The hottest American musclecar at the 2011 New York motor show will be this one - the 590kW, 2012 Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake, which will share the Shelby stand with the new Shelby GT350 coupé and convertible.
Shelby American president John Luft said: “Shelby has a rich history at the New York auto show - the first Shelby car was introduced there in 1962, as well as the 1968 and 2008 Shelby GT500KR's and the 2006 Shelby Hertz GT-H.
“This year, we're returning with one of the most powerful and important Shelbys ever built.”
And yet the Super Snake isn't even a model in its own right; it's an aftermarket engine and suspension package, developed at the drag strip and on countless laps of Las Vegas Motor Speedway that, to quote Luft again, “turns the Ford Shelby GT500 into a world-class supercar”.
Hmm… Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin might have something to say about that.
The kitted GT500 is one of very few cars that's rated at more than 550kW while running on the octane-deficient feline urine that passes for petrol in the US (they call it gas because all it does for imported cars is to make them fart) and it's also street-legal in all 50 states.
But what will give the Euroflash aristocracy pause for thought is that from May 1 American performance junkies will be able to go visit Shelby American's new “Build-One” car-building programme at http://shelbyamerican.com/buildhome.asp and spec up their own unique Ford Shelby GT500 - complete with the Super Snake package - for less than $100 000 (R670 000).
Sadly, there's no provision on the site for right-hand drive conversions so we're unlikely to see a Super Snake in South Africa.