Brian, where is that? I sure miss the NW.

 

Gofisch, that shot was taken near Cougar, WA, which isn't too far away from Mt St Helens. Our drive that particular day started in Battleground, WA and included a lot of guys from the Vancouver/Portland area. Gotta admit, we sure pressed those cars hard through the back roads. Fast enough to give my wife (riding shotgun) white knuckles and certainly testing the handling limits of the fine Mustangs in attendance.

 

Very cool pics Brian. I would do a tattoo, but my liver transplant coordinator and also my doctor would be a little PEEVED at me to say the least (all I would do is my transplant date, and maybe a small tribar and pony, and I mean small, but no can do!). Wait till you see the pictures from Get Out Of The Cold and Carlisle 2008 I will post in the coming months. VERY FUN STUFF!!! Brian, we (and other salespeople on here) are a rare commodity. A salesperson who loves the car they sell and most likely don't see ourselves as salespeople. At least I don't. I am a car nut who happens to sell them.

 

Haha, holy crap! So down the road when I order a build report for my truck (like ordering one for a 68 mustang) and it shows that I'm "1 of (insert number here)," There would be a lot of "1 of 1" results. I didn't know that, 05fordgt. That is amazing. I wonder how many sell in the Indiana area. It must be much more. I've been to PA and such and it seems like no one drives big anything over there.... at least in the Pittsburgh area (gf used to live there).

 

I work at a Ford dealership only because I love the products - much like you, Jeff. Sorry that tattoos wouldn't sit well with your docs given your transplant. Many of those who know me thought I was crazy to get a tattoo (as I came from a very conservative/moral family, I'm a college grad, and a business professional), but I'm glad I did.

On a side note, we just received our first 2008 Shelby GT (blue convertible) a few days ago. We sold four '07's last year, so we're no stranger to these cars. Gotta say, though, that seeing the Vista Blue with Silver Stripes just doesn't do it for me. I much preferred the '07's with their white/silver color combo, or even the black/silver color combo.

 

When I was shopping around for my '08 GT/CS, I was in a dealership looking at an 08 GT500 'vert they had. I was chatting with the sales manager about it, and we got on the subject of Shelby. I mentioned something about Carroll Shelby getting on up in years, and he replied "Yeah she is getting pretty old". My jaw dropped like a brick. Here is a guy trying to sell me a product on his floor that is marked up to $68,000, and he hears the name Carroll and thinks it's a woman. I left shortly thereafter.

 

Haha, thats classic

 

That is pathetic!! I would have done the EXACT same thing!!!

 

I assume he can dodge bullets???

 

I actually had the salesman and sales manager both tell me that I knew more about what I was buying than they did. I agreed of course but I did appreciate their honesty.

I can understand everyones frustration but its not only at Ford dealerships. Its a widespread problem. FivoO Brian makes some pretty good points. I wish I had a guy around here like him. Our local dealers live and die off of F150 sales.

 

Well Gibby, You seem to be itching for a rebuttal, I’ll oblige.

That is good that you meant no offence because your opinion of the two "Shelby" variants is exactly opposite of mine.

I can do my own backyard modification of a Mustang GT myself. With a lot better craftsmanship and for thousands of dollars cheaper! See my post and pictures of a brand new 2008 sub-standard Shelby GT here;

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=77153

http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh229/BlackGT500/

I could care less if my car was is ever touched by one of Carroll Shelby’s hacks, I don’t even want the Shelby name on my car, I just put up with it because that is what I have to do to have a Factory Ford Mustang with 500 Horsepower.

The factory Ford 2008 Bullitt kicks the $hit out of the 2008 Shelby GT for $10,000 plus less. With far superior “true” cold air intake, have you wiggled the flimsy setup on the Shelby GT? With 3.73/1 gears the Bullitt will hand the Shelby GT it’s A$$ in raw performance too.

 

I would not say hand its a$$ to it thats for sure

 

I would, if we're talking about a straight line contest! Every road test I've seen published for a stock 07/08 Shelby GT coupe with manual transmission shows a 1/4 mile ET in the 13.7 to 13.9 range. Evan Smith of MM&FF magazine ran a stock 08 Bullitt through the 1/4 mile in 13.29. That's about a 1/2 second a$$ whoopin'.

 

I would in a road course contest as well

 

And I'll oblige in responding to what's becoming your spread of very strong dislike for the SGT.

You're taking one bad example and making broad generalizations about the entire production run of vehicles. Ford, GM, and other manufactures make millions of cars a year - a repeatable (supposedly) quality controlled six-sigma process - and how many hundreds of thousands do they recall a year; sometimes for very serious safety issues? Do you see me running around screaming not to buy brand Y, model X because they installed all the left-falange's on the right side? Not quite yet...

And its very wonderful that you can take a GT and do all the same mods to it as the SGT and save $$$. The fact of the matter is that topic has been done to death here. Yes, we're all very aware that the SGT mods don't add up to the cost they are charging for them. But in the end you'd be left with a GT - not a Shelby GT - and to a few of us, that makes a huge difference. A big enough difference that we're willing to pay for it. Not to mention that the GT500 is an awesome car - worth every penny, but not a dime more; IMHO is NOT worth some of the ASM's its being marked up for. Sell a $42k GT500 for $60k and it makes even less sense than selling a SGT at $35k. I could do quite a bit for $60k, probably quite a bit more than a GT500 has to offer.

Now that being said, you're going to bash a specialty shop who puts out a few thousand "one off" cars per year? Of course there are going to be a few issues and of course they are going to be more visible due to lower production numbers (no comparisons to the 5k Aston Martins or others they build a year; we're talking a 30k Mustang, not a 100k+ super car). Not to mention the fact that can it even be proved where or how that hood pin was damaged? During SAI install? During transport? Someone at the dealership? Who knows but it is entirely possibly that the damage you have pictured there happened ENTIRELY outside the Ford & Shelby processes. If so, I think your argument begins to fall apart.

If you're going to bash SGT's as much as you are, perhaps you and I should have a little match up at our local strip. Then perhaps you'll change your tune just a bit as to what a SGT is capable of, completely built by SAI.

In closing, should the selling dealership fix it, no questions asked, all under warranty? Yup. In fact I'm amazed its on the showroom floor in such condition. If I was the dealer/owner of the dealership, it would be pulled until fixed and would be ashamed it sat there like that for as long as it did.

/endrant - climbs down off soapbox
Now my apologies for being so very far .

Back to your regularly scheduled discussions...

 

You are absolutely correct!

Our first 08 SGT (a vert) showed up with minor paint scratches which we buffed out before putting on the showroom floor. Our second 08 SGT (a coupe) showed up with a bad transmission (manual with noisy gears - so bad, that Ford is shipping a new transmission) and it'll stay in our service shop until repaired.

Don't know who did the damage to both our 08 SGT's (SAI, shipper, our mechanics, etc.) and I don't care as long as these items are fixed before the cars are ever offered for sale.

What really irks me that SAI sends these cars to us filthy dirty covered in desert sand from Vegas. They ship them in enclosed trailers, which is a plus, but for god's sake, why don't they wash them at least before putting them inside the trailers?!?! The cars that are shipped directly from Ford end up in open trailers and are much cleaner than the ones from SAI.

 

Very good post my friend. I have nothing but awesome things to say about your car!!! Its beautiful in photos, but finally seeing it in person...ITS SICK INCREDIBLE!!!! Can't wait to see it at some local shows with the group this spring and summer.

 

+1. If there is one thing that definitely aggravates me its the way the car showed up - covered in a light film of 'vegas dust'. I really don't recall checking that option on the pick list.

It wouldn't take but a few minutes to rinse it and dry it and it would make a world of difference.

Hey Jeff, I appreciate your support very much and the kind words even more! I'm looking forward to this summer more than any other and keep looking for additional events to attend (carlisle, OOTC, SAAC, OC,MD - so many to choose from, so little time!). I can't wait to see/hear your car and what those headers sound like.

 

I have to say...I like Matt's car too.

 

Hey Matt, if your serious about coming down and doing the GOOTC, give me a call and I'll fill you in on everything you need to know. You would have a blast!!! If the weather cooperates in the upcoming weeks, maybe I'll bring the car to work on a Saturday, and you can hear what longtubes sound like with the Borla mufflers. Once you hear it, I know your going to want it done to your car.