Ford Class Action Says Shelby GT350 Mustangs Aren’t ‘Track-Ready’

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Ford Motor Company is facing a class action lawsuit alleging some of its “Track-Ready” Shelby Mustang vehicles have a defect that causes the transmission to overheat and drastically reduce speed and power, creating a dangerous situation while racing.

According to plaintiffs George and Diana Tersahkovek, Jacques Rimokh and Herbert Alley, Ford advertised its 2016 Shelby GT350 Mustang as “Track-Ready” to entice race enthusiasts to purchase the vehicle.

“But some of the Shelby GT350 Mustangs were far from ready for the track; in fact, they proved to be unusable there,” the plaintiffs assert in the Ford Mustang class action lawsuit. “When a driver took Ford’s flagship race car to the track, he or she learned that after fifteen minutes or less, the transmission and rear differential would overheat, causing the car to go into ‘Limp Mode’ at a drastically reduced speed and power—an obviously dangerous event when surrounded by speeding cars.”

According to the Ford class action lawsuit, the original Shelby GT350 was introduced in 1965. Since then, the Shelby GT350 has been marketed as the race car version of the Ford Mustang line of vehicles.

The plaintiffs claim the Shelby GT350 “garnered such an iconic place in the psyche of car enthusiasts” that many Americans grow up dreaming of racing the Mustang and passing it on to their loved ones for racing.

The Shelby GT350 is sold at a premium price—often double or triple the price of a regular Mustang GT, the Ford class action lawsuit alleges.

“Enthusiasts, however, are pleased to pay the premium to own such a distinct piece of automotive history that has specialized racing features that are absent from regular Mustang GTs—like a V8 engine that is capable of producing over 526 horsepower—in order to realize their racing dreams,” the class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs allege they purchased 2016 Shelby GT350 Mustangs for track use, and they paid approximately $57,000 for the vehicles. However, they claim that the vehicles are not fit for track use because of the defective transmissions and rear differentials that cannot keep cool enough to function without external transmission and rear differential coolers, which Ford reportedly did not include in the design of the 2016 Shelby GT350.

The alleged defect puts drivers at risk of accidents when their vehicle transmission overheats and causes the Shelby GT350 to go into “Limp Mode” on the racetrack. According to the Ford Mustang class action lawsuit, Ford is aware of the defect in the 2016 Shelby GT350.

In fact, Ford admitted the defect by advising owners of the 2016 Shelby GT350 vehicles to purchase rear differential and transmission coolers to make them “Track Ready,” the Ford Mustang class action lawsuit alleges. Ford has reportedly addressed the issue in its 2017 model of the Shelby GT350 by installing external coolers.

By filing the Ford Mustang class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs seek to represent themselves and a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased or leased a Ford 2016 Shelby GT350 Mustang with a Base or Technology Package. They also seek to represent a Class of California, Florida and Texas consumers.

The plaintiffs are represented by Steve W. Berman and Catherine Y.N. Gannon of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Stuart Z. Grossman and Rachel Furst of Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen.

The Ford Mustang Class Action Lawsuit is George and Diana Tershakovec, et al. v. Ford Motor Co., Case No. 1:17-cv-21087, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

UPDATE: On July 12, 2018, Ford was unable to convince a federal judge to dismiss the bulk of claims in a class action lawsuit alleging 2016 Shelby GT­350 Mustangs contain a defect that cause them to overheat.