MotorMouths

The 2011 GT500 Convertible is better than what we drove in 2010, but it still isn’t where it should be – the body is still too flexible and we would never consider anything but the coupe if we were tasked with driving a Shelby along a California canyon road or out on a track.

While the Shelby GT500 packs better acceleration and compelling styling, the 2011 Mustang GT could prove its downfall. Carol Shelby has a worthy steed — or serpent, as it were — in the GT500. But the Mustangs for the masses have improved so much that few may care.

If you want a fast, stylish, comfortable cruiser for weekends in the sun and the occasional blast on an empty freeway or a canyon, the Shelby GT500 convertible is for you. If you’re planning on driving it on a track, you really want a coupe.

The 2011 GT500 is fabulously fast, ruggedly handsome and imposingly obvious. It has leading-edge technologies that pony cars aren’t necessarily supposed to have.

The 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 will satisfy the rare individual who thinks the Mustang GT, Chevy Camaro SS and Dodge Challenger SRT8 are just too wimpy. The added performance and meaner appearance come at a premium of more than $10K though, and that can buy a lot of aftermarket hardware.

You get macho good looks and plenty of power for thousands less in a Camaro, Challenger, or Mustang GT. But if you want the best car in the class, you have to pay up for the Shelby GT500, at least until the Camaro Z28 finally makes its appearance.

When looked at individually, the upgrades to the 2011 Ford Shelby GT500’s upgrades may not impress. But when you’re behind the wheel, the GT500’s modifications more than equal the sum of their parts.

The 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 is without question the most capable Mustang ever, and few cars can touch its performance at the price.

The Performance Package-equipped 2011 Shelby GT500 is no longer merely a rip-roaringly fast Ford Mustang — it’s a well-balanced rip-roaringly fast Mustang.

After five years of serious tweaking, including a new aluminum engine block for 2011, Ford has finally transformed the slacker GT500 Mustang into a storming hot-rod Henry that will run with Grand Sport Corvettes.

This hot rod Mustang Shelby GT500 is a definitive example of Detroit muscle and precisely the type of car that enthusiasts covet, with power to spare and impressive handling dynamics, plus head-turning styling.

The Performance Pack equipped GT500 Cobra steered more sharply, responded faster to inputs, and communicated more about the track surface to the driver. All of these benefits are critical when hurtling 125 mph toward a corner where a screw up would send the car to the junkyard and you to the hospital.