There's One American Muscle Car That Can Out-Drag the Shelby GT500

Sorry Mustang fans. The Tesla Model S Performance remains king.

The Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 was built to dominate road courses, but as we've seen time and time again, it's a monster in a straight line as well. But it's just been defeated by another American muscle car: The Tesla Model S Performance.

Before you start drafting an email to me about how the Tesla isn't a muscle car, let's just look at the facts. It has explosive power and gobs of torque—enough to humble even the greatest new supercars. It'd be wrong to call it anything else. And in this latest video from DragTimes on YouTube, it's the first unmodified new car we've seen defeat the mighty Shelby in the quarter-mile on a proper drag strip.

The two cars went head-to-head a total of three times. All three runs, the Shelby jumps the lights, getting a slight head start. Even then, the 760-horsepower supercharged V-8 isn't enough to propel the GT500 into the lead. In every run, the Tesla's all-wheel-drive grip and violent acceleration push it to the line first. It's worth noting, however, that the Shelby does start to pull back just as the two cars cross the finish. If this were a half-mile race, we suspect it would have a much different finishing order.


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