what you’re thinking: money.
Ford has been paying a premium to use the name for decades, and it just doesn’t want to anymore, according to a source who spoke with Ford Authority. Contrary to popular belief, Ford doesn’t actually own the Shelby name. Those rights belong to Shelby America, and Ford just pays them to use the name.
It’s no small cost, either. The Blue Oval was apparently paying about $800 in royalties for each Mustang Shelby it sold, Ford Authority says. When you account for the fact that Ford sold 24,211 Shelby GT350 and GT350Rs during their production run, along with another 14,130 GT500s between 2020 and 20200, that comes out to over $30 million in licensing fees alone, according to Motor1. That’s money it needs to do recall repairs.
A Carroll Comeback?
There was some thought the Shelby name could continue with the S650, but Ford has all but dropped its plans to resurrect the name, according to a separate Ford Authority report. Now that the Dark Horse and Dark Horse SC occupy the spaces once held by the Shelby GT350 and Shelby GT500, it’s hard to imagine a world in which the name would make a comeback anytime soon.
Ford argues that moving from Shelby to Dark Horse SC was done in an effort to align more closely with Ford Racing, something that wasn’t really conveyed with the Shelby name, Ford Authority says. I’m not sure I totally buy that reasoning, but I guess it makes some sense. After all, Ford launched six racing variants of the Mustang, including a stripped-down Dark Horse S and GT3 race car. There are even plans to bring the Dark Horse SC to NASCAR by 2027, Motor1 says.
It’s not just the Shelby name that’s going to lie dormant for a while, either. CEO Jim Farley implied that other classic Mustang variants, like Boss and Cobra, won’t be making a comeback anytime soon, Ford Authority reports. He’s also said that an ST or RS hot hatch isn’t returning, as well, telling CarExpert that Ford is moving in a new direction:
“[W]e look forward,” Farley told the Australian outlet. “We don’t want to operate in the past, and in the forward world of automotive technology and enthusiast driving, I don’t think customers need to make such difficult choices between fun off-road and fun on-road.
