Thanks for bringing Shelby cars back to the market. Thanks for the info you provide.And thanks for putting up with us. Keep up the good work.

 

Specially the GT500!

 

The day AmyB manages to pull off a GT500KR hood for me, is a day i will setup a site in her honour!

 

+1 The People at Shelby are very helpful and answer our million questions. This type of Customer Service shall take SAI to greater success.

 

I very much agree. I feel far more pride in the name SHELBY on the back of my car than I ever did with SVT. And it has nothing to do with history. Just the difference in the way the two groups treat folks. I really hated the nose high attitude at SVT.

 

But SVT is the team that developed and created the GT500.

I am much prouder of SVT then Shelby.

 

I would agree with a Salute not only for Amy, well she sticks her neck out here but everyone over at Shelby Auto, now not Ford but some dealer's could learn a few things from nice people like this a thing on Customer Service. My Hat's off to Mr. Shelby and all staff, & if I could have afforded it I would have went double on his Super Snake !

 

SVT is the same as SAI, it is just Other's perceptions of SVT in having the nose high attitude, IMO. As far as I see it, the GT500 was built by Ford and SVT, and Shelby assigned the badging and Titling, if you will. So as not to misunderstand, IMO history will record all three entities associated with the car.

 

Ford developed the car and is licensing the Shelby name.

 

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

 

Thank you, but there is a whole team at Shelby Autos, and at Ford who all are part of this great partnership....I will pass on your thanks!


Amy

 

Amy,
I wasn't inferring that it's a simple label swap, but the car was initally in development as a Cobra before the demise of SVE. It was after the car was pretty far along that you guys were brought into the loop. I simply wanted to make it clear it is not a Shelby-developed product, that's all. I don't deny that there was input. The GT500 and SGT were great opportunities to test the waters and see how the branding holds up, and I think it's been doing very well. I say you guys should go for it and do some short run specials of your own!

No harm intended Amy!

RobK

 

When I owned an SVT Cobra, I consistently found the SVT people I interacted with helpful and customer focused. Generally I saw the "high-nosed" attitude from some of the owners.

The Ford SVT-SAI partnership is what makes things tick today with regard to the GT500.

 

I did not think they "demised" but were "reorganized and refocused".


I was under the impression that engineering for the high-powered V8 Mustang was underway, but the partnership with Shelby was more like midway into the design process.

I consider it "co-developed", with Ford SVT having the lead role.

I think the SuperSnake and 40th Anniversary options for the GT500 fall somewhat into that category. Given all the ecomomic woes of SAI preceding Amy's arrival, I think SAI has been on a great comeback.

And a big "hat's off" to Amy for her willingness to be directly involved in the communication loop!

 

SVE was totally disbanded with the release of John Colletti. It no longer exists. Some guys went to other groups within Ford, others moved elsewhere. As I mentioned in another thread, SVT is a marketing group, SVE was the engineering group, though this was not well known to the general public.

I AM glad to see the resurrection of Shelby Automotive. They've struggled for years to keep the flame alive. I think this return to their roots with the Mustang platform is the best thing that could have happened to them. The name alone is worth gold. If they put out product that lives up to the name they'll be set for a long time. They're definitely on the right track with the products they're retailing in the aftermarket. I do hope that as revenue starts propping them up they'll pull some development back into their camp and come up with some unique killer bolt-ons for us to build our own hot rods!

 

If I am not mistaken, there were some engineers who are still retained under the "SVT/Advanced Products Group" organization, some of whom were from the previous incarnation of the department. I am aware of the distinction between the marketing and engineering staff, but collectively, they, of course, were called "SVT".

Yes, it would be neat to see SAI engineering staff take the lead on the development of performance parts!

 

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?

 

I believe he suggest bigger/wider rear tires...

 

Rob they do have a online parts catalog coming out next week they just announced. Should be interesting to see what hey have. There have been alot of ideas floated on the SAI forums the past few months.

 

Thank you both for the clarification!


Amy