official_style

buy a z06 vette, or that bluedevil vette when it comes out. both will eat the KR.

jsaylor

If the GT500KR comes in at 60k that will still make a Z06 10k more sticker to sticker for car which is little more than a weekend toy by any reasonable standard. Argue ADM's as you see fit but the Z06 lost it's ADM's because people were less than pleased when they actually touched the car. Fast? Ridiculously so. Remotely comfortable? Maybe when compared to a few other production cars which turn in similar performance, but not even close to what you can expect from any production Mustang. The Z06 Vette is the Evo of the 50k+ sports car world. Great performance for the price, but only if you are willing to seriously pay for it in terms of comfort.

Personally, if I were making the buying decision, I would wait for the ADM's to come off and buy a standard GT500. Then I would add the KR's hood and suspension upgrades as I saw fit. But the decision for me would be between the standard Vette and a GT500, the Z06 wouldn't even be on my radar.

Unless you spend half your time at the track the handling advantages the Z06 offers over a standard Vette would be nearly impossible to access on the street, and only an idiot who valued nobody's life would try. I could also remedy the gap between these two in straight line performance easily enough, and for far less money than a Z06 commands. And even after that I'm left with a Vette which is more comfortable in every respect than the Z06, just as fast in terms of acceleration, and with handling far more than simply good enough for a banzai run (albeit one that doesn't endanger everything within a 1/4 mile of me) up my favorite two lane.

As for the Ford. The GT500 offers me more room, better comfort than either Vette, and handling which is apparently very good despite the naysayers....and which can be easily upgraded to something which would be more than good enough for a run up that favorite two lane. The GT500 also offers me access to far more power without a lot of fuss, which is something I appreciate.

Frankly, I never cease to be amazed by the 'go for the Z06' crowd on the net. Or more generally people who apparently don't take anything but a spec sheet into consideration when discussing cars. The fact that the real world is the exact opposite, with Z06's now easily being bought for sticker and the used Z06 market seriously piling up, demonstrates that spec sheet comparos are great until you have to actually live with the machine.

This actually reminds me of the test Clarkson did on the Z06, asking why people would pay so much more money for a Ferrari when the Z06 was every bit as fast or faster than the Italian. And, to be fair, while on the track he was indeed left looking for a reason, which unfortunately for GM he promptly found when he drove the Z06 home.

Which leaves me with this. If I had 60k to spend on a weekend toy (or 100k+ if you are talking about the Blue Devil) would the Z06 be something I might pick? Well, if I had that kind of disposable income to drop on an item which is in effect a luxury I could likely pony up a bit more than that. So I'll take a 289 Cobra please and have one of the finest driving experiences, and most beautiful/sought after cars for that matter, the world has ever known. Uncomfortable? Yes, But this actually is a weeked toy meant for track days/banzai runs up that same two lane. And if I don't demand a pristine example I can have one for under 200k.

StangMahn

There is absolutely, I repeat, absolutely no way that they will charge over $100k for a Mustang. More than $70k will be outrageous even. A price more like $57-65k would be more likely.

GPStang06

I would agree however down here in South Florida when the GT500's first started rolling out I saw one for $81k on the showroom floor...and it had a sold tag on it. Way not worth it but in terms of milking it if they truly are only going to build around a thousand KR's I wouldn't be the least suprised if they tried getting 100K for them when they first roll out. Stupid as hell but may happen.

ponyonfire

I just came upon this one on eBay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...17233907QQrdZ1

Is this the real deal? I didn't know it had 650 HP. Must have a nice insurance premium!

StangMahn

No, it's not. That's just a regular GT500 thats been modified by a small company, with no backing from Ford or Carroll Shelby. I believe its the same company that makes the Hennessey Vipers.

Stangette

John Hennessey modified the GT500 to that hp. He calls it the GT600 and adds wheels and some appearance modifications. A houston based aftermarket company that has been largely into modifying the Vipers. There is indeed no connection of this to Carroll Shelby or Ford in it's modification to such. Seen one at the local AutoRama and it had the usual, CAI, Pully Change, tuning and exhaust. Other modifications may heve been made to it, but not evident by observing it on the show floor.

RobK

If you're referring to my post I was kidding. Of course the way the dealers are marking up the GT500s and SGTs, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities. My guess would be $55-60K MSRP give or take a few.

GottaHaveIt

I'd guess an easy 80 plus some.

bluelitespecial93

I guarantee that somewhere, some knucklehead who has more money than sense, will pay 100K +, for "investment" purposes. They will never drive it, intead choosing to store it until they can make money on it. Screw Ford. They aren't making cars that an average person can afford. The GT500 was right within my grasp until the greedy dealers had to mark them up, out of my price range. They can keep them all. Dodge has the Challenger on the horizon, and it looks like, if they do it right, may be getting my business in the future.

I understand supply and demand. But is Ford making these cars to be driven, or are they making them for museum pieces? They need to reel in the dealers, or make more, so that those of us who want one, and will drive one, can buy one. Otherwise, like I said, Ford is on the verge of losing my business, forever!

hi5.0

Amen!

DrunkenDragon713

These cars are collectables. Although they should be driven, since you can't fully enjoy a mustang until you drive her, collectables they remain. If I had 100k to blow on a car, would I buy a mustang over any other sports car. Yes I would. Without a second thought. I'll even pay 35k for the 2009 Boss 363ci. (hopefully!!!!) when it comes out, even though it'll more likely be 45 - 50k with the dealer ADMs.

It's all a matter of preference. Why buy a Viper when you can have the same power in a Mustang and have more comfort. Viper's just seem like beer cans compared to the new Mustang.

Those who will stop buying Ford just because of SEs, well, just wait until the SEs of the vette come out. Then you'll see some markups! Same with the Challenger first comes out. You'll be seeing 5-10k markups for the first 6 months, and that's for the base model...

jarradasay

Give me some of what you have, cuz those statements are out there. The mustang is more like an empty water bottle when compared to the viper, not that the comparison is even fair. Please, these cars are collectibles...whatever.

Stangette

We have an an allocation of a KR coming in to our shop and expect it to sell at 86K. The MSRP is set at aprox. 58k. We shall see what the actual sales peice is and then get some early indicators.

DrunkenDragon713

I've driven a Viper. Although extremely quick, it feels that any nothing of a bump will tear the car to shreads. I'd buy a stock GT before a Viper. The 08 Vipers will be around 80k baseline right? With the roadster starting close to 90k that means, dealers will be selling those at about 120k out the door. For that amount of money, I'd buy a GT and mod the hell out of it and get a whole lot more HP, and also be able to buy a daily driver and mod it slightly. (and still be able to afford house payments for 6 months to a year...)

And yes, a Shelby is collectible car. How much are the old Shelby's being sold for? How much were they originally? What is the percentage there? About 3000% increase in value? In 20-30 years the 2007/2008 Shelby's will probably be worth, let's say 500k. That isn't something you'd want to collect? Not to mention that Carol Shelby's signiture will increase the value slightly since once he dies, everything with his name on it will increase in value. Not as much as a painting, but maybe a few grand.

But back to the Viper, all that thing has better than the a Mustang is how it handles. That car is about 80% plastic. I'd feel a hole lot safer in a Mustang than a Viper anyday.

jarradasay

The old shelbys are collectibles, as are most 60's era cars and have been for the last 10-20 years. But just because the first shelbys were collectables does not mean that these will. People thought the first SN95 Cobra was going to be a collectable too. Saying that these cars will be collectables is like saying that the stock market is going to jump just because it did 40 years ago. One of the things that made the original shelbys collectible was that they were the first the world had ever seen, not to mention they were on the first mustang the world had ever seen. Now given that most people who bought them saw them as a car that would depriciate and be fun as H++L until it was junk. Very few if any saw them as an investment. The low production run wasn't nearly as important as the number that survived the 60-90s. This made the cars ultra exclusive. That coupled with some very influential movies and marketing that spurred the muscle car revival, drove prices sky high.

No I don't think that buying a current Shelby is a good investment. Especially if ADMs drive the price to nearly double.

On the viper...go drive it again. The mustang feels like a pony next to the thing, from cornering, to precision ride, to shear acceleration.

If you knew anything about automotive design you'd know that metal cars, plastic cars all have the same crash standards. THe sheet metal on the outside of your mustang is so thin that workers have to wear Kevlar glove to handle the body panels so they don't slice their fingers off. Me... I'd rather have plastic, at least then there is no dent from my thumb just above the door handle from opening the door. The strength lies in the underbody skeleton not in the sheet metal.

1 COBRA

You will find the same with other models which their suspension is designed and tuned for the open roads and the track not city driving.

hk2006

OK, guys, I think you are missing the point, this car won't be for an average Joe. This is for some freaking rich collector that already has Z06, porsch, bmw, etc...and will buy this car with 100K and put next to the other ones in the garage and show off saying I got #450 of 1000 etc.....so you shouldn't compare this with the house, other cars etc....its the same if you say "who would buy Ferrari with quarter million if you can buy house with that price"...
You think there are no 1000 people that don't care about 100K and will pay it?

RD_15

I just read an issue of Motor Trend that says the 0-60 will be 4.0 or less and the sticker price will $53K. Bu like everyone else has already said I'm sure there will be a huge markup. What really caught my eye though was that the title of the article said Z06 beware. From what I have seen the regular GT500 was tested at 4.5 0-60, to shave off half a second the KR is going to be more than just a new hood and CAI.