Shelby American Inc. is, arguably, one of the most famous American tuning companies, most widely known for its work with Ford pickup trucks and Mustang performance cars. The company has been around for more than 60 years, born after racing driver Carroll Shelby’s transplanted a Ford-derived V8 engine into an AC Ace sports car, creating the first AC Cobra.
Alongside a range of Mustangs, Shelby also tinkers with Ford pickup trucks nowadays, combining the best-selling truck in the US with bonkers performance upgrades to create something truly special. The first pickup the company played around with was actually a Dodge Dakota, but that experiment is a far cry from what Shelby does now. Ford already creates impressive trucks, so for the Raptor R to feel threatened, for example, you know the Shelby version has to be truly superb. Here’s our list of the greatest trucks with a Cobra badge produced thus far.
This list is based on ten of Shelby’s most noteworthy truck conversions and doesn’t represent the most powerful or most expensive trucks from the brand. Here we discuss ten of the most unique trucks, from oldest to newest models.
2004 Shelby Expedition
Barrett-Jackson
Engine
5.4-Liter Supercharged V8
Horsepower
550 hp
Torque
500 lb-ft
0-60 MPH
N/A
Number Produced
Concept Vehicle
Price
$30,800 at auction in 2010
First on our list of hot Shelby Ford trucks is the 2004 Shelby Expedition. While it was never produced for sale, it deserves recognition due to it being the first Ford truck platform that got the Shelby treatment. It also produced serious power for that time period. Some upgrades to the Shelby Expedition, apart from the supercharged engine, include drilled and slotted brakes, 22-inch Boyd Coddington wheels, and a long list of interior luxuries like LCD TV screens, a DVD player, and a 12-disc CD changer. The engine was what Shelby focused on most: a 5.4-liter V8, the same size as was commonly seen in the regular Ford Expedition of the time. However, while it shared the same displacement as the normal Expedition V8, the Shelby Expedition received its 5.4-liter V8 straight out of the Ford GT, which is why it was able to make 550 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque.
2006 Shelby GT-150
Barrett-Jackson
Engine
5.4-Liter Supercharged V8
Horsepower
445 hp
Torque
500 lb-ft
0-60 MPH
N/A
Number Produced
Concept only
Price
Unknown
The next Shelby truck on our list has an interesting story to tell. It’s called the Shelby GT-150 – its name is a high-octane play on the F-150’s. A company called Unique Performance was subcontracted to help produce the GT-150 alongside Shelby and, at first, things looked good. Shelby had learned some things from the Shelby Expedition and was ready to start producing a truck for the masses. However, Unique Performance ended up going bankrupt during their partnership with Shelby, before the GT-150 could enter its mass-production phase, thanks to fraudulent activities. Only the concept was ever produced before things fell to pieces. The 445-hp GT-150 would have been quite the brusier of a pickup, had it gone into production.
2007 Shelby F-150 Super Snake
YT: extrememotox
Engine
5.4-Liter Supercharged V8
Horsepower
475 HP
Torque
500 LB-FT
0-60 MPH
5.8 seconds
Number Produced
N/A
Price
$29,995 retrofit kit
The 2007 Shelby F-150 Super Snake was introduced at the 2009 SEMA show. In this instance, Shelby offered the Super Snake conversion kit to existing owners of F-150 trucks instead of actually sourcing and building the trucks itself. Customers could send their F-150s to one of Shelby’s outfitting facilities in Las Vegas, Nevada and have the transformation done that way. Because of this approach, and some not-so-exact bookkeeping by Shelby, we’re unsure of the exact number of Super Snake F-150s that were actually created. The Super Snake kit included a fair number of performance upgrades, including a Whipple supercharger, a Borla exhaust, and a suspension system courtesy of DJM.
2011 Shelby F-150 Raptor Baja 700 Conversion
Bring a Trailer
Engine
6.2-Liter Supercharged V8
Horsepower
700 hp
Torque
N/A
0-60 MPH
5.4 seconds
Number Produced
50
Price
$45,000 conversion kit
Learning from the conversion kits sold previously, Shelby offered a similar upgrade kit to owners of Ford F-150 Raptors. The upgrade kit, called the Raptor Baja 700 conversion kit, upped the outputs of the existing truck to 700 horsepower, as suggested by the name. Upon its release, the Baja 700 was a $45,000 conversion – meaning, $45k on top of the original purchase price of a standard Raptor. The recipe was to take the standard 6.2-liter V8 and strap a 2.9-liter Whipple supercharger onto it, throw in an upgraded intercooler, add enhanced shocks, fit bespoke control arms, and a host of body upgrades… and the result is a truck that can get from 0-60 mph in 5.4 seconds. The Baja 700 also received a cat-back Borla exhaust system.
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2013 Shelby F-150 Raptor
Bring a Trailer
Engine
6.2-Liter Supercharged V8
Horsepower
575 hp
Torque
492 lb-ft
0-60 MPH
5.5 seconds
Number Produced
100 per year
Price
$17,995 upfit
Along with the Baja Conversion we discussed previously, Shelby also began offering a more toned-back version of their upfit. However, unlike the Baja 700, this Shelby Raptor was built and offered at Ford dealers. While the toned-back Raptor had less power, it had much more in-your-face graphics down its flanks, making it easily identifiable out in the wild. It was no slouch, though, with 575 hp courtesy of that same 2.9-liter Whipple supercharger and a cat-back Borla exhaust system. This Shelby Raptor would also be sold in limited numbers, but around 100 per year were tracked – and at a much lower priced than the Baja Raptor that produced over 700 hp.
2017 Shelby F-150 Super Snake
Bring a Trailer
Engine
5.0-Liter Supercharged V8
Horsepower
Up to 750 hp
Torque
N/A
0-60 MPH
3.8 seconds
Number Produced
150
Price
up to $96,880
The Raptor trucks mentioned above are more off-road focused and serve as high-performance dune runners, but with the F-Series trucks for the road still selling like hot cakes, Shelby also wanted to work its magic on the regular F-150 again. So the company offered the F-150 Super Snake in various trim levels, with the most expensive one coming in just under $100k at the time. The 5.0-liter V8 found in a 2017 F-150 produced 385 hp and 387 lb-ft of torque, but with the Shelby treatment, that horsepower rating couldbe nearly doubled. Two- and four-wheel drive versions where available, and six grades to choose from. Only 150 units were produced, and they were available only at select Ford dealers in the US.
2018 Shelby F-150 Raptor
Bring a Trailer
Engine
3.5-Liter Twin-Turbo V6
Horsepower
525 hp
Torque
610 lb-ft
0-60 MPH
N/A
Number Produced
500
Price
$117,460 incl. truck $49,292 as conversion
The 2018 Shelby Raptor is the first Shelby truck featured here that makes do without a V8. For this new generation, Shelby decided to leave the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 in its place and modify it – the result is 75 hp and 100 lb-ft more. The truck also made use of a ten-speed automatic and was given upgraded suspension with two-stage adjustable shocks on all four corners and bigger wheels and tires. Light bars and a bespoke interior were part of the package for the princely sum of $117,460. If you wanted to upgrade your existing truck, you needed just under $50k to do so.
2020 Shelby F-150 Super Snake Sport
Bring a Trailer
Engine
5.0-Liter Supercharged V8
Horsepower
770 hp
Torque
850 lb-ft (estimated)
0-60 MPH
3.4 Seconds
Number Produced
250
Price
$86,085
Shelby’s next Ford truck project came in 2020, coinciding with the F-150’s impending facelift that would debut in 2021. Much like the Super Snake we saw in 2017, the 2020 iteration utilized the stock 5.0-liter V8 and had a supercharger installed, along with an upgraded cooling system to cope with the extra heat created by said supercharger. We’re unsure just how much torque this Super Snake sport made, although an estimation of 850 lb-ft is quoted among fans. However, we do know of its 770 hp and 3.4-second 0-60 mph time. Due to the popularity of Shelby’s last Super Snake F-150, the tuning company decided to build an additional 100, bringing the total up to 250 units for the 2020 model year.
2021 Shelby F-250 Super Baja
Bring a Trailer
Engine
6.7-Liter Power Stroke Turbo Diesel V8
Horsepower
475 hp
Torque
1,050 lb-ft
0-60 MPH
6.1 Seconds (Standard F-250 W/ Power Stroke)
Number Produced
250
Price
$125,805
Our next entrant was a first for Shelby. Instead of the usual F-150 upgrade, Shelby decided to tackle an F-250 Super Duty. Another first for Shelby was their inclusion of a diesel engine in one of their vehicles. However, Shelby didn’t actually do anything to the 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel engine, meaning power specs were identical to the standard Super Dutiy trucks equipped with the 6.7-liter Power Stroke. Instead, Shelby focused on exterior, interior, and functional off-road upgrades like fully-upgraded FOX off-road suspension, a BDS lift, and 37-inch tires. It also received a myriad of off-road LED lighting, making for an imposing truck. Just 250 models would be available from select dealers.
2023 Shelby F-150 Raptor
Shelby
Engine
3.5-Liter Twin-Turbo V6
Horsepower
525 hp
Torque
610 lb-ft
0-60 MPH
4.0 Seconds
Number Produced
N/A
Price
$143,310
Our last entry is the 2023 Shelby F-150 Raptor. However, thanks to the current F-150 Raptor‘s new look, this version of the Shelby Raptor looks much more menacing. Power figures stayed identical to the 2018 model, carrying the same horsepower and torque ratings. However, we do know the 2023 Raptor will get from 0-60 mph in four seconds flat. In order to reach its horsepower and torque ratings, Shelby added an oversize air intake, a custom Shelby-made exhaust, and a Performance Aluminum Intercooler. It’ll cost you more than any other truck on this list, but you’ll get what Shelby calls the “most polished off-road truck ever”.
Sources: Shelby.com, Barrett-Jackson.com, Ford150.net,