Classical gas
The legendary Shelby GT500 Mustang is back in a 2007 version that gets thumbs up
THE BASICS
Base price/as tested: $47,000-$52,000 (est.)
Fuel economy: 19 miles per gallon (est.)
THE SPECIFICS
Drivetrain: Rear-wheel drive
Seating: Four
Horsepower: 500
Torque: 480 lb.-ft.
Overall length: 187.6 inches
Wheelbase: 107.1 inches
Height: 54.5 inches
Width: 73.9 inches
Curb weight: 4,040 pounds (est.)
I'd never seen a thumbs-up for a car I was driving quite like this one: The hand extended out of the window of the car alongside me on Route 9 in Brookline looked ready to shake itself from its wrist.
But then I realized it was not his hand that was twitching, it was my head. My 2007
Granted, sections of Route 9 are not exactly smooth, but I also felt similar momentary shudders as I hit expansion joints on bridges cruising up Interstate 495 and Interstate 95 into Maine.
Don't get me wrong, though, I like receiving feedback from my cars.
Firm steering -- which this Mustang has -- can give a tactile sense of driving. An empowering oversteer lets an enthusiast use the throttle as a steering device, not just to go fast straight ahead (another point for the GT500). And a suspension with a stiff stance is useful in hard corners when, instead of the car rolling to the side, the driver is gripped by big thigh and torso bolsters to keep from pitching (the Shelby has that, too).
Yet, after a short test drive, I came away disappointed in a car for which I had high expectations.
Can the shudder of a dashboard, the shimmy of a windshield, the rattle-my-bones shake of a car billed as high-performance spoil the overall driving experience?
Yes.
Convertibles inherently have more body shake than coupes. That's a matter of simple engineering: Cut the hard, supportive roof off any vehicle -- particularly a four-seater such as the Mustang -- and it loses some critical body stiffness.
When I drove the 2006 Mustang GT coupe and convertible in succession -- two of the best cars in recent years, especially in their price class -- I noted that while I anticipated some shudder from the convertible, I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was relatively mild.
Perhaps the giant bubble of a hood on the GT500 should have been a hint. It rises like a lava dome to accommodate the 5.4-liter V-8 engine perched beneath. Maybe that puts too much unfavorable extra weight on the forward part of the car.
Or maybe it's the overall weight of the car that makes for a rough ride: it tops 2 tons, compared to the GT's 3,673 lbs.
It's unfortunate, because this is otherwise a fine extension of the relationship between hot Mustangs and racing legend Carroll Shelby, who in the mid-1960s gave us the GT350 fastback and later the legendary Shelby GT500.
The 2007 GT500 is a great example of modern engineering meeting classic design. The engine is a supercharged, 5.4-liter V-8 that is more broad sword fast than rapier quick. Linked to a fine, click-shift six-speed manual transmission, it throws its power rearward to a wonderfully retro solid rear axle.
Want to wiggle a bit -- just touch the gas. Surprisingly, you can also induce a steady understeer in a smoother bit of controlled cornering.
Yet even if you do, as I did up a highway entrance ramp, the throttle and the steering are so precisely communicative that control is easy.
A big mesh grille, with a snarling Cobra emblem, and a mesh lower air dam give the front a sinister look. The loss of the coupe's fastback, with its distinct rear triangular windows, slightly diminishes the car's flashback aura, but that didn't stop Mr. Thumbs-up from recognizing what is a hot commodity on the market.
Inside, leather seats are standard, the tachometer has been moved for better driver vision for those who watch the tach for upshifts, and the overall presentation of gauges says serious driving.
The car is priced to sell at around $50,000, but already there are reports of dealer gouging, as so often happens with a car that either rides a sudden cult wave of popularity or promises to become a limited edition classic -- which this may.
I can't wait to get into the coupe. That may combine power and smoothness in far better fashion and make the ride down the highway more pleasurable. 