So I wasnt around when "Bullitt" came out, and I want to know if there was a cloneing epidemic back then much like the now leveling off Eleanor cloneing. I have gotten the vibe amonst mustang owners that there is nothing wrong with doing a bullitt, but for some reason its a sin to do an Eleanor...What gives? I really dont care, but there are some Eleanor haters out there....

 

I don't believe there were Bullitt "haters". Always been a classic and cult following for the Bullitt.

 

I'm not saying i want to build either one...just wanting to know if there were Bullitt haters back in the day...

 

Well.. Eleanor clones got big(er) after the remake..Ford already makes Bullitt's, but with the rumors of a re-make of it coming up? yeah.. I'd say you'll see more of em, personally I like the subdued look of the Bullitt's anyway.

 

I'm a hater!And I think (speaking for most haters) we dislike Eleanor cars because they really don't stay very true to an original Shelby GT500. Whereas if you went out and saw Bullit in 1968 the next stop was a ford dealership to order an original. Some Eleanors ar great recreations of the recent GISS, but since the car didn't sit well with Shelby purists, to begin with, may be the root of the hatred. That added on to the fact that every yahoo with a 67/68 fastback had the car repainted some shade of silver grey and put on stripes and thoought their car was now worth $100k.
All that said I am building a highland green true Shelby clone w/ some cues stolen from Eleanore.

 

Yeah I'm a hater also. You got that right. I also hate the eleanors because most of the car shows I enter there is 1. They do some of the crappiest classification and I get stuck in the class with the eleanor. Just recently an eleanor beat me, a 67 fastback (restored), 65 vert, 69 all original coupe, and an all original 67 coupe. Not to happy about that crap.


As for the bullitt they are awesome. I want to take off all the emblems on my 67 like the bullitts now.

 

Yeah...prices on 67-68 fastbacks have gone way up... What I hate is when you see a private cloned "Eleanor" on ebay, and its not even a good replica... wrong tail lights, interior color, etc...kinda what you are talking about...

I suppose its pretty hard to mess up a Bullitt Clone...lol

 

I have seen a mustang on Ebay that was a coupe and they said it was an eleanor. Had the silver and gray paint and a gt500 hood. That was it, everything else was stock.

 

I personally like Eleanor. Yeah I know that it didn't stay true to an original 67 GT500 but they never said thats what they were going for. That being said, I do hate that Eleanor drove up the price of fastbacks and pretty much killed the "found a cheap mustang in an old lady's barn" situations but at least it brought renewed interest in the hobby. So much so that Dynacorn even brought out the repro body. And also where some guys are taking some cues and putting them on thier own cars. It's all in tastes I guess.

 

count me amongst the haters. that stupid movie drove the **** prices out of control.

the ladies are dirty. lol

 

Well one good thing did come of the Eleanor clones. A slew of new parts and replacement parts for 67-68 model Mustangs.

Look through a number of Mustang magazines and there are all kinds of parts that were not available 5 years ago.

Having said that...I like the Eleanor from the movie even if it's not a true Shelby. I even like the movie. Realistic...not really but it was entertaining.

Having said that I'd rather have a Bullitt clone by far over a "Not Quite Shelby Clone" of Eleanor.

I wish they had as many after market parts for my 69 Fastback as they do for the 67-68 models.

I did hear that Dynacorn is coming out with a 69 Fastback shell next year I think.

 

Good comments from both sides of the fence.

I think the Bullitt is accepted because it was almost an off the floor mustang. Yeah it had a flat black taillight panel and a 67 GT500/GT350 steering wheel and pony delete but that was basically it. It was never classified as something it wasn't in the movie where Eleanor was classified as a GT500 when it wasn't. Now add that everyone associates a GT500 with Eleanor and I could see some enthusiasts getting pissed.

The one thing I have always liked about the Eleanors is the design cues it took from other mustangs. The front is a blend of 67 GT500 and 65 GT350R. Side exhaust was on the racing mustangs too. Streamline the scoops of the GT500/Gt350, add AC Cobra wheels, mirrors and a 71-73 Mach1 Gas cap and you have a car that touches the Mustang on several fronts. The rocker panels look almost exactly like the 94-98 CDC exhaust kit. I think it's a nice mashup of vintage and modern Mustang styling.

It bugs me too that people got the Eleanor parts wrong and thought they could just throw one or two parts on a mustang and call it Eleanor. I think these examples gave several people a bad taste for Eleanor. A lot looked hideous.

I honestly think without Eleanor we would not have the aftermarket parts we have today for the 67-68. You can purchase around 95% of a new mustang body and interior.

 

On another forum we said combine them together. The Bulleanor.

Crappy chop I know. Did it in like 5 minutes.

 

Here is a question...do you think the movie would have been as popular if Eleanor was a straight up GT500 (a clone for the movie of course) and not modded out the shiznit?

 

Sure it would have been popular with a straight up GT500.
Personally, I think the movie would have been just as popular if they'd picked any car to be the "fixation" vehicle.
It's a car movie, not a mustang movie.
Gosh, just look at some of the other cars they stole.

 

I personally like the upper scoops from Eleanor better than the actual Shelby ones. One of the things I don't like about Eleanor is the gas cap placement.

 

I like the GT500 front end better then the E.

 

Your are right...but are you gonna tell me that Camaro guys like it as much as Mustang guys? I personally think the movie hits close to home because of the Mustang.

 

I'll agree with that.
Mustang is the original "pony car".
Other than the corvette (and the VW bug), it's the only car you can point at on the street, and everyone knows what it is.