The current Ford Mustang's Shelby GT500 range-topper has now been with us for two years, but anyone still holding out for a convertible version should probably give up.
In an interview with Muscle Cars & Trucks published on Monday, Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's chief product platform and operations officer, said the current S550 Mustang's platform is already at its limits with the Shelby GT500 coupe and that was the reason a convertible was never launched.
“The GT500 I think we projected for, it’s towards the top end of the capabilities of [the S550's platform]…one of the things we didn’t do was a convertible variant for that reason,” he said. “You have to find the bandwidth of the architecture.”
2014 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Convertible
Ford last offered a Shelby GT500 Convertible for the 2014 model year, and there's still the chance one could return in future Mustang generations. A redesigned seventh-generation Mustang, the S650, is expected to arrive for the 2023 model year based on an updated version of the S550 Mustang's platform, and this updated platform could potentially support a new Shelby GT500 Convertible.
Ford at one point was thought to be planning the S650 Mustang on the new CD6 rear-wheel-drive platform that debuted in the 2020 Ford Explorer and related Lincoln Aviator. However, Ford's push to make much of its lineup electric by the end of the decade has likely changed the automaker's thinking. It now appears the S650 Mustang will be a stop-gap measure before a fully electric Mustang arrives toward the end of the decade. Ford is currently spending big on the development of new electric platforms.
Muscle Cars & Trucks also reported that there are rumors of an electric sedan joining the Mustang family, similar to how Ford already sells the Mustang Mach-E electric crossover. Stay tuned.
