It brings joy to my heart that even as the SUVs and crossovers are poised to take over the entire world, arguably the biggest debuts at the Detroit Auto Show were the 2020 Toyota Supra and this—the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. Sporty cars still matter because they capture our attention and set the tone for their respective automakers. And in Ford’s case, the new top Mustang looks to be a real riot.
To check out this car I sat down with the biggest horsepower fiend I know, Jason Torchinsky. As you all know, nothing less than 700 horsepower will do for Jason, so he’s utterly delighted by the new GT500.
The rest of us should be too. With a howling 5.2-liter supercharged cross-plane V8, a seven-speed Tremec DCT, a race-inspired aero kit, exhausts you can squeeze a fist into and more power than any street-legal Ford has ever had, it’s basically impossible not to like this car. I’m very eager to get behind the wheel eventually.
It’s also interesting that of those two major sports car debuts, neither one had a traditional manual gearbox. And we’re not even talking exotics here. This is the top Mustang and the new Supra, both of which should be reasonably priced for their performance.
I’m not sure I like what that says about the current state of the stick shift, but I really can’t argue with what you get from Ford here.
Correction: We misspoke in the video. The paddles in GT500 are magnesium and not plastic. We regret the error.