The Shelby GT500 Code Red Just Set a New Gas-Powered Car Speed Record

Some things are even better than expected.

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You can add the Shelby GT500 Code Red to that list. The heavily modified Ford Mustang is even faster than initially thought, recently running the quarter mile in just 8.59 seconds at 161 mph. And what might be most impressive about the feat is that it comes more than two years after the track-only muscle car made its debut.

That quarter-mile time makes the GT500 Code Red one of the quickest accelerating cars currently available. Only four other vehicles can cover that much ground in under nine seconds, according to Car Scoops . They include the Lucid Air Sapphire (which runs the quarter-mile in 8.93 seconds), the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 (an NHRA-certified 8.91 seconds), the Pininfarina Battista (8.55 seconds), and Rimac Nevera (8.23 seconds). Three of those vehicles are all-electric, including two seven-figure hypercars, while one, the Demon 170 is gas-powered. That makes the GT500 Code Red the quickest accelerating ICE car currently available.

Of course, it’s not a complete shock to see the GT500 Code Red post such a ridiculous quarter-mile time. It is, after all, the pinnacle of Shelby’s upgraded Mustang lineup. The hardcore muscle car was designed specifically for straight-line performance. Shelby took the already powerful Mustang GT500, the stock version of which has a 5.2-liter supercharged V-8 that makes 760 hp and 625 ft lbs of torque, and turned everything about it up to 11.

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The Shelby wears a carbon-fiber wide-body kit, has a revised suspension setup, and, most importantly of all, has had its powertrain completely overhauled. Its supercharger has been swapped out for a pair of turbochargers and it’s been equipped with Manley pistons, Ferrara competition valves, and a new fuel system. Thanks to those changes the brawny setup churns out a staggering 1,300 horses and 1,000 ft lbs of twist. Shelby didn’t release performance numbers at the time of the vehicle’s debut, but, as we now know for certain, it’s awfully fast. What it isn’t though, is a series production model. Instead, the GT500 Code Red is limited to just 30 units.

Unsurprisingly, that kind of drag strip dominance does not come cheap. Pricing for the upgraded package starts at $224,995. That figure, as Shelby notes on its website, doesn’t include the actual vehicle. When it was last available in 2022, the Mustang GT500 started at $79,420, so you’re looking at more than $300,000 for the entire build.

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