A buddy of mine looked at me a few weeks ago as we were about to leave the office and asked me if I wanted to go to the Ford dealer with him.

I asked "why?"

He said he was looking at a car.

I asked "what?"

He said a 2013 Shelby GT500.

I said "as long as you don't expect me to be the guy talking you out of buying it I'll go."

An hour later he owned it. I was supposed to drive it the next day but I had already left work to go fishing by the time he got there. I told him I'd drive it Monday.

Monday I show up and ask him for the keys. He looks down at the floor and with no shortage of disappointment in his voice he tells me "it's in the shop."

"What?!? Did you wreck it?"

"No" he replies "the clutch is gone."

It had exactly 90 miles on it and the clutch burned out. He says it's a faulty part and the dealer says it's his bad driving so there was a stalemate on who was going to pay to fix it.

Ford wanted roughly 5 grand to fix it. He left it there and said it was a warranty deal and if they hadn't fixed it in 30 days it was a lemon law deal and he'd get his money back.

Ultimately the dealer caved and put in a new clutch, throwout bearing, and pressure plate. He asked me to go pick it up for him and ask some questions about what they fixed (I know more about cars and I work for him so it was an easy thing to do).

So...I was handed the keys to a supercharged V8 that puts out 668 HP...in the middle of rush hour traffic.

It was a blessing and a curse. Unless I got pole position at a light there was really nothing I could do....but when I DID get pole position I was able to give it a little gas. Not much gas mind you...I was brand new to this car and I'm smart enough to know that that there's a learning curve. The last thing I wanted to do was get this thing sideways in three lanes of traffic.

My first impression was just how smooth the ride is and how comfortable the interior was. It's a really nice car. The second thing I noticed is that there is no way to leave a stoplight in first gear without it sounding like you're about to roar down the track...this thing has a significant growl all the time. At one point I was rolling through a neighborhood and a little old lady was checking her mailbox and I made a conscious effort to not touch the gas as I went by...I actually put it in neutral and coasted to the end of the street. I was THAT worried about scaring her to death with the exhaust note.

I know the area well and I was able to find some places to do some 10 MPH to 70 MPH runs and the acceleration in this car is nothing short of impressive...I mean it rocks you back and opens up every adrenal gland in the human body. It is ELECTRIC when you stomp on it...you kick and this pony RUNS.

I'd read that the car does 0-60 in the mid 3 second range...and that you don't have to shift...it does it in first gear...and I found out that's true.

You can do a lot in first gear in this car. There is SO much power in this car that it's a colossal waste to drive it around town. It would be similar to using the space shuttle to make 20 mile flights.

The problem I found with this and the Cadillac CTSV is that they have SOOOOO much power that you don't get much fun time. You get maybe 1 to 1.5 seconds in the throttle and you are already over the speed limit on most roads. Unless you are getting on the highway in which case you might get 3 seconds of acceleration before you are really breaking the law.

In the end I found it to be fun, well built, comfortable, eye catching, fun, hugely fun, and last but not least...fun. Expensive...but fun. Impractical...but fun. And did I mention that it's fun?