2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Movie Car From 2014's "Need For Speed" Movie
Hollywood has seemingly forgotten how to make a good, old-fashioned car movie.
By that, I mean movies that truly revel in the art of the automobile. That capture the holy union of man and machine as one at high speed. That exude the kind of passion for what we gear-heads understand: that there are few things finer in life than nailing a perfect heel-to-toe downshift, smelling and hearing the ticking sound of hot brakes after a lap on a track, or the pleasure of turning a wrench one’s self to bolster a car’s performance.
Sure, we get a new installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise every couple of years, but the ridiculous machinations in those films have become so insipid, so consumed with superhero-esqe antics, that for this film reviewer at least, there is no connection to what made the first in the series such an archetypal, grounded car movie.
Thankfully, it seems that every once in a blue moon, a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool car flick does manage to squeak onto the silver screen, keeping the genre alive, if not on life support.
One such film was 2011’s Drive, which, while appropriating a number elements from great automotive movies from the past, was largely an art film, and thus too lofty for many gear-heads to embrace.
And then 2014 brought forward the big budget actioner, Need for Speed. While itself not short on moments that are about as grounded as Halley’s Comet, this movie nonetheless reveled in the celebration of the automobile more than any other film in recent decades.
Much of the automotive spirit in the movie was embodied in its main hero vehicle, a highly modified 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, and we’re gonna take a good look at it.
(photo credit: Drew Phillips)
