Ford recently held an event for the motoring press to introduce the journos to the all-new 2013 Shelby GT500. Our invitation was lost in the mail, but Steve Turner, Editor-In-Chief of 5.0 Mustangs and Super Fords, made the trek to Road Atlanta to sample the new Snake-badged beast. While everyone else was using their fists of ham to chuck the coupes around the road course, Turner idled gently away to a nearby dyno. Ford reports that the Shelby punches forth with 662 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque thanks to its mighty 5.8-liter supercharged V8 engine.

As automakers often do with their high-po products, Ford seems to be down rating the power figures for its strongest steed.

How does 609 horsepower and 609 pound-feet of torque at the wheels sound to you? Figuring in a 15 percent drivetrain loss, that puts the actual output at around 715 horses. We’re talking about a 200-mile-per-hour, 715-horsepower Mustang(?!) that can be had for a around $63,000 (once you figure in some options).  That is insane levels of performance from a showroom stock vehicle at that price point.

Click past the break for the video, and scroll a bit further down for the obvious inspiration for SVT engineers (NSFW – Language).

[Source: 5.0 YouTube Channel via MustangsDaily]

Apparently Ford engineers have ditched this poster for their cubicles:

With this one: