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Yacht Firm To Offer Modified Ford Mustang Shelby GT500… Sport Wagon

Not many companies offer Ford Mustang “conversions”, at least not ones worth writing home about. This is especially true of the Shelby GT500 model, which is often bought by enthusiasts who also happen to be collectors. But there are exceptions… like the one whose acquaintance you’re about to make. Meet Strand Craft’s Shelby GT500 station wagon.

That’s right, Strand Craft USA, a Newport Beach, California-based designer and builder of high-priced yachts and boats, has announced plans to convert the Shelby into a station wagon.

From the few details available so far, the converted model — which is rendered by the company in the image you see here — will launch in April of 2014. It will retain Ford’s “Trinity” supercharged 5.8 liter V8 that makes 662 horsepower in stock 2013/2014 GT500s, but be tuned to produce 850 ponies. The firm expects the finished product to complete 0-60 runs in a mere 3.3 seconds.

Stand’s rendering also shows that the vehicle will feature black deep-dish wheels and an oval-shaped dual exhaust in place of the quad pipes of the stock GT500.

Inside, the converted wagon would feature new Recaro seats, a full leather interior treatment that includes a leather lining in the trunk, as well as a new 1,000-watt, seven-speaker McIntosh sound system.

2013 Ford Mustnag Shelby GT500

A stock 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Coupe

Those curious to find out how the idea to turn one of America’s legendary coupes into a wagon came about should know that it was none other than the president of Strand Craft USA who envisioned the conversion. In an email to Automobile, Mr. Strand wrote that he sees the finished vehicle as an “American dream car”, adding that he has loved the Ford Mustang ever since he owned a 1979 model.

Notably, the coupe-to-wagon conversion will not be performed by Strand Craft, but by a Los Angeles-based “renowned concept car builder”, according to the firm. One unknown involves the materials that will be used for the conversion, while another is pricing. To note, a standard 2014 GT500 coupe starts at $55,595 after destination, while the convertible — not that we expect it to be eligible for Strand’s wagon conversion — starts at $60,595.

The Motrolix Take

Just when we thought we’ve seen it all, we get this. While the general concept of a high-performance car in a two-door wagon body style has been around for decades in shooting brakes and even in the perennial Porsche Carrera, they have traditionally been extremely exclusive and highly expensive. And a gut feeling tells us that Strand Craft’s converted GT500 wagon won’t be an inexpensive affair.

But the timing related to the availability of the first product has us in a slight stupor: by the time Stand releases one of these custom creations, Ford will have already unveiled the all-new sixth-generation 2015 Mustang. Plus, production of the current fifth-gen model will have been discontinued, or very close to being so, factors that will have made the fifth-gen model old news, even for the GT500. So while we by no means want to discourage creativity, we do have to ask whether Strand actually thought this idea through from a business and logistics perspectives.

In this case, only time will tell.

Motrolix Founder with a passion for global automotive business strategy.

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