Detroit Show Video: Is this the 2013 Shelby GT500 Convertible or did Ford's Rep Make a Mistake?

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 06, 2012 |

Without getting into any names, the crew over at Jalopnik are making it a point to proveAutoblog (the dot com one) wrong on its assumption that Ford will reveal the 2013 Shelby GT500 Convertible at the rapidly approaching Detroit Motor Show.
We decided to take a look around and see what we could find and the result was this official Ford video that just came out with a company representative taking us for a quick tour around the Blue Oval's booth at the Cobo center in Detroit.
Ford has prepared a pretty impressive display that includes a racing cockpit that allows you to take the new Focus ST for a virtual ride as well as a 20-foot-tall elevator that takes visitors into “the Cloud,” where they enjoy a 360-degree film showcasing the future of in-vehicle technology from Ford.
But what really caught our attention and the reason why we're writing this article is the display with the Shelby GT500 Convertible (about 2 minutes into the video) strapped onto a dyno.
The Ford rep says it's the new model with the 650-horsepower 5.8-liter supercharged V8, which if true, would make it the 2013 Shelby GT500 Convertible as the 2012 model is equipped with a 5.4-liter lump delivering 550HP.
The problem is that, from what we can tell by watching the video, this Shelby GT500 Convertible features the same front honeycomb style front grilles and alloy wheel designs as the 2012MY Coupe and Convertible models and not the update grille/rims found on the 2013MY Shelby GT500 Coupe, which made its premiere in Los Angeles last November.
So, either the Ford rep made a mistake on the video (most probably) or the Shelby 2013MY Shelby GT500 Convertible only gets the new V8 engine and skimps on the design upgrades (less likely).

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