CaptainAmerica

Yesterday I dropped off my 07 Vista Blue GT/CS at the dealer for some mod installs. While there, they had a Grabber Orange GT500 on the showroom so i decdied to take a closer look since I've never seen one in person. OK, don't flame me out here but I was pretty underwhelmed. The interior was almost identical to my Calif Spec except it was monochrome black. I expected to see a nice shifter but it looks like my stock GT shifter (which I am taking out for the Hurst, can't wait). Even the engine looked not-to-spectacular. I did like the slight body mods like the clean looking front end and the lower sproiler on the tail. Looks like they're running 9.5's all the way around. (are the GTs 9's and are they staggered, anyone know?)

Naturally, I didnt get to drive it. I assume that has to be a thrill. Has anyone driven one?

classj

There was one parked outside a local dealer a couple months ago. I pulled up next to it with my 06 vista blue GT and stared at them both for 20 minutes.

No offense to anyone that hasa a gt500, but.

I pretty much felt the same way as you. The spoiler is nice. But not over the top. The wider wheels were nice but I really did not like the style of them (compared to my factory 18" polished . I did not like all the black rocker trim. Interior was just awash in black plastic compared to like a light graphite GT which is a bit more interesting IMO with the two tone and the aluminum dash.

My thoughts on the nose were more like, it is ok, nothing to write home about. I missed the center mount fogs. Hood vents looked a bit tacky in person. The stripes are done in a way that from far away they look good. But up close, they scream vinyl.

Then considering the 4000lb curb weight, and the 65K dollars the dealer was asking for it. And I was really happy I did not wait for the GT500.

btw, the polished 18" bullitts from ford are 18x8.5" and stick out .700" less than the shelby wheels and 1" less than the aftermarket deep dish 18x9" wheels.

Giddyup

I bought a early '05 GT for $28,400 fully loaded (-1000 shaker), and I'll always feel that I got the bang for the buck......but if I had waited for any of the specialty 'Stangs, bang-for-the-buck does not apply, at least not for me.

backafter20

I'm one of those who lusts after anything Mr. Shelby has had anything to do with, based on his accomplishments of the 60's. His life is truly a great story and would make a cool movie. I, too, have mixed feelings about the GT500. Whereas I love the engine and the nose job on the car, I'm underwhelmed about other parts of it. (interior, wheels, hood, weight) I'd buy one just to have his name on it, but the price at this time is just absurd. Even I would buy a Z06 over a marked up GT500. You could also get a very nice Superformance Cobra replica (produced with Shelby's approval) for the cost of a ADM'd GT500. It just doesn't seem worth it. I like the Shelby GT better, but for the extra money, I could mod my own GT cheaper and better. I could never afford a Shelby when I was younger, and now that I'm older, nothing has changed. I guess I should order his autograph on a sun visor before he's gone and be done fretting over it.
BTW, why can't you get the Shelby reproduced wheels on the GT500 from the factory? Seems like a natural. The stock ones are too much like the ones on the C6 Corvette.

classj

Agreed. If I was going to drop 65K+ on a car. It would be a ZO6 or a porsche. And either would be a much better value than the shelby with the markup included. At 43K though, the shelby would not be a bad car. But even at that price, I still don't think I would trade my GT for one.

The other thing that really urks me is that shelby had very little to do with this cars development. It was built and tuned by SVT. Everything about it is SVT, not shelby.

The shelby GT will be more of a shelby than the gt500. While it is still being built using all FRPP parts for the most part, at least the car gets shipped to nevada to have the mods put on and pass through shelby hands. And actually aquire a shelby VIN.

YaoNYC

i needed an automatic shelby gt500 for the northeast area.

also at $65k was way too much for me.

so, i decided to get a new GT at a GREAT deal then do all the mods too look like a shelby gt500 and eventunally performance mods to get it close.

CaptainAmerica

Its funny becaus my brother told me to NOT get the Shelby. To my thinking, the man is a ledgend so I wanted to own a little part of history. But my brother talked me out of it to instead get the GT. I'm SO glad I listened.

By the way, the head covers on the engine said, "Powered by SVT", which surprised me quite a bit.

jcthorne

The GT500, like all Mustangs, is a canvas for your personalization. I agree with the comments on the SVT wheels. The interior is MUCH nicer than our 05GT, the chages are subltle and are not all noticed at first but....

Sit in the car, turn the key and hit the right hand pedal and all of this debate is moot point.

The car drives, rides and feels far better than a GT and is scary fast. Besides, they are not ALL selling for 65k. Got mine for about 50. Worth every penny. Unless you have driven one, you really have no idea what you think you are comparing.

CaptainAmerica

Ya, that's why I made my comments very carefully, stating that I had not driven one and I was sure they drive amazing. About the interior, I didnt notice anything different than my 07 GT CS, other than the color.


I am very curious about something you said; I wonder why your dealer would sell you a car for 50k when the market is willing to pay a much higer price than that? Even on ebay they're selling for about 68K.

jcthorne

The seats, steering wheel, ebrake handle, door arm rests, center arm rests are all different. In short every place you normally touch or control the car feels different. The combinded effect is pronounced when you drive it.

The dealer I bought from is a small dealer in a small town. When I approached him last year, he was fairly sure his small volume would never allocate him a Shelby for sale. I was able to provide him the Shelby dealer qualification information and paid his fee. (part of what I gave for the car). He agree to sell for 5k over at that time and had the honesty and ethics to stick with his written deal. Likely if I had not brought the info to him, the qualification date would have passed soon and he would not have had one to sell anyway. His fee, already paid, gets him one unit for 2008 also. He made money, I got the car at a price I could afford, we are both happy. And I have a dealer I can call and buy a car without stupid dealer tricks in the future too. I really enjoyed doing business with England Ford and will again when I need our next vehicle.

classj

Thats great. Better than the ***** dealers around here that wanted 80K for their first one and 65K for all there after. They are getting it too.

I don't doubt that the wrapped and stitched treatment is nice. I just wish they would have left an option to leave the bright aluminum trim and other interior colors in place. That is really my only gripe about the interior.

I can say the same about the ZO6, I am not in the market for one, but it baffles my mind how they can eliminate several really nice interior colors and just offer a couple.

CaptainAmerica

Thanks for this info. I think on my Californina Special, the interior IS the same. I have those exact seats (just two tone leather), dash, shifter, everything.

About your dealer, what a great story. Thats the way it should be. He makes a little, you get a great car at a fair price, and you have a relationship going forward. Great story....

vistablue mustang

I really like the GT500, it's like anyother cobra that comes to my mind. It's all about under the hood. My fathers friend had an 04 Cobra and the interior was not all that different from my friends 03 V6. That being said it drove,rode,performed 10K times better then the aformentioned V6. I think that compared to the early 05's the GT500's interior is a nice upgrade, but like the others mentioned it's all about the performance, and after all thats what it is supposed to be about.

Paris MkVI

I like what the GT500 does for the Mustang history. If you have the bucks, more power to you (no pun intended).

But for my money, I'll take my 300 horse GT (all I will ever need) and would just do a big brakes upgrade. Every test drive I have heard about says braking is the biggest single improvement in the GT500.

When I autocrossed our GT last year, the brakes held up, but were not "inspiring". Bigger clampers and bigger cross-drilled rotors would no doubt make a difference.

metroplex

I've had several people try out my Stang and the first thing they said was, "wow - great brakes!" This is a stock GT with the stock ceramic/organic pads.

My Crown Vic has dual piston calipers up-front, and the E-250 has dual-piston calipers on all 4 corners. I'd say the GT's braking is about on-par with the E-250 and superior to the Crown Vic. Just remember to try and use engine braking (sub-2000 RPM) on the GT (if you have a manual) to increase stopping power. This is harder to do on an automatic without access to SCT Advantage to fine tune your downshifts or to rely on a tuner to do it for you.

Paris MkVI

I'm a heel-and-toe downshifter, Metro, so I am with you on the engine braking and rev matching.

I guess part of my sritique comes from getting to autocross our GT back-to-back with a Viper at Skip Barber. The brakes on the Viper will slow the Earth's rotation if you apply them hard. Unbelievable car.

Admittedly, it is not fair to compare the two. An adequate application of cash can always buy you more performance!

Cavero

Sheehy Ford wouldn't even let me sit in it or open the hood until I went back to the office and started looking at paper work. The car has presence, but I'm not particularly impressed. Not going to sign paper on something I was just curious about. The Ford GT...now that's a different story. A different dealer actually let me sit in it.

DynamicmustangGT

I personally saw a GT500 a few months ago and didnt think it was worth the extra 40+ thousand dollars over my GT. The stipes weren't even painted, I am not a fan of a ducktail spoiler and I can supercharge my stang to get over 500hp for the 40 grand. The GT has way more bang for the buck.