Tony Alonso

Hopefully I was not talking out of my posterior place

jacjetlag

++++++++++

Am I the only one to see a pattern here?

1 COBRA

Not at all. It would be unreasonable to expect an instant response. Perhaps there is a need to research the associated issues to provide accurate data.

amyb

There are those of you who feel the Gt500 is a label slap, there are those of us, who know differently. I will not scan articles to prove a point. I have talked to enough people at Ford and read enough to know what is true and what is not. There is also a new book coming by Larry edsall that also talks about Carroll's involvement and quotes from the lead designer on his focus on Carroll's cars and performance from the 60's.

Those of you who choose to believe that Carroll was named slapped on the car, that is your choice. But the key to this is Carroll was with Ford on the new Ford GT, he worked on that and that engine is the basis of the Gt500. That is why Ford gave Carroll the workhorse1 Ford GT that sits in our museum.

Also There are posts I chose to ignore as they are rude, insulting snide, etc and it is well within my rights to ignore them. You can post that you think that I am "skirting issues" again your choice. I post here to help, if that is not needed so be it. In the spirit of this conversation, I have posted excerpts from the web and a new book from Larry Edsall.

here is just a few

The one-time racer and still active entrepreneur has been working with Hau for several years on the development of the newest Mustang spin-off, the Shelby Cobra GT500. And they'll continue working together. Along with all the praise, Thai-Tang recently got a high-profile promotion. He's the new director of Ford's Special Vehicle Team. SVT is the company's high-performance unit, and Mustang has and likely always will be its flagship vehicle, Thai-Tang explains.

Because Shelby's racing Mustangs had much the same look as his street versions – right down to the racing stripes – Rogman knew that the GT-R concept possessed just the right "aggressive race car" attitude that would work well for the GT500. "And when we blended it with traditional SVT styling cues, such as the round foglamps in the lower fascia, the air extractor on the hood and integrated rear decklid spoiler – we felt we had been true to the heritage of both of these strong performance brands.

5.0 How has Carroll Shelby impacted SVT and its vehicles?
We have been working very closely with Carroll over the past few years. It started with the Ford GT and continued with the Cobra and GR1 concept cars. This past year we moved our relationship to the next level by collaborating on the Shelby Cobra GT 500. Carroll has been intimately involved with the vehicle design and development. He is a performance legend and has done a great job of conveying his product vision to our team of designers and engineers.(Hau)

We worked with Carroll Shelby on the Ford GT, then we did the Cobra concept car and the GR-1 concept car. This is the first full-blown production car to wear the Shelby badge. We think with the Boomers becoming empty nesters, inheriting all kinds of money, and getting out of family-oriented vehicles into more personal-reward vehicles, the Shelby name will really resonate with them(Hau)

The effort to create the Ford GT did much more than produce a car that exceeded 211 miles per hour in its official top speed certification runs, and did much more than dominate automotive magazine covers around the world for several months. It brought together an engineering team that would help with the development of the Shelby GT500. It also reunited Ford with the man whose name would be on that new and more muscular Mustang, Carroll Shelby.(edsel Ford)

Shelby was invited to help with the development of the Ford GT, in part because he had been so closely associated with the success of the original GT40 at Le Mans, but also because of his renewed friendship with Edsel Ford and because of Shelby’s long-term relationships with Chris Theodore and Neil Hannemann. Theodore and Hannemann had played key roles at Chrysler in the development of the Dodge Viper with Shelby, a carthey helped to craft as a modern-day Cobra, a two-seat, all-out Americanized sports car with a V10 engine under its long, long hood.(from Larry edsall's new Book Gt500)

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.

“The engineers here knew it was the right thing to do, but Shelby was really instrumental in pushing it within the Ford Motor Company management,” Martindale adds. “That was really helpful. He’s very well respected. That respect gives him more influence.”
Martindale adds that having Shelby’s support “makes you feel that, hey, we are doing the right thing from an engineering standpoint. You can sometimes second-guess yourself. No one knows everything. So it’s good to have a person like him, who has years and years of experience.” (From Ford interviews to Larry edsall)

FormerGmc

Thank you for the effort Amy!

Blip

Amy, what's the title of the book and when will it be released.
Sounds like a very interesting read.

amyb

Thank you FormerGMAC!

And Blip, I don't know, I have the complete book online to check , since at the end it talks about the relationship going forward. It just says Gt500, it's by Larry Edsall, I believe it's at the publisher now. Larry does many car books, especially Ford, I will let you know when I have more info.


Amy

1 COBRA

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.

Blip

Thanks for the response Amy.
I'll keeping checking under the author's name, but
please post any final publishing information when you learn of it.

jacostang

Amy are you going to be at SEMA this year????

jacjetlag

Amy...
That is good factual information. My question about the pattern was actually directed toward the individual who throws around the "name slap" stuff like rice at a wedding. I started the thread and am sincere in thanking you and all the others at SAI. Your perspective is unique to this forum.

Stangette

+1 Thanks for your time and attention.

In regards to George's comment on the Shelby GT; - a work mate has an '07 and I have been very impressed with it. Drove it more this week then my own. Very nice Mustang and well done straight from the Factory.

amyb

Thank you George, I appreciate the post. When you have a passion for cars, you have to really buy what you like, you should take a Shelby GT out and test it. I think you will be surprised and you won't be disappointed. It really is a fun car to drive.

The Bullit will be special as well, I have seen it.

Amy

amyb

It will be a while, I know its at the publishers, we all just finished proofing it last month. it will be out by Fall I suspect

Jacostang, yes I will be at SEMA this year.

Jacjetlag, thanks, I appreciate the comments and the post, you know, it's always hard to get your points accross on the net, people take things the wrong way and interpet other things, if you try hard enough eventually it all works out, this is no different then any other family.....

stangette, yes, the car is a sleeper, it is a much better ride and power that you just don't see, it is a great balanced ride. Thank you for the kind words



Amy

eci

Dealers don't let you test drive anything with "Shelby" on them. They treat them like Ferrari Enzo's sitting on the lot.

1 COBRA

I offer my sincere apologies for the accidental misinterpretation.

jacjetlag

That was an apology?

burningman

Well obviously

1 COBRA

It usually makes sense to know the answers before asking the questions, doesn't it?

1 COBRA

Looking at the realeased '08 Shelby GT pics (mainly the one for the interior with the dark charcoal dash) for the convertible, the car looks clean and classy. Wouldn't it be better to have the serialized badge under the hood and in its place or perhaps closer to the clove compartment have an actual signature?

IMO a car's cues are enough for the car to speak for itself, as the 60's models did. It could also be a plus for marketing the car.