Los Angeles, Calif. – The basin of hot-rodding and high-octane car culture could not be a more appropriate place to launch a muscle car. This is great, because Ford chose the megacity, the picturesque Pacific Coast Highway and the tire-torturing Mulholland Drive to launch its revamped 2011 Mustang.

At first glance, you’d be hard pressed to tell the ’11 versions from the still-fresh 2010s that roam the streets. The modernized, cut body doesn’t play the retro tune of the ’07, and there’s a street-fighter look about it – especially in supercharged Shelby GT500 form. But when it launched last year, both the unrefined 210-hp 4.0-litre V6 and vocal but underpowered 320-hp 4.6-litre V8 were seriously outgunned by both the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger. It didn’t matter that the Ford was the best of the three to drive – headlines say it all, and with muscle cars, horsepower equals headlines.