Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Chicago 2010: Aluminum-ized Ford Shelby GT500 treads lightly on show floor

2011 Ford Shelby GT500

Like the 2011 Mustang GT at last month's Detroit Auto Show, the 2011 Shelby was unveiled here at the Chicago Auto Show with little fanfare. In fact, there wasn't an unveiling at all, as the new Shelby was sitting uncovered on the show floor as soon as we arrived. The car looks fantastic in person, especially with the optional Performance Package and its 19-inch forged aluminum wheels, and the thinner stripes look better than we expected.

The best part about the 2011 GT500, however, is underneath the hood. Ford has finally thrown out the heavy iron block in favor of an aluminum unit that contributed to a significant weight savings of 120 pounds. The GT500 still isn't a lightweight at 3,820 pounds, but we fully expect the handling to be improved over the 2010 model with all that weight removed from the nose.

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