Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, goes to Japan for drifting role reversal

In the past decade, we have seen an explosion of cars being imported to North America from Japan for the purposes of stripping them, ripping them and drifting them. There has always seemed to be an aversion to purchasing cars that were readily available on our shores. Why buy domestic when you can import a 20 year old JDM (Japan Domestic Market) car from halfway across the world with an unknown history? Sounds logical, right? No.

Largely due to the ever increasing popularity of Formula Drift and the large American V8 presence, our domestic machines have been pushed into the limelight. The Mustang the Viper the Corvette the Charger and any variation of their engines are now common-place in the series. Gone are the times when the only cars thought drift worthy were built in Japan, thankfully. As the cool kids are starting to realise that there are an abundance of reliable RWD sports cars that serve as good candidates for tire slaying goodness at their doorstep; the door opens up for the titans of torque, the American V8.

So it is with great delight that we can present to you a video of Takahiro Imamura, who competes in the D1GP in Japan. D1GP is known for being the premier drift competition series on the planet. They were the original and have blazed the trail for enthusiasts all over the world.

In a rare (but becoming more common-place) role reversal, Takahiro is piloting a Ford Shelby GT500 in the premier series that has largely been synonymous with bad ass RWD turbo Japanese cars. This bad ass GT500 is running with Nitrous Oxide and puts down 690 horsepower.

Watch on as he puts down a qualifying lap with that glorious sound. (Nothing like three-wheeling it and smoking the rears at the same time.)