Originally Posted by
Top Gear
No, we're not sure why either. When New York - town of cramped streets and traffic jams - held its motor show this year, America's car makers chose to unveil a thunderclap of muscle-bound 400-and-more-bhp metal.
Still, when was relevance the criterion for how much we like a car? So put your hands together for the Ford Shelby Cobra GT500. A Mustang developed by the SVT, Ford's in-house tuners, with a supercharger atop its 5.4-litre V8. If words alone could do the trick, this one car would be, on aggregate, the greatest American sports car ever built. Mustang. Shelby. Cobra. Ford SVT. It's a tasty lexicon of performance heritage.
This latest multiple-striped fast Ford has '450bhp-plus' (the car doesn't go on sale until next year), the transmission is six-speed and the wheels 19-inchers, with big Brembo discs to oppose the supercharger's energy. The suspension gets upgraded springs, dampers and anti-roll bars, although it's still a live axle. In the past, SVT has put an independent rear end on its most specialised Mustangs, and rumours were that it would again. But not this time.
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Meanwhile at the very same New York show, Dodge pulled the covers off its 425bhp, 6.1-litre Hemi-powered SRT8 version of the Charger. It gets better suspension, better brakes (Brembos on this one, too) and 20-inch wheels. Dubs on your Dodge, then. It'll get to 60mph in a hectic five seconds.
Under the skin, the Charger is basically the same as our long-term Chrysler 300C, but it has a meaner attitude and more rakish styling (still a four-door though, unlike the proper Sixties and Seventies Chargers). Still, the SRT8's bonnet scoops, brake ducts and 245/45 20 back tyres kinda show it means business. Inside, new seats have suede inserts to stop yo'ass from sliding about in the curves.
Of course, it would be entirely unreasonable to expect such a sizeable all-American muscle car to to boast absolute BMW-style quality or driving finesse, but it's going to be hilariously cheap in the United States. The standard 325bhp 5.7-litre Hemi Charger R/T is yours for only $30,000. That's £16,000. The SRT8 is likely to cost just £5,000 more when it goes on sale later this year. Makes you sob.
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My vote went to the mustang, better looks, performance, and it's a 2-door.
