Via newsday.com
It’s not too surprising that Ford, General Motors and Chrysler want to bring back the old days of the 1960s; life was good for them back then.
The question is, Do you want to go along?
The issue arises again with the introduction of the latest in Detroit nostalgia: the Shelby GT500, the most powerful factory Mustang ever, with 500 supercharged horses under the hood. It looks fast, and it is; Motor Trend said going from zero to 60 mph took 4.9 seconds in track tests. Zero to handcuffs should take about 60 seconds if you get caught stretching this car’s legs on a public highway.
For the record, a Ford spokesman says there was just one previous factory Mustang that was faster from zero to 60: the 2000 Cobra R.
Built on the latest, retro-themed Mustang that debuted for the ‘05 model year, the Shelby is a burbling, wailing, tire-smoking trip back in time, evoking one of the most iconic of 1960s muscle cars. But whether it’s the car for you probably depends on:
Whether you think any Mustang is worth $43,000.
Whether you thought the good old days really were when it came to cars.
Whether you can take any car seriously as a performance model if it has a solid rear axle instead of an independent suspension.
Whether you’re willing to live with the fuel economy of a big SUV and the interior room of a compact just to get your kicks on Route 106. (Premium only, please, and the tank holds just 16 gallons.)
How much noise you like to make as you move through life - including the visual kind. (For shy types, though, the blue or white striping running down the hood, over the roof, down the deck lid and along the lower body sides can be deleted.) Convertible models will have only the body side stripes, also deletable.
A product of Carroll Shelby’s renowned speed shop and Ford’s own Special Vehicle Team, the 2007 Shelby is a more modern car, for sure, than its sainted predecessors, benefitting from more than 30 years of advances in automotive technology.
But, by design, it’s still a muscle car, crude around the edges and with more brawn than brain. Owning such a car is more difficult to rationalize in an era of heightened awareness of global warming, $3 a gallon gas and ever more crowded roads.