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As soon as upon a time, I used to be a take a look at driver working for Roush. I’d present as much as a Ford constructing in Allen Park, Mich., at 6 a.m. 5 days per week, be given a set of keys, a drive route, an enormous stack of paper after which be despatched on my merry means for about seven hours. Each automotive I drove was a Ford or Lincoln in one of many numerous levels of pre-production builds. Nineteen-year-old me was in love with the gig. And c’mon, what teenage automotive nut wouldn’t love being paid to drive a brand-new automotive round?
However not all brand-new automobiles are created equal. Each brutally early morning, I would stand in line, ready. Finally, names have been referred to as and the keys begin flowing. “No cobra snake on that one, or these three. There’s nonetheless hope,” I believed to myself. Lastly, my identify was referred to as, and sitting on the desk in entrance of me was precisely what I’d been wanting for the previous couple of weeks: the important thing fob to a Ford Mustang Shelby GT350. I attempted my greatest to not look too excited, however inside, I used to be positively giddy. The automotive gods graced me that wonderful, summer season day, and by some means, I got here away with an excellent larger opinion of the automotive than I had already constructed it as much as be.
Quick ahead 5 years, two months, a university training and numerous automobiles later, and I’m again within the driver’s seat of the final new GT350 I’ll ever drive. Ford simply completed telling me that neither the GT350 or GT350R could be round for the 2021 mannequin 12 months. No shock there. In spite of everything, releasing a Heritage Version for any mannequin is an honest indicator that it is not lengthy for this world. Nonetheless, it is arduous to not be unhappy {that a} automotive that meant a lot to me half a decade in the past goes away. It is like dropping an outdated buddy, however at the very least I’ll get the fortunate draw once more, this time for Autoblog’s remaining drive of the GT350. I’ve yet one more likelihood to listen to that soon-to-be-classic 5.2-liter flat-plane-crank V8 scream its approach to 8,250 rpm.
Ford didn’t change the usual GT350 for 2020, however noticeable enhancements have been made for 2019 — you possibly can take a look at the main points in our First Drive right here. In brief, although, the modifications contributed to raised dealing with whereas retaining the identical pretty powertrain. Ford didn’t repair what wasn’t damaged, and the automotive remained 100% true to what it was to start with.
Our 2020 Heritage Version tester provides particular paint, stickers and badges, however nothing else. Ford used Ken Miles’ 1965 Mustang GT350 fastback racer as inspiration for the Wimbledon White and Guardsman Blue colour scheme.
“To have the ability to duplicate with Wimbledon White and particularly the Guardsman Blue. To have the ability to tie it with a bow again to the way it began was fairly cool,” stated Jim Owens, Ford Mustang and Shelby advertising supervisor. “And from a advertising perspective and from any person who knew Carroll and knew how glad he’d be with this automotive, it was cool to do.”
Enjoyable reality: Ford nonetheless had Guardsman Blue paint from the Sixties in chilly storage, and it used this paint to get an ideal colour match for the stripes and Shelby badges on the brand new GT350. Each the stripes and facet decals are stickers, not painted, however they seem simply as they might have over 50 years in the past.
I feel the looks bundle is a nostalgic success, and patrons appear to agree. Ford says the Heritage Version is the preferred colour scheme of 2020. The $1,965 bundle isn’t an egregious premium to pay over the $61,535 base automotive, and regardless of it clearly being in style (Ford isn’t limiting manufacturing numbers), it’ll nonetheless be uncommon sufficient contemplating it is a single mannequin 12 months choice.
Ford wouldn’t inform us way more concerning the timing of this mannequin’s disappearance past referencing the pure order of Mustang variants coming out and in of the lineup. Now that the GT500 has stepped in as King Mustang, there’s inherently much less house for the GT350 and GT350R. In case you don’t need to spend GT500 cash, Ford is at the very least providing up the Mach 1 as a alternative for 2021, however that is extra of a mash-up of the also-discontinued Bullitt and GT350. And that mash-up doesn’t embrace the flat-plane-crank “Voodoo” 5.2-liter. It will have the Bullitt’s “Coyote” 5.0.
So, this is not only a goodbye to a automotive, it is a goodbye to an engine that was already on its approach to legend standing 5 years in the past as the one engine this facet of Maranello with a flat-plane crank. It is what provides the GT350 its unmistakable high-pitched, burbling chatter. 5 years on, the joys of wringing it out hasn’t subsided, but it is not the one factor that makes this Shelby so particular.
After I describe driving the GT350 to of us, I usually say it doesn’t drive like a Mustang. It doesn’t go, steer or brake like different Mustangs. Each a kind of parts are heightened to a correct sports activities automotive stage, making it a automotive that may legitimately attraction to those that by no means would’ve thought of a Mustang. It’s ok to run toe-to-toe with any sports activities automotive below $100,000, and might put up a hell of a battle with much more costly automobiles.
One journey below a bridge at full chat, and I’m instantly fawning over that unique and muscular soundtrack that grabbed me so powerfully to start with. Nothing else on sale in the present day sounds related, and there isn’t one other automotive for its worth that sounds higher.
The 0-60 mph time of round 4.0 seconds doesn’t even start to inform the acceleration story. Versus a Camaro SS or Hemi-equipped Dodge, it’s just a little gradual out of the gate. Ford didn’t gear the GT350 for splashy 0-60 instances on journal covers. You’re pressured to shift into second proper because the speedo crests 50 mph and is heading for 60, wasting your tenths of a second. I’d argue, what does it matter if it does 0-60 mph in 4.1 seconds versus 3.7?
What’s essential, is that second and third gear are totally good to mess around with on a quick, twisty street. I discover myself swapping between the 2 shorter gears on a regular basis, yanking the lever from third again into second, blipping the throttle and making the climb previous 8,000 rpm time and time once more because the street straightens out. Its 526 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque is addicting and completely usable on the street. I’ve pushed an terrible lot of automobiles since first experiencing this engine and gearbox 5 years in the past, however I’m simply as enamored. Apart from its distinctive engine, the GT350 can be the one Mustang to get the Tremac TR-3160 six-speed transmission. Its gates are much more exact in feeling than the common GT’s Getrag gearbox, and whereas the clutch is on the lighter facet for this a lot energy, it’s an excellent match for the engine’s quick-revving and playful perspective.
The brakes are downright heavenly. Ford has given the GT350 brake really feel and pedal journey match for a supercar. It’s agency from the very first centimeter you press down, scrubbing velocity with little effort right away. Only a few sports activities automobiles have brakes that really feel this good. It provides an additional layer of confidence and safety whenever you’re pounding round again roads and the racetrack alike.
However sadly, the GT350’s greatest vice is similar one it’s had from the beginning. The place the street goes, so goes this Mustang. I used to be warned about its propensity to comply with the contours of the street from fellow co-workers who had already pushed the GT350 again after I was working as a take a look at driver. Even in the present day, the sticky Michelins mixed with the no-compromise, track-intended suspension design are closely influenced by poorly maintained roads. Preserving it away from the street’s shoulder could be a battle at instances. It’s referred to as tramlining, and it may be scary at first. You may tame it should you hold a powerful hand on the wheel and pay additional shut consideration to the place the automotive is on the street, but it surely’s a psychological load you don’t must take care of in lots of different sports activities automobiles.
Easy roads and the racetrack are the place this Mustang actually comes into its personal. The steering is healthier than it was to start with — extra really feel, improved weighting — and the MagneRide suspension strikes a beautiful stability between efficiency and luxury. This automotive is totally livable on the freeway, as any Mustang ought to be.
The primary and final level regarding any drive in a GT350 ought to all the time be the noise it makes. Inside and out of doors the automotive, it’s a uniquely good mixture of Italian supercar scream and American muscle automotive snarl. It’s the factor that will likely be talked about first when this automotive is recalled 5, 10, 25 years from now. From the primary prototype in 2015 to the ultimate manufacturing model in 2020, it’s been an absolute smile machine. Even on its means out, Owens tells us that Ford considers the GT350 to be “a transparent demonstration of the engineering prowess of the women and men of Ford Efficiency.” The GT500 could be the final word Mustang halo for 2020, however in dying, the GT350 nonetheless looms as an enormous within the Ford Efficiency halls.
My final gasp of driving one solely reinforces its standing as a high-water mark for the Mustang. So lengthy, GT350. Your roaring and yowling will likely be missed.
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