Ford salutes Carroll Shelby with 850-hp GT500 Cobra

The “friends of Carroll Shelby” are saluting the late automotive pioneer with a remarkable, one-off 850-hp GT500 Cobra that was revealed Friday at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion.

Ford Motor Co., Shelby American, Ford Racing and others collaborated on the omnipotent machine, styled in the blue and white colors of the legendary Cobras of the 1960s. It gets a wide body kit, high-performance 13-inch-wide rear wheels and a 4.0-liter Ford Racing supercharger that lifts output from the GT500's usual level of 662 hp.

The Cobra is the featured marque at the 2012 Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Ford
A front view of the 850-hp Shelby GT500 Cobra is shown.

The Shelby tribute Cobra will tour the country, and Ford hinted it would be used in a philanthropic manner at the end of its run.

“Even at 89 years of age, Carroll was an inspiration to us all,” Ford marketing chief Jim Farley said in a statement. “This year marks the 50th anniversary of the original Shelby Cobra. This car represents the very idea he had about making the 2013 Shelby GT500 into a true Cobra.

Meanwhile, Ford announced a road that runs through its product development center in Dearborn, Mich., will be renamed Carroll Shelby Way.

By Greg Migliore