2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 First Drive Review (Automobile)
Street, strip, or road course — the choice is yours with the new GT500.
Modern muscle cars haven't been one-trick ponies for more than a decade now, with both the Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang offering impressively competent corner-slayer models. At Ford, the latest and greatest road-course varietals bear the Shelby name. Both the GT350 and GT350R have won considerable praise for their composure, balance, and pace. Now, the GT500 joins the pack with 760 horsepower, launch control, and a mean new look. But is it as well-suited as its brethren to tracks with turns or is this the drag sheep of the family?
The new super-Mustang traces its heritage back to the classic GT500s of the late '60s, but it's the S197 Mustang GT500s that offer the most direct lineage. Those 2007-2009, 2010-2012, and 2013-2014 GT500s progressed from viciously sudden snap oversteer to more benign traits, even becoming something close to friendly in the final 662-hp models. But now, the first new GT500 in five years takes that friendliness to new levels while adding a great deal of actual capability.
