The horsepower wars are a familiar state of being for muscle car enthusiasts. However, there are a couple of cars that shaped the ridiculous tire-shredding landscape that we know and love today, like the Dodge Hellcat. One other such vehicle is the 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, and it is still a performance bargain. Still, should you buy one? 

Is the 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 a good car?

The supercharged Shelby Mustang is a high-horsepower departure from previous pony cars. Before the 2013 GT500, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was one of the benchmarks to beat, with 580 horsepower. However, Ford didn’t just hit that horsepower figure; it embarrassed it. The 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 produces 662 horsepower and 631 lb-ft of torque with its supercharged 5.8L V8 engine. 

How fast is a 2013 GT500?

The 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 uses its massive horsepower and torque to much avail, should you be able to tame the tire-shredding grunt. According to Car and Driver, a GT500 from that generation could blast to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds. It keeps getting better, too; the supercharged Shelby could cover the quarter mile in 11.8 seconds. That sort of speed puts it ahead of the 707-horsepower 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat by 0.1 seconds in both metrics. 

Even better, the manual-transmission-equipped monster has a manufacturer’s claimed top speed of over 200 mph. This striped muscle car could keep pace with supercars in multiple metrics. The 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is properly quick. 

How much does a GT500 cost?

Here’s some good news for V8-powered muscle car shoppers: the 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is a bit of a performance bargain. You certainly won’t get one for the price of a Ford Mustang GT, but with 662 horsepower and performance figures like these, it’s one of the best bang-for-your-buck cars out there. Kelley Blue Book (KBB) says you can snag a 2013 GT500 with 50,000 miles for around $47,338. 

That puts it around $2,500 cheaper than a comparable 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. Not to mention the Shelby badge that car collectors covet so much. 

What is the difference between a 2013 and 2014 Shelby GT500?

If you think the 2014 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is faster and more powerful than the previous model year, that’s not really the case. The 2013 and 2014 model year GT500s are essentially the same car. The used car value doesn’t change much, either. KBB says a 2014 model has a fair purchase price of $48,510, less than $1,200 over a 2013 example. 

Is a Shelby a good investment?

The 2013 GT500 marked an essential step in the modern horsepower wars. Even if you don’t want the car for its collectibility, it’s a fiendishly fast muscle car that you could easily take to a track day. It would be tricky for anyone but a warrior wrencher to build that much performance for that bargain. 

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