1:18 GT Spirit Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Review
Categories 1:18, Models, Scale Model and Accessory Reviews
Welcome to my review of the 1:18 GT Spirit Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 in Grabber Lime! This is part of the “review in a few” series where I show off all the main features of a model, rather than fully going into the history and background of the real car and posting a limited number of pictures for you to drool over.
Say hello to the most powerful production Ford in history – the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500! Mixing supercar performance with classic, brutish muscle car looks the GT500 looks every bit Detroit’s flagship drag strip destroyer.
Pushing out 760hp and 625 lb.ft. of torque from that supercharged 5.2-litre V8 via a TREMEC® 7-speed Dual Clutch gearbox to the rear wheels, the GT500 sits smack bang in the middle of the triumvirate of American muscle – the 650hp Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and the ridiculous 797hp Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye. For those purists with a hankering for a third pedal and a manual gearbox, the considerably less powerful 527hp Mustang GT350R is for you. As a British car enthusiast, it still absolutely baffles me how you can get so much horsepower per $ over the pond!
Under the spotlight for review this time is the 1:18 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 in Grabber Lime by GT Spirit (product code GT803). The mid-range resin specialist is no stranger to producing a muscle car or two; including the Dodge Challenger Demon, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and a plethora of tuner versions to boot! Honestly, if you’re an American muscle car fan, GT Spirit will quickly drain your wallet. Many thanks go to the team in France for sending me this model to review…
Even though I have reviewed some GT Spirit models before, they have recently revamped their exterior packaging creating a slightly more premium experience before you’ve got the model in hand. I’ll say now that the box says ‘limited edition’ on the side but there was no numbered plaque on the underside of the model indicating that limitation – however, their website shows a production run of 1,200 units for this particular model.
Once you’ve removed the fully sealed resin model from the inner polystyrene shell, you get to admire this Kermit-spec brute in all its glory. I think this colour is quite hard to accurately capture on camera, but I have been informed by a friend who has this model and even took some pictures of it next to the real car also finished in Grabber Lime – he insists the paint isn’t a true representation of the real car, but I’ll leave that up to you to judge. One thing you can’t deny is just how much presence this thing has, especially with all that aero and such a bright colour!
One thing you may not notice, but I certainly appreciated was the fact that GT Spirit have cut the decals into the shutlines around the car – you’ll see that the Ebony Tape Stripe along the sides (a $375 option on the real car) have been applied around the shutlines. I have even seen BBR models that cost 3x this model that haven’t even got that! The trend continues with the Ebony Racing Stripes that run over the bonnet and blend into the front bumper (a $1,000 option on the real car). My review model also has the stripes fully lined up all the way over the car.
The imposing front grille section is another stellar job, particularly with the mesh grille and that beautifully detailed Shelby Cobra badge smack bang in the middle of that honeycomb grille. The only mistake GT Spirit made on the front end is they embossed the GT500 script, rather than engraving it as per the real car.
The same badge features on the rear and also on the front wings – notice how the silver on black really pops on the front and rear, but they’ve inverted the colours for the wing badges so they really stand out against the body colour. From the pictures below, it would appear that GT Spirit missed out the rear view camera above that rear badge?
The honeycomb mesh grille continues in the lower section of the front bumper, complemented by that Shelby-branded chin spoiler that runs across the bottom. I really really like the look this gives the front end!
Heading around the back now and we can see that GT Spirit have opted to fit the exposed carbon fibre GT4 track wing as part of the $18,500 Carbon Fibre Track Pack. The overall effect of the carbon wing and end plates sitting atop those scaffold-like struts simply adds to the overall menacing look of this model. For those who like to detail their models to make them look a little extra special, perhaps glueing some silver bolts to the struts or even using a silver Molotow pen should serve to elevate the details somewhat.
The chrome quad exhaust tips round out the back, but I just wish GT Spirit had made that little bit of mesh between the exhausts and diffuser the same as on the front – not a major deal breaker, but just a bit annoying considering they’ve done such a good job of it round the front.
Not much to say about the headlights, except they look great! Nice definition of all the bulbs and elements, with some extremely realistic texture on what I’m assuming are the fog lights. Oh, and there’s some more lovely honeycomb mesh in the lower side intakes.
The overall bulbous shape of the rear lights leaves much to be desired compared to the real car, but at least they have the strakes on the inside of the lenses.
Looking at Ford’s online configurator for the Mustang Shelby GT500, these 20-inch wheels are only available as part of the Carbon Fibre Track Pack. However, on the real car these wheels are finished in carbon too. I’m assuming to finish the wheels in carbon as well would have been too complex and cost too much on this level, which is fair enough. It may also be that this wheel design was available like this when the car came out? Hopefully one of my readers can set the story straight! The discs themselves lack some detail, but the red Brembo brake calipers round off an otherwise decent offering. Sadly, no Michelin tyre lettering on this model, but I do like the finely painted silver wheel nuts.
Taking a peek through the typically reflective windows found on most resin models and you’re greeted with an interior I would put on a par with DNA Collectibles – if you’ve read any of my reviews of their models (if not, why not?! LOL), you’ll know I hold their interior detail in the highest regard! What instantly grabbed my attention and took me by complete surprise was the photoetched wheel-mounted shift paddles with the +/- etched into them. The legibility of the tiny text on the buttons on the steering wheel is rather excellent, as well as the text on the drive mode select dial and electric parking brake down on the central tunnel. The digital instrument binnacle also looks great! The only slight letdown is the definition of the Cobra on the steering wheel and the lack of the two horn icons either side. But those two points are only me being a majot nitpicker – GT Spirit have truly done an excellent job in here!!
The Track Package also includes exposed carbon fibre on the interior, which is all present and correct. The decals for air vents above the central infotainment screen are a bit of a letdown, but the Ford Performance graphics on the screen itself and the buttons for the system and climate below make up for this! The silver and red engine start/stop button is also present and correct. While I couldn’t photograph them for this review, GT Spirit also included the RECARO leather-trimmed seats featured in the Track Package. They are a much sportier seat than the standard ones and feature some white panelling and the RECARO logo down the outer bolster and are replicated very well on this model.
So what are my overall thoughts of this 1:18 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 by GT Spirit? In short, it is a great model – overall execution is pretty top notch and I particularly appreciate the liberal use of honeycomb mesh around the front and the cut decals for the Tape Stripes down the sides. I am a bit confused as to why GT Spirit never included all the aspects of the Carbon Fibre Track Package, but I’m still happy with the overall look of this model. It is worth remembering that this is a sealed resin model and if you wanted an opening diecast version, Maisto makes one in the same Grabber Line but without any of the stripes. Obviously, due to the budget price of that model, it lacks a lot of the finesse you’ll find on this GT Spirit variant. However, Maisto did manage to include carbon fibre effect molded wheels – make of that what you will!! It remains to be seen whether this GT500 will reach the same level of desirability as GT Spirit’s earlier Shelby GT350R release in that lovely metallic blue? Paint and detail execution was absolutely brilliant on that model and explains why it shot up in value!
