text: GT350R At the 2015 North American International Auto Show a more track-focused, hardcore and limited production version of the GT350 was unveiled called the GT350R, benchmarked against the Chevrolet Camaro Z28 and Porsche 911 GT3. The GT350R retains the GT350's 5.2-liter flat plane crank V8 engine, producing the same power, but grip was significantly increased by the means of wider Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, Carbon Revolution carbon fiber wheels (the first ever fitted to a mass-production road car) each weigh approximately 15 pounds less than the aluminum wheels on the GT350, and significantly more downforce thanks to a larger splitter and carbon-fiber rear wing to keep the car stuck to the ground. Items like the air conditioning, stereo, trunk floorboard, all the carpeting, the rear seats, and the backup camera could be removed from the factory resulting in the GT350R weighing  less than the GT350.
  Serial #001 was sold at the 2015 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction for US$1,000,000 (~$ in ) with the proceeds to benefit the JDRF.
  The GT350R won Road & Track magazine's 2016 "Performance Car of the Year" (PCOTY) and Car and Driver magazine's "10 Best Cars" for 2016.
  GT350R-C
  As with previous production-based Mustang race cars, Multimatic Engineering was approached by Ford Performance to develop a complete race-only version of the S550 Shelby GT350R. The resulting competition derivative, the GT350R-C, has safety equipment and roll-over protection homologated to FIA and IMSA specifications; Bosch MS5.0 ECU and ABS controller; MoTeC instrumentation and datalogging; adjustable anti-roll bars; Multimatic DSSV spool-valve dampers and other competition upgrades.
  Though delayed until the third race of the 2015 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, the GT350R-C was competitive right away: having earned pole position for its debut race, the GT350R-C won the next two rounds, and took three wins overall in its debut season.