When Carroll Shelby founded his automotive manufacturing company — Shelby American — in 1962, he had one goal in mind: to build the fastest cars ever made. Not only that, but Shelby, who was a racer himself, wanted to use engines that were simpler than the European motors used by Ferrari, Jaguar, and other racing manufacturers. With an engine like an American V8, Shelby surmised cars could be incredibly fast while still being able to be maintained and repaired at typical garages and dealerships, making them much more practical to own.
Shelby paired with Ford, and its line of Cobras soon began beating Chevrolet Corvettes and other vehicles in prestigious races. Shelby even beat Ferrari at the World Manufacturers' GT Championship in 1965, and to this day is still the only American company to ever pull this off. Even after Shelby's death, Shelby American has lived up to his legacy by manufacturing fast and powerful vehicles.
When Shelby American unveils a new car , it immediately grabs the attention of the industry and auto enthusiasts alike. The company, like many others, has its eyes toward the future and has already designed an all-electric model — the Shelby Mustang Mach-E GT . For now, however, the most powerful cars made by Shelby America still use traditional internal combustion engines under the hood.
Here are eight Shelby vehicles that can claim to have more horsepower than the rest — the cream of an already impressive crop. The naturally aspirated trim of the 2.