Its name evokes tire shredding and stoplight foolery, but the Shelby Mustang GT350R wants you to know it's sick of being typecast as a street fighter.

In fact, thank you very much, the GT350R would like an invite to the supercar party. Shedding its rough-trade image, the newest Shelby Mustang has a free-revving, flat-plane-crank V8 with raspy Italian undertones, carbon-fiber wheels weighing less than the tires around them, and a track-day focus that, at long last, puts Detroit on the same playing field as Stuttgart and Maranello.