A 2007 MY car can come out anytime during CY 2006, so unveiling it in March may only be about a year before they are arriving at dealerships. I would imagine the 2007 Cobra will appear at dealerships the summer of '06 with ordering starting next January-March. Thats just my opinion. I have no inside sources.

 

Bringing this back from the dead, the Cobra coverage will also boost Mustang GT sales... If they kept quiet on the Cobra, then the Mustang is just a nice looking car that makes a respectable but not jaw dropping 300 hp.

The Cobra news sells Mustang GT's on two fronts... those that like it, and like it's appearance, but realise that the Cobra is out of their budget and above their skill level... and on the other hand, those that will order a Cobra, and in the mean time order a Mustang GT to get a feel for the car's platform before they jump into the 450hp version! A guy on my street has done just that... his white '05 is temporary.

 

The primary reason for introducing the GT500 18 months prior to availability is to keep the interest in the S197 platform strong. The GT500 is the halo vehicle and strong interest in it will translate to increased sales of the base and GT models.

 

It also is there to entice people to wait for it, instead of rushing off to buy another high performance vehicle. I wanted to buy an 05 GT, Saleen or something since Brad first started posting the CAD drawings. Especially while I was in Afghanistan and saw more and more pictures popping up on the website.

However, once I heard about the new Cobra's improvements, that it was going to be a Shelby and so forth I knew I had to wait. It has been a life long dream to have a Shelby so I can wait... not very patiently.

I know it will be worth the wait though so that is why I am glad they unveiled the prototype early on, so that I knew it was what I have been waiting on.