There’s no doubt that the current Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 has one of the most glorious engines ever produced – the high-revving, sweet sounding Ford 5.2L Voodoo V8. But when one guy’s GT350 burned to the ground during a track day a while back after the oil filter came loose, he was left with a decision – pay big bucks for a replacement, or dare to be different and swap in something completely different.
Ultimately, he went with option two, which turned out to be a turbocharged, 4.0L Ford Barra inline-six cylinder that saw duty in Australia’s Ford Falcon and Territory. This unconventional choice is unique enough on its own accord, but this might also be the very first engine-swapped current-gen Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 on the planet, too.
In stock form, these engines produced anywhere from 322 to 436 horsepower, but of course, this engine isn’t stock. This particular mill is of the FG variety, which means it has a better flowing head and is rear sump, which makes it ideal for this application. But thanks to a round of modifications and some tuning, the car laid down an astounding 870 horsepower and 700 pound-feet of torque on the dyno.
As if the engine of choice wasn’t strange enough for this Ford Mustang Shelby GT350, it’s also mated to an automatic transmission, something the Shelby isn’t available with from Ford. Regardless, that only helps this car’s brutal acceleration, as the owner finds out in this video. In fact, he describes it as “terrifyingly fast” at one point.
While the world remains strangely fascinated with swapping GM motors into Fords, it’s nice to see an unorthodox swap that keeps a car 100% Blue Oval. And we can’t wait to see how this car ultimately turns out, once they work all the bugs out of it.
We’ll have more cool videos to share soon, so be sure to subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Mustang news, Mustang Shelby GT350 news, and around-the-clock Ford news coverage.
Comments
That’s a lot of power and torque from a 4.0! I wonder how this power plant affected the front weight distribution? Better handling for the track?
I definitely want to see a follow-up after they get that beast 100% dialed in. He seems to believe the chassis can handle even more power. Find the chassis’ sweet spot and let ‘er rip!
When I read “Barra,” I was expecting a GM engine!
I like seeing more ‘traditional’ media sources surfacing content from YouTubers but no mention of Adam’s name? No credit on his photos? No mention of his channel? You’re making a guy that has been doing car builds for years with an automotive focused channel seem like some random guy that did this as a one off project
Australian rev heads have known for years the Barra performance capacity is off the charts. Easy 1000BHP on a standard bottom end. Barra motors are cheap, pick one up at a yard for $300AUD. If you Google ‘Summernats 33 horsepower heroes’ you’ll see an aussie Ford Falcon pull 2200 rear wheel horses out of a 4lt straight 6 daily driver. That’s 7.71@188mph quarter mile despite a curb weight of 4180lb. Good to see America waking up to Aussie engineering. Shame Ford Australia gave up on us.
BTW: It’s Barramundi(Aussie Fish) NOT Barracuda
1000bhp on stock Bottom end is way off the mark
Stock block yes but bottom end No, it will need rods and pistons and Oil pump gears if you like rpm as a minimum. Granted they don’t take much to boost up but money needs to be spent
Also there are multiple different Barra bottom ends, varying rod strengths and compression ratios, cam profiles and injectors – 300$ will buy you a 400bhp grenade with high mileage if that’s what you want. The Better stock pickings will do high 600rwhp on e85 and a reasonable tune