First, I did a few different searches and want to find out if the dealer is pulling my chain.

I am in the market for a 5.0 GT Premium with most options which is hard to come by here in SoCal, so I went to Galpin Ford and was told they had "blanks" from Ford that have the color already selected but no options so I gave the dealer my requests and they took a small deposit and said it would be built and delivered "soon". Its been about a week now so I wanted to check in for a VIN so I could at least find build date info and such. When I spoke to the salesperson he mentioned that a blank is a car that is a shell and as soon as the options are selected it will be built.

Going back to my experience at FMC (I left a few years ago), I dont think I ever heard of anything like this, has anyone else? I find it hard to believe there are painted shells just waiting to be finished?

Thanks for any info!

 

Good one for Paul, Mark or Brian.

 

I haven't heard of it, and I'm assuming if this were the case several people would already have their cars by now that's been waiting quite a while.

 

I've never heard of it either, but Galpin Ford sells more Fords than anyone so....it might be possible.

 

BTW, you getting an auto or a stick?

 

sounds weird to me...the way an assembly line works it doesn't make sense that they could even use a "shell". To me thats saying they build half of the car, yank it off of the line, and then stop production to put it back on the line whenever its ordered. Maybe they have prepainted bodies but that sounds the same as just ordering one...

 

Maybe since it's Galpin they have 'blank' orders in the system which they can just modify to meet the customer's needs.

 

The combo I picked is:

Kona Blue
5.0 Manual
401A
Comfort Package
Electronics Package
Brembo Package
3.73 Axle
HID

I can see how they would paint the shell and leave it but not for more than a few days, so it wouldnt hit the assembly line until it was configured... Although working for Ford for 6 years I never heard of it, but to be fair I spent a majority of my time there in future models..

The Inventory Manager is going to call tomorrow so as I get any more info I will post it up in case anyone else ever gets the Blank vehicle line!

 

aaaah ok. There were two black 5.0 GT premiums close to LA but they were autos. You can check cars.com to see if there are any in stock you want

 

Yeah been checking cars.com and its not a pretty picture, nothing in blue that matches (or comes relatively close). I know there is a black one in the OC that has everything except the backup camera (i forgot I got that too).. I just dont know if I can do black again (my current car is black and it's a B to keep clean).

 

Given how huge they are, they probably regularly go through Mustangs and just keep a steady supply of orders with the color picked out, so it's already on track to getting a VIN and in Ford's system so that later they can just put down the options they choose they want, or a customer chooses they want, and the car will (theoretically) already be 1-2 weeks along in the process. Probably doesn't save much time, but in theory they could even put it off (or queue up a few basic options) until even after the build date is assigned and then just call Ford asking for permission to change a "few" options.

Just speculation here though. It might even be that someone showed them favoritism if they're super high volume. Don't mind my insanity.

 

yeah if you find one already in stock, make sure its one you want since most of the options are super expensive to add afterward

 

This is FAR more likely than having "shells" of the cars sitting around. They probably have them with a priority of 99 just to hold their allocation.