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Whenever I evaluate a vehicle, I always pick an appropriate soundtrack. You see, I’m all about immersing myself into the experience of whatever a given car is supposed to represent. A bad-to-the-bone pickup truck? I’ll put on some Johnny Cash (or if it’s a Chevy truck, Bob Seger, of course). A stylish high-performance German coupe? I’ll cue up some nu-jazz, perhaps from the likes of Christian Prommer’s Drumlesson or Jazzanova. So, when I grabbed the keys to the Mustang Shelby GT500 with 540 supercharged horses, the only song that could possibly come to mind was the theme song from Team America whose title we can’t print here. Expletive-filled and crass, to be sure, but then again, so is the Shelby GT500.

The GT500 is the pinnacle of the Mustang lineup. It boasts the aforementioned supercharged 5.4L V8 (which gets an aluminum block and 10 more horsepower than our test car for 2011) that is positively symphonic with its frightening roar and persistent whine from the blower. It puts its power to the archaic live rear axle through a six-speed Tremec manual transmission that actually requires some muscle to shift through the gears. Naturally, it also gets SVT-fettled suspension settings and some serious-looking brakes.
Driving it in traffic is akin to bringing a nuke to a fireworks show. In bumper to bumper Southern California traffic, you’re always aware that there is 540HP to be unleashed, even though you’re crawling at 5 mph. Frankly, it’s a bit disheartening. But get it out on the open road and with all that noise and furious acceleration, you’ll feel like you’ve been hurled forward by the angry hand of Zeus. I’m pretty sure it’s the fastest car I’ve personally driven.

Driving it in normal traffic actually requires a few minutes of recalibration as giving it even moderately aggressive throttle in first and second gears results in furious wheelspin. It’s probably best to leave the traction and stability control on during normal driving, as mid-turn the car will get sideways with the slightest provocation of the go-pedal. That’s addictive fun when you want it, but hair-raising when you don’t.
In a nutshell, this is one kick-butt, take-no-prisoners car. It’s brash, loud, uncouth, and all the more loveable for it. In this age of politically correct automobiles (not that we’re against progress), it’s kinda refreshing to get behind the wheel of this hooligan with a bad drinking problem (I only averaged about 12mpg during my drive according to the car’s trip computer).
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the configurable gauge lighting. One of the available settings has the instruments lit up in red, white, and blue. America, Heck Yeah indeed!