Ford has launched the 2013 Mustang configurator, and with it comes the price for the new king-of-the-road, the 650-hp 202-mph 2013 Shelby GT500. The base price for the supercharged rocket? $54,995 (including destination), or the same price as a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 coupe.
That’s $84.60 for each of the 650 hp the 2013 Shelby GT500′s supercharged 5.8-liter V-8 produces. The six-speed manual, 600 lb-ft of torque and 202-mph top speed is just icing on the cake. To be fair though, the Shelby GT500′s $84.60 per horsepower is calculated from the base price. Load the GT500 up with options and all of a sudden you’re paying $101.70 for each one of those supercharged ponies, or a total of $66,110. That $66,110 does include some unnecessary options though, like a glass roof and the $395 Red Candy Tintcoat paint. We’d stick with the Recaro seats and the $3495 SVT Performance package, which throws in a Torsen limited-slip differential, two-mode adjustable Bilstein dampers, and forged aluminum wheels.
So how exactly does the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 stack up with the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1? Pretty well actually; both pony cars start at $54,995, but with the Camaro ZL1 producing ‘only’ 580 hp, it costs $95.81 per pony. Fully loaded at just over $60,000 is the only place where the Camaro ZL1 truly pulls the value card on its crosstown rival.
With the launch of the 2013 Ford Mustang configurator, we also find out the base price for the GT500′s topless sibling. As expected, the 2013 Shelby GT500 Convertible costs a bit more than the hardtop version at $59,995, or $68,720 fully loaded. You can configure your own 2013 Ford Mustang here. Seeing how the Shelby GT500 and Camaro ZL1 stack up dollar for dollar and horsepower for horsepower, which one would you pick? Let us know in the comments below.
