2026 Shelby American Super Snake Turns the Ford Mustang Into an 830-HP Monster

While we patiently wait for the Detroit Auto Show to roll around so we can see what Ford is cooking (is it a new Mustang Cobra or Boss?), Shelby American has taken the liberty of giving us something that could be just as exciting: the 2026 Shelby American Super Snake. A name first introduced in 1966 on a big block Cobra and then the following year in a high-performance Mustang, the Super Snake is Shelby American’s longest-running Ford Mustang model, and for the new year, it doesn’t mess with a winning recipe. You get less weight, more power, and an MSRP that means you can buy two for the price of one well-specced Mustang GTD. And as usual, the Super Snake can be had in either fastback or convertible flavor.

To Supercharge or Not to Supercharge? That Is the Question

The S650-based Super Snake builds on the GT’s 5.0-liter Coyote V8, which comes standard with 480 horsepower, but if you opt for the supercharger, more than 830 hp is possible on 93 octane fuel. Helping achieve that are an upgraded radiator and heat exchanger, a Borla exhaust system, and performance half shafts. Unlike Ford’s 815-hp GTD, the Super Snake treatment can be applied to cars with automatic or manual transmissions (the latter of which get a short-throw shifter with a Shelby shifter ball), and it could be rarer, too. While some sources say the GTD will be capped at 1,700 units, Shelby American is limiting production of the Super Snake (which has already started in Las Vegas) to just 300 units, though a few more may be made by approved third parties.

Other upgrades include hardened wheel studs and new lug nuts, an upgraded suspension setup, better brake rotors, and 20-inch forged magnesium wheels with sticky rubber. Inside, you also get recovered seats, embroidered floor mats, Shelby puddle lamps, Super Snake door sill plates, a serialized dash plaque and engine plaque, and new caps in the engine bay. Convertibles will also be fitted with a new light bar.

Less Weight, For Both the Super Snake and Buyers’ Wallets

Although Shelby American doesn’t provide a new curb weight figure, it touts a lower mass thanks to the aforementioned wheels, a new aluminum hood, and carbon fiber fenders. The latter are vented like the pinned hood and widen the car, requiring a new front fascia with revised grilles, and to drive home the point that this isn’t a regular Mustang GT, the Super Snake benefits from a supported front splitter, carbon fiber splitter wickers, new side rockers with carbon fiber wickers, a ducktail rear spoiler, a carbon fiber rear diffuser, and Super Snake stripes and badges. Coupes also get a carbon fiber rear wing, and the cars get legally tinted windows. Finally, those who want their tuned pony car to have even more power can order an Orange Fury paint job. That’s if they have money left over; while the 2026 Shelby American Super Snake is far more affordable than a Mustang GTD, it still costs $175,885 (including a 3-year/36,000-mile warranty and the base Ford Mustang). That’s more than a 1,064-hp Corvette ZR1. Just saying…