Europe

Jan 13, 2024

Shelby American has modified its first EV, throwing oodles of carbon fiber at the Mach-E GT and fitting Borla's Active Performance Sound System.

Carroll Shelby's last name rose to fame thanks to V-8-powered muscle cars like the Cobra and Mustang GT500, but now Shelby American is entering a new era with its first electric car, a modified version of the Mustang Mach-E GT. The package follows a concept from the 2021 SEMA show and focuses on weight reduction and improved handling. Only 100 examples will be available, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Carroll Shelby's birth.

Strangely, the Shelby Mustang Mach-E GT will be exclusively offered in Europe. Shelby American says the decision was based on rapidly rising EV sales and a greater number of public chargers in the Old World compared to the U.S. The package can be added to a new Mach-E GT or retrofitted to an existing vehicle, adding €24,900—the equivalent of $27,483—to the overall price.

While the concept car wore a unique front end, the production Shelby Mach-E keeps the original design intact, but substitutes carbon fiber for the hood, grille, front splitter, mirror caps, and lower door trim in an attempt to shave off a few pounds. The company didn't specify how much weight was saved, but the carbon elements also give the Mach-E a sinister look, accentuated by the stripe graphics running down the hood and along the side of the electric crossover.

Shelby American also fitted the car with lightweight forged aluminum wheels and performance springs that lower the vehicle by over an inch. The cabin features custom Shelby-branded floor mats, while a Shelby badge on the tailgate and a serialized plaque on the dashboard serve as reminders that you bought the exclusive Shelby version of Ford's performance EV.

The most controversial feature of the Shelby Mach-E, however, is the Borla Active Performance Sound System. We got a taste of the system at the 2022 SEMA show, and Shelby's new Mach-E GT is the first production vehicle to be fitted with the kit, which matches the vehicles speed and rpm with a "hyper-realistic ICE [internal-combustion engine] soundtrack."

The SEMA system included three options that mimicked different V-8s, and Borla had said it was working on EV-specific sounds, although Shelby didn't specify which tones the Mach-E GT would be capable of. Shelby American describes sound as "an important visceral component to motoring for enthusiasts," but it remains to be seen whether the car-obsessed will approve of artificial noises that are beginning to proliferate across the EV market.

Shelby American left the powertrain untouched, meaning the all-wheel-drive performance SUV still puts out up to 480 horsepower and 634 pound-feet of torque. In Car and Driver testing, a 2021 GT Performance Edition ripped to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and completed a quarter-mile run in 12.7 seconds at 101 mph.

While the Shelby Mach-E GT will remain forbidden fruit for now, we hope Shelby American starts exploring the U.S. market soon and manages to eke some extra performance out of whatever EV it modifies next.

Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.

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