#662hp

662HP monster.

When I think of American muscle, I think of big V8 soundtracks, straight line performance, porous handling, a cheap price tag and iconic cars such as the Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro. The point of a muscle car in my mind then, is a cocktail of bombastic in your face styling, big V8 grunt and most importantly straight line performance coupled into a package that has great value for money. Mostly elements that most European cars and exotics do not have. However, when the figures came out for the new top of the line Mustang came out, the Shelby GT500, I was completely astounded. It churns out an incredible 662 horsepower and 631 foot pounds of torque on 93 octane fuel. I was flabbergasted. Numbers like these usually come from the Italian or German market of exotic cars, not the American market. The engine producing such an incredible collection of numbers is a wet-sump evolution of the V-8 used in the GT, which in plain english means that the engine was extensively modified by the technicians at Ford's SVT division (Special Vehicle Team), which specialize at modifying cars like the Mustang, as well as the SVT Raptor which is based off of a Ford F150 pickup truck. I still can't get past that figure though, 662 horsepower in a Mustang. A Mustang. A car with a live rear axle, which is the basic chassis layout you can find in a turn of the century horse and buggy, has 662 horsepower and rear wheel drive no less. This in my opinion is a recipe for wheel spinning disaster. However, I was surprised that the 0-60 time is under 4 seconds, which means that they have supposedly fixed all the wheel spin getting it off the line. This is all down to the gearing of the car. In modifying the car, the technicians at SVT threw in a Tremec six-speed manual, which means that the gear ratios were put ridiculously high. To put it in normal terms, if you want to show off to your friends, you can blow their minds by telling them that because of the high gearing in the mustang 6th gear is set to top out at 350 miles per hour. An incredible speed yes, but in reality the Mustang tops out at 202 miles per hour, which is a superb feet. Therefore, it is the fastest and most powerful car Ford has ever manufactured. In the styling department though, things are quite understated. The car doesn't flaunt what it can do through the styling, which means the only way you can find out is by strapping yourself in and taking it to the limit yourself. The price for this beast of a Mustang starts at only $55,595, which gave me another jolt after I read the performance figures. I find it incredible that now people can afford an every day American car that can do 200+ miles per hour; we truly live in innovative times. The Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 then is an incredible car with understated styling, freakish performance and an affordable price tag. Perhaps the bargain of the year next to the Nissan GTR?

You decide.

Picture from Autoweek