Eric Gray's 2009 Shelby GT500 Coupe
Registry number 0085
Bland, VA
Bland, VA
Eric purchased this Grabber Orange 2009 Shelby GT500 in June of 2016 with 25,000 miles on the ticker.
He stumbled across the car in the winter of 2016 on Craigslist while trying to help a friend find a Mustang. Upon seeing the car, Eric tried to convince his friends and everyone else he know to purchase to the car without success. |
At the time, Eric already owned a 2005 Mustang GT but a short time later the Shelby disappeared from the listing.
Not knowing what became of the car as the months passed, it suddenly showed up on Craigslist again. This time, on the lot of Ray Varner Ford in Clinton Tennessee as a fresh trade. He crunched the numbers, sold his clean 05 GT and put his name on the title of this clean unmolested Shelby GT500 example. |
While the factory Mustang GT 3-valve 4.6L V-8 came with 300hp/320lbs-ft of torque, Carroll Shelby, along with every other gearhead, believes that MORE is better. Hence, the GT500 comes equipped with a iron block punched to 5.4L topped with aluminum 4-valve heads. A Roots style 2.3L supercharger forces air through a dual 60mm throttle body creating a massive 500hp and 480lbs-ft in stock form.
As expected, Shelby reinforced the bottom end as well with forged aluminum pistons and I-beam rods. The Tremec TR6060 6-speed transmission handles transmitting all that power to a LSD 3.31 rear end. |
Even with a nearly 4,000lb curb weight, the GT500 can do zero to 60 a half second quicker than a regular GT at 4.5 seconds. According to Motor Trend Magazine the quarter mile passes in 12.6 seconds, though some owners have proven time slips clicking off a 12.4 and even a 12.3 second pass in stock form.
14 inch 4 Piston Brembos up front can drag the Shelby from 60mph to stop in only 112 feet. The stock 18 x 9.5 rims are wrapped in p255/45zr-18 in front and 285/40zr-18 on the back. |
Of the 6,513 Shelby GT500 coupes produced in 2009 only 68 examples were sprayed Grabber Orange. Of the 68 grabber orange coupes only 17 of those sported the white stripes from the factory!
adding in the 21 GT500 convertibles produced in 2009 bringing the total for Grabber Orange Shelbys to just 89 copies for the model year run. |
The interior of the Shelby picks up where the Mustang GT left off. There is a stitched leather dash cover, arm rest and shifter boot.
The GT interior package upgrade features the most of the same, including the GT500 aluminum pedal covers and adds accent trim ring around the shifter and brushed aluminum steering wheel spokes. The chrome cup holder rings and ambient MY COLOR lighting come standard. |
Eric says he has NO modification list and plans to keep the car stock. Since he's had the car the odometer has went from 25k to almost 29k in a short amount of time.
We've all heard this before, and the allure of easy bolt on horsepower and performance is difficult to resist, especially when 700+hp can be done on a short budget with the Shelbys. That's how it starts with all us though, "Can anyone recommend a good set of replacement tires, rear LCA's or Cold air intake..." Good luck Eric and happy driving. |