IT’S fair to say the CAR team was proud of the colourful line-up of performance machines that we had driven from Cape Town to Kyalami, as were the gathered fans who had braved the inclement weather to pore over our charges. However, the self-same performance machines that we showed off around the Republic in the days leading up to the track day were instantaneously rendered invisible by the rumbling arrival of a brace of modern-day muscle cars.
Conversations were cut short and eyes whipped right as modified versions of the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and Chevrolet Camaro SS managed to leave every CAR team member conversing with thin air where once a petrolhead stood – if these cars had accompanied us to our filling stops in Senekal and Ladysmith, there would’ve been a trampling reported in the local newspaper shortly thereafter.
There is something deeply satisfying about the complete lack of false airs presented by a muscle car – the rippling bodywork, bold racing stripes and eardrum-popping soundtrack – that endears them to everyone. Although both bruisers have modified super-chargers under their hoods, the duo presents two very different takes on the modern-day muscle car.
Watch the Chevrolet Camaro SS and Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 go head-to-head in a straight-line drag race at Kyalami for the 2012 Performance Shootout…
