By Dave Abrahams
Las Vegas, Nevada - Along with the demise of the North America-only Ford Mustang, came the end of the road for the Super Snake, Shelby American's top-of-the-range Mustang-based hot rod.
It was a performance car so radical that the only way to make it street-legal in the Nanny States was for you to buy a standard Mustang and then ship it to Las Vegas to be modified to Super Snake specifications.
Now Shelby has announced a new Super Snake, based on the GT version of Ford's 2015 'global Mustang' - the first Pony Car to be built in right-hand drive and the first to be sold outside North America. Which means that, if you have superhuman patience and a bank balance that looks like a telephone number, you could get one, legally, in South Africa.
But you'd better get moving; Shelby American will be accepting no more than 300 orders in 2015 for this 550kW monstercar, starting at an eye-watering $49 995 (R621 500) each, which does not include the price of the donor car - a 2015 Ford Mustang GT with five-litre V8 and Ford Performance supercharger, mated to either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission.
WHAT YOU GET
The Super Snake upgrade includes a Ford Performance suspension kit, a 'throaty' (read loud) Borla sports exhaust system, Wilwood competition brakes and Weld Racing 20-inch rims wearing Michelin Pilot Super Sport radials.
Then the car gets a carbon-fibre bonnet with a forced-air scoop from Carbon by Design as well as a complete carbon-fibre body kit including a larger rear spoiler, distinctive Super Snake stripes, upgraded upholstery with special badges, branded floor mats and a three-gauge dash pod.
For a few dollars more (actually $5000) you can add a more powerful Kenne Bell supercharger, as well as an upgraded intercooler and heat exchanger system, bringing the car's performance up to “more than 550kW” - even on the feline urine that passes for petrol in the United States. And it'll still pass EPA emissions standards in all 50 states, says Shelby American vice-president of operations Akos J Feher.
Build your Super Snake online at shelby.com .