If I wanted a "Shelby" I personally would get the Shelby GT. The SVT is a great car but its cost is so inflated that it is out of reach for the general public. The Gt500 will still be seen as a Shelby so you don't have to worry about that. I could see the value basically capping at some point and the Shelby GT continuing to climb probably being worth the same of more than the GT500. This is several years down the road though. I say enjoy your car and don't look at it as an investment with a return other than to return smiles when you drive it.

 

Isn't the name Cobra belong to Shelby too? This is way out their I know for one I'am glad his name is on their he has done a whole lot for Ford and vise versa. It's all about selling cars and I'am glade it works the Mustang still here when other are gone! Hat off to Mr.Shelby, Saleen, Roush,and MR .Larrry Shindoea that make the Mustang what it is !!! Thank Ford for being loyal to it's partners and 45years of Mustang.

 

I thought the Shelby would be the SE level car (like the Shelby GT, Bullitt, etc.) and the GT500 would have been the Cobra. I would have bought the Cobra. The car and what it is capable of is what I was after, not the name. If it had been just the Shelby and not SVT, I still would have bought the top factory Mustang. I, too, would have been miffed at Ford for not keeping it the SVT, but, I would not have put a bunch of SVT emblems on it. I'm not going to try to change what Ford did. I have to admit that I was glad Ford was going to call it an SVT and Shelby out of my love for the SVT Cobras and the originals. I guess I'm just a "factory" guy. I stick with whatever name, wheels, suspension, etc that Ford puts on it. I did do a couple of minor mods to this one (first time ever). I realize this supports your original statement that the name should be secondary. I'm just saying I would not change the name once it is on there.

I did not put the Shelby in the sig as it was too long. Just saying Shelby does not differentiate between GT/GT500. Same reason Ford dropped Cobra from the name. It was too long. I'm sure you remember that Cobra was originally part of the name.

Doug, I do respect your opinion as I consider you one of the original members here. I also understand your dislike of Carroll's business practices. But, I am about the cars, regardless of stuff like that. These GT500s are the best factory Mustang yet. Any Mustang fan should recognize the car for what it is.

 

Ford took full ownership of the Cobra name in 1969.

At that time Shelby pretty much sold everthing he had, declaring that "performance cars were dead".

 

Thanks Kevin,
It's all good brutha....like i said it's just my opion. I'm not saying it right or wrong..it's just mine. I pretty much agree with all of your statements. Having the top dog car is the same thing I would do if i had the means. I just have some personal bias that comes into play for me.
Good, bad or otherwise.

I too respct your opinion and please don't take anything I said as a personal attack..the sig comment as I said was just poking fun.

Enjoy your car and color me jealous <-----------green with envy

 

I didn't take it as an attack at all. One thing I have learned over the years on this board is that everyone has their own opinion and no ones is right or wrong. I may not agree with them and will likely post as such. That is why we are here, to discuss issues about Mustangs. If we didn't have things like this to argue about, there would be no forum.

I'd like to see a little more traffic on here anyway. I just don't want it to get too big like TeamShelby. There is way too much fluff to sort through on big sites like that. It also seems like it is a crime to have a different opinion on there.

Anyway, !

 

I also like the variety of opinions on this board and the lively discussion. I fear sometimes my posts don't reflect that. I don't mean to sound angry just passionate. I honestly am disappointed you deleted the post you mentioned burningman. I am always glad to read an intellignet informed opinion no matter how much it differs from my own. Again I just think we need to differentiate between passion and anger. Passion for these cars is what drew us to this forum to begin with right?

 

Tom I deleted it because it was me not thinking clearly and it was worded very harshly and I didn't want to drag this into that place.
the statements I'm afraid weren't going to be intelligently put.

WOuld have lead to a heated argument for sure. I've been the source of those in the past and didn't want to risk getting your thread closed by a mod.

I agree passion for the cars is what drags us together..or so I'd like to think.

 

A blast from the past (01/01/07) :

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Quote:
Originally Posted by amyb
There is no car called the svt gt500, its a shelby GT500.... send in the pictures.


Amy

Yes there is, not necessarily, and no thanks.

"Thank you for registering for the Shelby Owners Forum. Before I can approve your access to the forum I have to verify that you own a car that we are currently producing, such as a Shelby Cobra, Shelby GT-H Mustang, etc. This forum is not intended for owners of GT500 Mustangs as those are made by Ford. The information provided in the Owners Forum is only applicable to the cars we are making here at our Las Vegas facility.
Anyway, let me know about your car and if it fits with the criteria I'll get you approved right away. Thank you."
__________________
George




----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Ok I'll admit that is intriguing. This was an e-mail response from an attempt to sign up for TS Jan 07?

 

IIRC, that wasn't a response from Amy B, but a gentleman who worked at SAI at the time who created quite an outrage with this response. It took a lot of back-pedalling for Amy B to eventually help us all realize that SAI might recognize the modern GT500 as their own, and they eventually decided to do so. However, it does not change how hurtful the above response was to people with newly purchased/orderd GT500's.

I will be quite interested to see how history remembers this issue in about 20 years from now.

 

A few guys from SVT Performance were beaching and moaning about being rejected so I tried to register out of curiosity and that was the feedback I received, not that it mattered that much to me either way.

I guess having the best Mustang ever was not good enough. They needed recognition and a stamp of approval for the name to justify and legitimize their purchase, just as a few around here do.

 

Uh-oh that almost sounds like we are agreeing on something! Guess I better take it up a notch.

 

Well, since you weren't here, this might provide some additional insight.

On 06/08/07...

__________________________________________________ _______________

Quote:
Originally Posted by amyb
This is correct, but it has been said many times Carroll did work on this car, it's not a label slap. He test drove it, he made many suggestions, he is a part of this car. You can say diufferently, but there are many at ford, many articles that back this up.


Amy


__________________________________________________ ___________
It is widely known the test drive took place.

Which were the many suggestions he made which were incorporated to the GT500 production? Which are the many articles, specific to and detailing his direct contributions to the GT500?

================================================== ==========================================

On 06/12/07...

__________________________________________________ ______________

Quote:
Originally Posted by amyb
"... Martindale shares credit with the car’s dynamic abilities with Carroll Shelby and his team. “Carroll was really involved from early on,” he says. Shelby participated in several test drives, persuaded the team that the suspension needed to be stiffened even more than they planned to satisfy the true enthusiast driver, and he convinced the team to press its cause for a larger rear wheel and tire package..."


__________________________________________________ ___________
Thank you for taking the time to provide the specifics of Carroll Shelby's contributions to the '07 Ford Shelby GT500 and congratulations on the color/stripe combo of the '08 Shelby GT. That's your best production to date. If the BULLITT doesn't work out that will be my next purchase.

================================================== ==========================================

 

So now I don't understand, your earlier posts in this thread seemed to indicate you didn't think the GT500 was a Shelby and that Amy and others originally claimed it was not. The quotes in your last post seem to support the opposite and are in fact in line with information I have heard/read before. Or were you posting these to illustrate the flip from the quotes in your earlier post?
I may not have been HERE, but as I stated in the 2nd post of this thread I have followed this situation many years. Besides I may have been here, I honestly don't recall. I have been visiting this site and many others for years without joining. My dad's Mach 1 has been off the road for a while so until lately I had nothing to say.

 

I do agree, as I vehemently stated at the beginning of this thread, with your insights of where the true value of this car lies. It's on the road not in the portfolio.

 

Although I do consider the GT-500 a "real" Shelby, I will have to agree with the above sentiment. I do not foresee ANY of the current Mustangs having the value of the "original" generation of muscle cars.

Our vehicles are overrun with plastic pieces, electronics, computers...I hope I end up being wrong, but I just don't see them LASTING like the all steel, more primitive 60s and 70s models. Either way...I'm enjoying mine NOW!

 

The quotes are not in sequence but reflect comments from SAI's positions reflected by their personnel which can claim whatever they want but the lack of designers, engineers, and work force can speak volumes of their capabilities and limitations so the credits they would like to possess are non existent.

It would take a bit more to change my mind than a few test drives at highway speeds by an 84 year old man, the suggestion of a tighter suspension, and wider tires. It seems burningman offered Ford more detailed suggestions for the Bullitt than Shelby did for the GT500. The difference is burningman is not collecting royalties.

 

Me too. The other day I pulled into a steep driveway a little to quickly and scraped my chin spoiler, just enough to roughen the bottom edge. I caught myself getting upset, had to step back and laugh. With the way I've been driving it, if that's the worst ding I get I'll be ecstatic. I'll sand the rough edges and let it go. Now if I can just find an easier to remove the burned rubber from the rear wheel well.

 

Yeah man that's an easy replacemt too anyway..you will probably do worst than that to it at some point anyway!

1 Bullitt and i put a mach1 chin spoiler on my Cobra nose (it's not really meant to do that but it works) and I've scraped it up alot. At first i was pissed but then stepped back and thought. it's not a big deal and when it's armoralled you can't even see the marks.