As hard as I try, I just can't get excited about this car.

Sweet mother of god that car looks fast.

Anyone else wonder why you wouldn't just get a standard GT500 and one of these: [store.roushperformance.com]

605 HP and 554 lb-ft of torque sounds good

Still looks too much like every fourth high school girl's $17k V6 model. At several multiples of that, it's stretching the limits of what to expect from a basic design platform. IMHO, of course.

Why the hell would they give KITT clones a solid axle?

$80,000: That money can be spent in much better ways.

For this kinda dough you can just about get a Lingenfelter C6 with a turbo 427 that would bury this stang (and everything else) deep in the cold, cold ground.

@tenbase: For that kinda dough you can get a GT-R. Godzilla eats ponies for a snack. :D

Car of means; by no means king of the road.

For an extra five or ten grand, this looks faster:

Damn it, I know this is a blog, but get a bloody editor. A quick way to be discredited would be to have writers who show no understanding of singular and plural. Congratulations on achieving that.

And an $80G Mustang is the last straw. Ford really is a joke.

I guess the Shelby name requires a $30,000 upcharge to keep Carrolls heart ticking....

Didn't I just see a "Gee wiz" beat the pants off this on Top Gear last night?

WIth so many of these special edition mustangs I'm beginning to think that the true "Special Edition" is the stock one.

That was a funny Top Gear wasnt it...

$80,000 - when did Ford start selling Mustangs by the six-pack?

I didn't fancy myself an independent-suspension snob until I drove a standard GT500. Sweet mother, that axle was all over the place.

Way too much money. A C6 Z06 has real horsepower of 535 (not 505 as they claim), can handle, and looks way better. Also all you have to do is stare at sideways and it will deliver even more power. I'm sorry to see Ford can't step up. Where have all the good times gone?

Chop off the price by about $30k...

I would rather buy an R32 and send it to those good folks at HPA Motorsports...

@☼ БЯд╒╒ ®: I keep telling my dad not to sell his R, just to send it to HPA and he'd have a whole new car. He's more of a bone-stock kind of guy.

@Adamskiy: Dunno why that picture of the GT500 interior is right there....

I believe this is made by Shelby, not Ford. As in the GT500 is mfg at Flat Rock, and sent to Shelby for the KR treatment.

It should have IRS for sure, but most buyers aren't really flogging it on a track anyways I'm sure.

@50yardAsh: They are holding their value insanely well... he should hold on to it.

The HPA R32 is just automotive-insanity at its finest...

So Popular Mechanics supposedly test drove the GT500KR, but only provides us with pics of a GT500? What gives?

But wasn't the original purpose of a GT500KR to have big HP numbers, a solid rear axle, go fast in a straight line and not really much else?

I'll give it criticism for not looking that different any other mustang and costing more than a ZO6, but other than that can't find fault with it.

Its not THAT bad.

@Corvette_Thunder: I really don't know whether it's not THAT bad or not THAT good. Although I kind of think it's the same thing.

@rlj676: I don't think that matters to some people. Muscle cars are meant for the Nurburgring in stock form & should corner better than a Lotus. They should also outperform a GT-R that, of course, can be had for MSRP w/ zero markup.

Hey, all buyers should be considering Vipers and Corvettes too, since we're all indifferent when it comes to the cars we purchase. Besides, straight line speed is for wimps like Ashley Force. And who needs >500 lb. ft. of torque anyway..robble robble...

@aircooled_poirot: Those are pictures of a GT500KR over at Popular Mechanics.

The 'you can get more for the money' argument doesn't work with this type of car. You'll never see one of these on the road - only up for auction somewhere at a Barrett-Jackson-type circle jerk for rich 50 year old guys. I promise nobody is scraping together funds to buy a KR - these will be the 25th or so car in someone's fat musclecar collection.

@Corvette_Thunder: I think you and Parramore46 are the only ones who've commented so far that actually understand this car.

Aside from what Saleen makes the GT500KR is the pinnacle of Mustangs (and modern muscle cars).

That is until GM unleashes their supercharged LSA Camaro on it.

@☼ БЯд╒╒ ®:
hell yes on the HPA R32!!!
at all their price points, you certainly can do better than all the Mustang models. sure the cars are better than old Mustangs(60s and early 70s which i would rather have) but
the competition is so much better. like all V8 Mustangs, the motor is great. the rest of the car sucks.

@ Adamskiy,

Somebody makes a SC kit for the new M3 already??

In any case $80K for a Mustang is outrageous, but as Carol Shelby said, 'there's a sucker born every minute'.

Are we cross-posting this with Autoblog, or did somebody tell their former schoolmaster that it was "Maximum Proper Grammar Day" at Jalopnik?

*Crotchetty old man voice* "And what the H-E-Double hockey sticks is a Jalopnik anyways? It's not even a proper word! Tarnation!"

@Parramore46:

But you forgot how it doesn't look exotic enough either.

Nothing that's posted here pleases more than a few, which is surprising for a place "obsessed with the cult of cars".

@☼ БЯд╒╒ ®: He just needs more car...but the good news is that he's rightside-up on the residual value (company lease buyout) and should be able to get into a new 5-series for pocket change. The R32 is still worth 80% of what he paid 4 years ago!

I've always wanted to know what it felt like to be the guy in the Maxell ad.

@PAPAL POLAЯ: I'm not even sure I know where he's claiming I'm confusing singular and plural.

@rlj676: @rlj676: Robble Robble indeed.

You're right in pointing out no $80k sports car is all that great of a value proposition, given that you can take a 5-10 year old X, spend 1/3 the purchase price and a have a performance monster.

...but $80k is too much for this, not matter how you slice it.

@Ray Wert: I strained my eyes trying to see what he is griping about, but I fail to see the problem(s).
Don't you worry though, I got your back.

@TRAMS_AM: Jeremy Clarkson, for Maxell high-fidelity cassette tapes:

@PAPAL POLAЯ: I can't find it either... though I am not a Professional Grammar Wrangler by trade.

@50yardAsh: If he has to drive people around at all, the back seat in that car (5-series) sucks... at 6'3" I found it highly uncomfortable.

@PAPAL POLAЯ: @Ray Wert:
I think he was referring to this:

"we're pretty sure there's better cars you could probably buy for the money"...should be "there are" better cars...but I'd forgive you this colloquialism.

BTW Ray, did you get my email?

@Al Navarro: Ah...I see. Yeah, damn my lack-of-editing, damn it to hell!

Also, yes, been running at light-speed today. Will respond in a few minutes. Need to get lunch first.

For $80K you could get the Atom, and you too could look like Jeremy!

@Ray Wert:
Lunch is for people who voted "No" on the El Cam.

@Al Navarro: Well, since I still haven't gone, I guess I'm in the clear.

@TriShield: Note one thing, though: Understanding the car doesn't mean it becomes justified... or that it actually has a valid point. Most people don't seem to be "missing" the point, just disregarding it as a worthless one - I'm in this boat.

It's an overly expensive piece of machinery that can be beat by a cheaper option in any category other than "Most expensive solid-axle mustang edition".

Wanna go faster in a straight? There are options.
Wanna go faster on the corners, too? There are options.
Wanna blow a wad of cash on a car? there are better options.
Wanna have an exotic vehicle worthy of raising your self-esteem and collector worth? There are definitively better options.

It's not that the car is, absolutely, objectively speaking, a bad car, or a lemon. It's just that there's a better value proposition irrespective of what your definition of "value" is.

@Mad_Science:

That's part of the point. You buy this when you have enough money you don't care that you are overpaying, that car X does the same for less, etc. You are buying what you want and its just a toy.

Just see what you get in a new boat for $80k, and put it in perspective as a toy.

It's sad most of these won't ever even burn rubber.

I work with a kid who has a regular GT500, he is 18, the payments are like $1000 per month, and i think his mom