2010 Ford Mustang GT

Ford Mustang was in 2003, in the SVT Cobra of that year.

The three best things about that car:

1. A 390-horsepower supercharged V-8, good for 60 mph runs in the 4.5-second range.
2. A revised, fully independent rear suspension—even though stock ’Stangs of the same era retained solid-rears, just like they still have today, and will this spring as well, when the 2011 Mustang debuts (more on that, suspension included, shortly).
3. A $35K base price, which at the time made the Mustang a “poor” man’s BMW M3 attack dog and Corvette eater.

The 2003 Cobra did have some glaring weaknesses. It came with an ultra-vague Tremec six-speed gearbox, and clutch effort required steroidal strength. Never mind though, because the SVT had such deep reserves of power, you simply chugged from the trough of horsepower and ignored the pain building in your left leg, not to mention the frequent missed downshift from 5th to 3rd. Power does corrupt—that car was proof.