It depends on what "special" means to you.

My wife would rather drive her 2000 Mustang 4.6 liter GT  5 speed
Convertible than either of my "special" cars.

The exhaust on her Mustang is tuned to sound great.   The short wheelbase
and live rear axle makes the V-8 a truly fun experience.  The top goes up
and down by motor, good for both sudden sunshine and sudden rain.  The car
cost little enough that she owns it free and clear, no payments makes for
some nice grins.  Maintenance and parts aren't horribly expensive, and at
least so far, it's been pretty reliable.     With the rear seats, she can
get at least two, and maybe three people in the car for short distances, if
she needs to.  And there's enough space in the trunk and rear seats to do a
major food shopping for teenagers,  on a regular basis.  Fun, affordable,
wind in your hair, stereo on, top down, V-8 stick shift motoring for a very
reasonable price.

That seems pretty "special" to me.   And I've owned C5 Vettes,  Porsches,
and so on.   If I needed to save some money, I could certainly be happy
driving the Mustang GT Convertible.

Larry

96 Dodge Viper
99 Mercedes S420

Unless you are world class driver, or spending a lot of time on the track,
you'll never notice the difference.   My experience on the curves, both with
motorcycles and cars, is that it is primarily about the skill level of the
driver.

I can get around corners marginally better in my Viper than I did in my C5
Vette, which is marginally faster than I can do in the live axle Mustang.
And depending on conditions, wet or dry, my former Porsche 911s could get
around corners faster than any of the others, except maybe the Viper, if you
have the guts to hang the rear out.   But the differences are negligible.

On motorcycles my speed changed dramatically based on the number of track
classes I took.   I believe this to be true in cars as well.   The
differences in rear suspensions will be more than offset by decent driving
skills.  A good driver in a Mustang GT can still outrun me in a car that
should leave it for dead.   And at about 1/3 the entry price.   But if you
DO want a Mustange with IRS, you can buy one, for what is still a very
reasonable entry price.   And next year, the combination of styling and
upcoming IRS at the Cobra level should make for a very entertaining vehicle
at a very reasonable price.

The C6 Vette, which also looks more than terrific, will still be $15,000
more than a Mustang Cobra, so if you are buying with price in mind, that's a
lot of money for marginal increase in results.

If you are not worried about money, why not just get a Ferrari 360 Modena,
or Porsche GT3, and blow everyone away?
Well, maybe not a WELL DRIVEN Viper,  but that's hard to do.

Larry

Current family car  2000 Ford Mustang  4.6 GT  5 Speed Convertible  (wife's
car)
1996 Dodge Viper
1999 Mercedes S 420
Former 1999 C5 Corvette
And so on...