Who wouldn’t want a 500 hp candy cane delivered within a week of Christmas. It’s big, red, shiny, and the most power I know of under $50,000. And every single person that sees it notices it. For those who are looking to over-compensate with their vehicle, look no further.
I don’t think there was a single time someone walked by this car when I was either getting in or out and didn’t comment. The gas attendant, who saw it from afar, and staring at it as he walked up to take my order, merely said “That’s what I’m asking for for Christmas.” The homeless man who rode his bike/trailer combo by my house one afternoon only saw it from behind, and with the trunk open, but still was exclaiming about how hot my ride was from 20 feet away. Getting out at my friend’s house, at 8pm in the evening, elicited shouts from the neighbor porch, “Hey man, you wanna sell me your car!” Over and over again, this was the object of attention. And for anyone who rode in it, it held their attention the entire time.
The night of my companies Christmas party, I got a call one hour before the event began, and was told, very nicely, that I would be picking up my boss and his wife in the Shelby. It was my boss’s wife that was calling. She was ecstatic about the opportunity to ride in the hot rod, and immediately coined it the 500hp candy cane. She also begged me to peel out as I left their quiet, up-scale neighborhood, and I’ll leave it to the imagination of my editors whether or not I obliged, with tires smoking and screaming and the car just sitting there amidst it, on dry ground, with out more than a flick of the throttle (that’s all imagination, I promise).
But don’t be fooled, with much power, comes much responsibility. Many were the time I had to focus, very carefully on letting out the clutch evenly and slowly as to not break loose the tires on the recently wetted ground of a Portland rain. Many times when going to pass someone, I reminded myself to be cautious, as even 1/2 the throttle could often be more than bargained for. This car is a rocket ready to launch, everything else is waiting.
Inside the car is elegantly laid out, in muscle car language. Aluminum pedals, leather-wrapped and hand-stitched steering wheel, the cobra sitting in the middle ready to strike. A very average radio and entertainment console, but too much time spent looking at the gauges means too little time looking at the road. The seats curved and ready to hold you down while you take off, being pushed into them with more force than suggestion.
This car was very fun to drive, and got me the admiration and respect of many people who saw me in it, but in the end, I was happy to turn over the keys and return to a smaller, more nimble and relaxing drive. You never rest when driving this car, and with it’s width and girth, you must always be watching the hard-to-find edges of the car. However, parallel parking isn’t what this car was made for, and so I won’t take away from it for failing in that arena. This car was not made for tight city living, nor 20 mph school zones, to keep it there is like chaining a wild beast to the concrete floors of a zoo. This cobra wants to strike, and it should be given free reign to do so, in the wild, all 500 hp of it. 5 stars.
