“I'm in heaven,” says Killer Mike. “I have everything I need, minus strippers and weed.” He's on the phone with legendary OutKast MC Big Boi. It's 68 degrees at a pristine private race track just outside Palm Springs called the Thermal Club. We're here so Mike can test-drive some of the most powerful muscle cars on the market: the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, and Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody. His wife of 11 years, Shana, is close enough to hear the stripper/weed comment and seems to agree. A handful of the Thermal Club's die-hard car-fanatic regulars stand around admiring all the horsepower on display. Black people. Brown people. White people. Young. Old. Heaven.

Killer Mike is an enigma—one of a long line of insanely talented weirdos associated with the legendary Atlanta rap crew known as the Dungeon Family. (Ya know: Goodie Mob, OutKast, etc.) Unlike their contemporaries from New York City or Los Angeles, CeeLo, Big Boi, André 3000, Killer Mike, and the rest are black and country. Hear them rap or spend five minutes in their company and it's apparent that they are national treasures, too. Mike is the guild's gentle giant: “Yes, sir,” he says. “Oh, that's awesome, sir.” “I'd love to learn, sir.” Mike made a middle-aged mechanic's day by asking him if they could take a photo together—for Mike to have. I doubt that mechanic has heard Mike's verse on OutKast's “The Whole World.” Or any of his work with Brooklyn rapper/producer El-P as Run the Jewels—easily one of the most successful second acts for a rapper in history.

When he's behind the wheel of one of the cars, Mike gets big-eyed, like a teenager. You almost forget that this is the same guy who spent the past few years in the political hot seat as Bernie Sanders's unofficial talk-show surrogate. (In our dreams, Bernie made Mike his running mate.) In fact, when someone makes the biopic about the wackiest election in American history, someone will have to play Killer Mike. His character will surely add intelligence to the conversation, and relief to all the tension. Some hope. Some assurance that no matter what happens in the White House, there are people back home on tree-lined country roads trying to make America a little better for us all. A little more like heaven.

GQ Style: What got you into American muscle cars?

Killer Mike: For me, muscle cars are a tribute to American ingenuity. Most of these cars are inspired by ones built 50 or 60 years ago. Some guys were tinkering in their garage, trying to get more horsepower out of the engines that Detroit was building. They were constantly trying to figure out how to maximize power. America has done a great job making brutally fast, stripped-down cars.

I just like cars, period. I can find something to like about pretty much any car. I've had as much fun whipping around Italy in a little Mini Cooper as I've had whipping through Miami in a Bentley GT.