2013 Shelby GT500; 662 Horsepower, 200 MPH. WHY???

Big news today; the Ford Shelby GT500 apparently packs 662 horsepower in addition to its 200 mph top speed. The big question now is “why?”

The opening paragraph was written by our cherished Editor, Derek Kreindler. I’m here to answer the question posed within. In fact, I will provide multiple answers.

Let’s start with bragging rights. Chevrolet has been playing the numbers card in the ponycar wars since the dawn of time, often to obscure the fact that Ford had a better idea at the time. Remember how easily the five-liter Fox Mustang danced around the ‘Vette-engined IROC-Z? What about the turbocharged SVO, which couldn’t hang with the Tuned Port Z28 in a straight line or even around a skidpad but easily dusted the third-gen F-body on real roads? More recently, the LS3-engined Camaro SS has had the power edge on the retro-Mustang but hasn’t managed to win the hearts and minds of the journos or the track-rat crowd.

Ford knows there’s a group of people out there who want the biggest number, and instead of trying to do it with their V-6 or normally-aspirated V-8 cars, they’re bringing it at the top end. The new Shelby doesn’t just bitch-slap the rare-on-the-ground ZL1: it exceeds the Corvette ZR1’s published number. In the real world, the ZR1 is too light for the Shelby to threaten, but in the real world, the owners of these cars are mostly sixty-year-old drywall contractors. Ford’s got the bragging rights.

Next up, the turbo Hayabusa issue. Human beings adjust to acceleration. It’s a fact. The regional-jet-set barely notices the monstrous push of a full-throttle runway takeoff. Formula 1 drivers complained that the 2.4-liter V-8 cars, which were capable of reaching 200mph on many road course straightaways, felt ‘poky’ because they were used to the V-10 racers. Last, but not least, we have all the people who turbocharge their Suzuki Hayabusas because 9.8-second quarter-miles at 144mph just don’t get it done after a while. The current Shelby is fast as hell, but as I found out last year, you get used to the thrust in short order. Let’s have more of that, then.

Last but not least, there is the sheer exuberance of it. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but resources are getting scarce in this world and the United States no longer sits at the head of the table when it’s time to chew ’em up. Your children won’t have a chance to buy something like this. It might not be illegal to own one, but it won’t be cheap or easy, either. If you want to experience six hundred and sixty-two horses pulling you down the streets of your hometown like a Apolloian chariot hitched to the sun itself, now’s the time. There won’t be much of a tomorrow. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the 2013 GT500. Raise your glasses, perhaps for the last time.