<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/coupes/" rel="tag">Coupes</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/sports/" rel="tag">Sports/GTs</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/supercars/" rel="tag">Supercars</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/driving/" rel="tag">First Drive</a></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/1471087/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/2010shelbygt500fdp1_07_opta.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><small>2010 Ford Shelby GT500 - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></span><br /></div>
<br /> The four pillars of Ford's SVT division are Performance, Exclusivity, Substance and Volume. No one is expecting the 2010 Shelby GT500 to have any problem with the last three - it's the first one that means everything. Ford told us the five tenets of the new car all start with the word "better" and end with horsepower, torque, handling, interior and fuel economy. Sent to Northern California for two days to drive it, we had only one question - whether all of those other "betters" truly equated to substantially improved performance than the previous car. The first day covered miles and miles of oceanside and backcountry roads. The second day covered figure-eights, the drag strip and the road course at Petaluma's Infineon Raceway. Follow the jump to see how the latest fanged horse does its thing.<br /><br /><br /><div class="postgallery"><p><strong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/">First Drive: 2010 Ford Shelby GT500, Part 1</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/1471087/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/2010shelbygt500fdp1_001_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/1471088/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/2010shelbygt500fdp1_002_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/1471089/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/2010shelbygt500fdp1_003_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/1471090/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/2010shelbygt500fdp1_004_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/1471091/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/2010shelbygt500fdp1_005_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br /><strong><small>Photos copyright (C)2009 <a href="http://www.drewphillipsphotography.com/">Drew Phillips</a> / Weblogs, Inc</small></strong><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/06/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1-living-on-the-liv/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>First Drive: 2010 Ford Shelby GT500, Part 1 - Living on the (live axle) limit</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/06/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1-living-on-the-liv/">First Drive: 2010 Ford Shelby GT500, Part 1 - Living on the (live axle) limit</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblog</a> on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:57:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/06/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1-living-on-the-liv/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/1509011/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/06/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1-living-on-the-liv/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><small>2010 Ford Shelby GT500 - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></span><br /></div>
<br /> The four pillars of Ford's SVT division are Performance, Exclusivity, Substance and Volume. No one is expecting the 2010 Shelby GT500 to have any problem with the last three - it's the first one that means everything. Ford told us the five tenets of the new car all start with the word "better" and end with horsepower, torque, handling, interior and fuel economy. Sent to Northern California for two days to drive it, we had only one question - whether all of those other "betters" truly equated to substantially improved performance than the previous car. The first day covered miles and miles of oceanside and backcountry roads. The second day covered figure-eights, the drag strip and the road course at Petaluma's Infineon Raceway. Follow the jump to see how the latest fanged horse does its thing.<br /><br /><br /><div class="postgallery"><p><strong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/">First Drive: 2010 Ford Shelby GT500, Part 1</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/1471087/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/2010shelbygt500fdp1_001_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/1471088/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/2010shelbygt500fdp1_002_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/1471089/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/2010shelbygt500fdp1_003_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/1471090/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/2010shelbygt500fdp1_004_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1/1471091/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/2010shelbygt500fdp1_005_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br /><strong><small>Photos copyright (C)2009 <a href="http://www.drewphillipsphotography.com/">Drew Phillips</a> / Weblogs, Inc</small></strong><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/06/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1-living-on-the-liv/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>First Drive: 2010 Ford Shelby GT500, Part 1 - Living on the (live axle) limit</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/06/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1-living-on-the-liv/">First Drive: 2010 Ford Shelby GT500, Part 1 - Living on the (live axle) limit</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblog</a> on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:57:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/06/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1-living-on-the-liv/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/1509011/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/06/first-drive-2010-ford-shelby-gt500-part-1-living-on-the-liv/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>
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