The all-new 2020 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang is a truly incredible muscle car, and like any proper muscle car, its heart and soul is its engine - in this case, a supercharged, dual-overhead-cam V8 with 5.2 liters of displacement and 760 peak horsepower. It's a singularly unique engine, although it's about to get a bit less rare.

That's because Ford Performance is planning to offer the Shelby GT500's potent 5.2L "Predator" V8 as a crate engine, according to Motor Trend. It will be far and away one of the most powerful crate engines on offer from a major automaker, although not quite as powerful as Mopar's 807-horsepower Hellcrate Redeye V8.

Ford's decision to offer its exclusive Predator V8 as a crate engine is a bit surprising, although maybe it shouldn't come as that much of a shock; not only does Mopar have the Hellcrate, but Chevrolet Performance also sells the supercharged, 640-horsepower LT4 V8 from the C7 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 as a crate motor. Without the GT500's Predator, Ford would have nothing to compete with.

There's still a lot we don't know about the Predator crate engine, however. As far as we are aware, the motor has only ever been paired with one transmission: a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. It's not clear if the crate version will be offered with provisions for other gearboxes, or if the dual-clutch, too, will be sold as a Ford Performance part.

The bigger, more burning question we have is the cost. For reference, Chevy's LT4 crate motor typically goes for around $15k, where Mopar's original 707-horsepower Hellcrate tends to sell for about $17k. Overhead-cam engines like Ford's 5.2L Predator tend to cost more to produce, however, so there's a good chance it will be the most expensive of the bunch.

With any luck, we'll know more about Ford Performance's new Predator crate engine package soon.