2010 Ford Shelby GT500 vs. 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS Specs

The Chevy Camaro SS is a swaggering rock star of a ponycar. Almost everything you touch and see has been compromised in the name of style -- the front-end graphic looks overwrought, the slammed roof means anyone over 6 feet 2 simply won't fit comfortably in a car equipped with a sunroof, the optional console-mounted gauges look cool but are pretty much useless otherwise, and the trunk opening is little more than a mailbox slot. But the Camaro delivers pure, unadulterated driveway theater few other $30,000-$40,000 cars can match.

The Shelby GT500 is probably the greatest Mustang ever built, the ultimate evolution of a tried-and-true formula that dates back 45 years. It needs better brakes and better tires, and, like the Camaro, needs to lose a few pounds. But it's a comfortably charismatic car; a deliberately rose-tinted, digitally remastered memory of a happier and simpler automotive America. While the Camaro is modern muscle with a manga edge, the GT500 is Norman Rockwell with racing stripes.

Just as the Mustang GT is a lot closer to the Camaro SS than its horsepower difference suggests it ought to be, the Camaro SS is a lot closer to the GT500 than you'd think. The key difference is this: The Camaro can be distant and detached, almost a little clumsy, especially when driven hard, while the GT500 always feels as playful and engaging as a Labrador on puppy uppers. What we have here is one old-school chassis at the absolute apogee of its development curve versus a new one that has missed the mark for the enthusiast driver on its first go-around (the Camaro's chassis is similar to the Zeta that we love in the Pontiac G8 GXP, but not identical -- the front axle center line has been moved almost two inches forward relative to the firewall).

So the Ford Shelby GT500 is king of the modern ponycar hill. For now.