Up until now, if one wanted to own one of Shelby American‘s high-horsepower, high-capability Ford Mustang-based models, one had little choice but to reside here in America.
But that’s soon to change, according to the folks at Automotive News, who report that Shelby American will begin exporting their own cars and specifications alike to China, England, South Africa, and elsewhere. That is to say, in addition to whatever number of units are produced in and exported from Shelby American’s Las Vegas, Nevada base, the performance automotive tuning company will also allow a select few global partners to build Shelbys locally, using the tuner’s specs and staff training.
Why now? Because the new, sixth-generation Ford Mustang has been engineered as a more global model than the pony car’s past iterations, meaning that it can be easily configured to meet the demands of some 100 different markets.
In addition to exporting Shelby American cars and specifications abroad, the performance tuning company is also preparing to introduce a new line of stores in malls all across the US, peddling apparel and racing products. This part of the tuner’s expansion is going global as well, with each global Shelby American shop required to set up its own similar retail store.
All that said, there is still a big upside to being a Shelby American fan living in the US: horsepower. According to Carroll Shelby International co-CEO Neil Cummings, the tighter restrictions in many overseas markets will necessitate the use of the more fuel-efficient Ford Mustang EcoBoost as a base for any Shelby Mustang models sold there. That would likely restrict output in said markets to just 305 HP – or 345 HP with tuning.
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