Route 66

Have we seen these pictures yet? Also, I was wondering about the hood that most of us don't like. What happens if the vents were removed? Maybe under the vents are inverted scoops similar to the car show hood? Any thoughts about that. Or, do we know the vents will be there for sure? Here are the pics.

Route 66

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Route 66

Last ones.

AFBLUE

First time I've seen them. I had seen pix of a vista blue cobra a couple of months ago on here but they were not the same pix. Still don't like how they do the stripes with that hood. I would move them out to cover the hood inlets like the photoshop below.

Great scoop on the pix.

1 COBRA

The hood sucks on there too. What a surprise!

Route 66

The more and more I look at the carshow hood that we all love, Im thinking the mule car hood that we don't like be very similar. Look at the two hoods. Maybe FORD has the black vents on the mules to throw us off or for what ever other reason. What happens when they remove the black vents. Above the black vents on the mule, the hood looks as if it is already pertruding down into the engine. Similar to the scoops we do like on the showcar. Also, pretend the nasty looking stipes are on the showcar hood. I think it would look very similar to the hood we don't like. Gosh, I'm going in circles here.

crispy23c

Blue pix have been on the web 3-4 weeks now. Stripes aren't "the ones" (so I've heard, and THANK GOD!!!).
Hood is not the same: hood vents are raised on the blue one (with what I believe is a lower overall height), and I think the cowl height on the red one is higher with the scoops flush with the center height. It's subtle, but I like the show car's hood better.
I have to say that the blue hood looks better with "normal" stripes (like on the 'chop, running straight through without the funky cutouts). They need to get rid of those atrocious vents, or I will replace them when I get the car. Granted, this is pre-production, so I don't take them that seroiusly. We'll have to wait & see in Jan...

Tony Alonso

This was a car photographed in Cincinnati several weeks ago. It is an earlier prototype according the SVT engineer I spoke to about it.

Many people feeling uneasy about the stripes should note 2 things - 1) the gray color on other cars was purposely done so that the curvature of the hood can been seen under the stripe material by the people working on the final versions and 2) test fitments were done at the plant to see how to apply them over the vent countours (hence, part of the stripes are left off).

My information source on the stripes was an SVT engineer who was at the Woodward Dream Cruise back in August.

No one knows for sure if these are the final vents.

MilStang

Thanks for the update Tony.

I was hoping those stripes were used for judging the contours and flow of the hood. Why else would anyone pick some of the color combos that we have seen on the mules?!?!?

Route 66

I have a stupid question. Why even stripe a test mule???

1 COBRA

A zebra looks better than a mule any day.

Tony Alonso

They were checking how to perform the installation at the plant.

crispy23c

Upset somach, Milstang??? yeah, me too!
Thanks for the extra info, Tony!

mach1fever

i have one thing to say "go bengals" oh and btw did anyone else notice the shelby letters in the back missing.

Hollywood_North GT

And did anyone else notice that this mule has hood pins on it?

Hmmm, cosmetics...fun joke...or functional feature that will appear on the final car?

Tony Alonso

Other Ford test vehicles I've seen have had them (e.g., Mach 1) but not for production. On that car, they appeared to be functional hood pins from what I could see.

As other people have posted here previously and as confirmed with the SVT engineer with whom I spoke in August, options for having SHELBY on the rear were being considered. Nothing definitive was shared.

MustangFanatic

Vista blue is definitely my second choice to black, even when dirty!! I also noticed the rear gas cap was missing in the photos. The hood is indeed hideous, regardless of the color or the stripes. We can only hope Ford removes those black vents....

Hollywood_North GT

I would hope so. If Toyota can stick chrome A V A L O N letters across the back of its sedan, you can't tell me Ford doesn't know how. There's no problem putting the 'GT' badge on the side of GTs.

I'm sorry, but without the Shelby letters across the back, it's just not a Shelby; it's only an SVT Cobra, IMHO.

Deleting the letters is simply another cost saving measure by Ford, not an 'engineering problem.'

Tony Alonso

Getting an adhesive on the letters to reliably stick to a vinyl stripe decal is the engineering problem. If the stripe was painted, then this would not be an issue.

I doubt the cost of letters is really a problem. For the Bullitt and Mach 1, Ford spent $10,000 x 2 to get a special tool produced to position and apply the letters on the back of each car. That's pretty big money!

I guess we'll see what they come up with in January.

Hollywood_North GT

Why do they have to use adhesive alone at all. Why can't they do what manufacturers used to do and attach them more permanently with some form of divet holes? That way it ain't comin' off.

I suppose it's a problem if the striping is the last addition in the process. But that ought to be easily enough addressed - just make adding the letters the last part of the process for those who choose stripes on the car.