Ford reveals one-off 850hp Shelby

As a tribute to the late, great Carroll Shelby, who passed away in May aged 89, Friends of Carroll Shelby has built a one-of-a-kind 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra. And it's got 850 horsepower courtesy of a Ford Racing supercharged V8. Eight HUNDRED and fifty. Crumbs.

To squeeze that much power from the standard 662hp 2013 Shelby GT500, Friends of Carroll - a group of manufacturers and tuning parts suppliers- slapped on a Ford Racing 4.0-litre Whipple supercharger. To lay it down there's a set of 13-inch-wide rear wheels with some colossal 345-section tyres. It also gets a widebody kit, and it's finished in Cobra historical Guardsman Blue with a Wimbledon White stripe finish, just like the early Cobra roadsters built in the sixties.

Shelby American also provided a bespoke bonnet, that anabolic rear wide-body kit, Shelby Wilwood brakes and new 20x13-inch rear and 20x10-inch front wheels.

The tribute car was unveiled by Ford Motor Company board member Edsel Ford II, and Shelby American president, John Luft, at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion where Cobra's the marque of show for 2012. Ford's Jim Farley says: "Even at 89 years of age, Carroll was an inspiration to us all. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the original Shelby Cobra. The one-off car we have created represents the very idea he had about making the 2013 Shelby GT500 into a true Cobra."

Quite a car – remember, the ‘standard’ GT500 isn’t actually lacking in power...

Any TopGear.commers fancy it?