eci

Are you guys going to protest any new cars from Saleen, since Steve Saleen has nothing to do with that Company now?

steve-o

How does that fit into the discussion?

eci

The opinion in this thread seems to be that since Shelby did not build this car, his name should not be on it. Therefore, any new cars from Saleen should not say Saleen on them.

boss429man

Time will tell on the value of this car I look at the Shelby name as a plus, maybe brought more age groups over to Mustang, The man still has a draw and he loves fast cars if I needed help with a new model car Saleen right up their He also earned his stripes.IMO Lets enjoy it while it's here because if history repeats it self it won't be here long?? Cobra was his name too. Ford had a racing arm long before it was called SVT and they did a great job on the Gt500. I love mine!!!! The 2011 will be just a little better no matter what they call it.IMO

theedge67

I'm not talking about Carrol Shelby as a man, I'm talking about Shelby as a company. Same with Saleen. Shelby and Saleen both formed companies, and their companies make bad a$$ cars. Just because Steve Saleen is no longer affiliated with Saleen as a company, I have no problem with the name still being used.

Neither Carrol Shelby or Shelby Motors Co. had really anything substantial to do with the GT500, so why would you name the car after them?

steve-o

I see your point now.

My bringing Saleen into the mix was for the purpose of showing how little Shelby actually had to do with the GT500. Steve Saleen built and painted the concept GT500, slightly ironic in my opinion.

Although I agree that the GT500 is in no way, shape, or form a "Shelby" (only due to the fact that SAI never touches these cars), I would have like to have see Shelby invest in the project and the car a little more; ie. financially and access to resources, than just his name...

Wolf

There would be no Special Vehicle Team today if Shelby hadn't modified the very special Mustangs of the 60's. It was a secretary's car. If Mr. Shelby calls it a Shelby then it is, I don't need it to roll out of Vegas to be one. Or any other of the authorized garages who do the Super Snakes. And I say it again, the 2011 should be called a GT500KR and have the stuff to proove it.

SINBUSTER007

shelby saleen roush they are all in the same boat. my beef is where you take a base mustang and modify it was tons of aftermarket stuff put a "special" name on it and charge ridiculous prices for stuff you can buy yourself for thousands less. the fact that ford was making these without shelby influence just steers me away from his cars. i am not paying extra $$$ thousands just to have a special name on the car. where was shelby in the 70's, 80's, 90's. yes i know there was a disagreement. but still all these cars i.e. saleen roush shelby start out as basic mustang GT (exception of the GT500). maybe im just the VERY small minority who just doesnt want to put my hard earned money into something that costs thousands more than it should.
i guess its like buying a steak at the market for $10, or would you rather go to a exclusive steak house and spend $40 for the same steak? sorry but i could do a lot more with the extra $30 than blow it on the steak. same concept, just a lot more $$$. ford is capable of building a super car without the help of shelby. if he wants to be in the mix then he should be just like saleen and roush and start with the basics. sorry but just my thoughts. and there was nothing wrong with the 93-04 cobra's they produced. they are great cars and wish to own some one day. better bang for your buck then what you get with a shelby.

eci

A loaded 2010 Mustang GT coupe can get up near $40,000

A loaded GT500 is a little over $50k


bang for you buck? The GT500 has it. No one cares about used terminator prices. The GT500 has incredible bang for your buck. You're going to spend more than $10k properly building a 3V 4.6L for boost including the supercharger. Then what? Gonna throw in a TR6060, brakes, rear end? Another $5k. Ford doesn't charge you for the "Shelby name". The price of the GT500 is right where it should be. $5k blower swap and you're at an easy 750 RWHP. Can you name me another car at this price, new, that offers this in a RELIABLE package?

Terminators were around $35k MSRP 5 years ago and did not have even close to the options like navigation and everything else the Shelby offers. It also rode on a 1977 Ford Fairmont chassis.

Fact is the SHELBY GT500 is the baddest Mustang ever built and if you don't own one you're missing out. What do you think the GT500 should cost? $30k?

bpmurr

Eci, don't sweat the haters. I was one until I had the money for a GT500. lol

eci

lol what were you going to say? Nice car btw =D

SINBUSTER007

no, not a hater, just think that ALL car prices are too inflated and overpriced. i do see your points but i was just saying that ford can build the same exact car as your shelby gt500 without using shelby's name. and i dont need all the options on my cars like nav and sinc and such. i want to drive it for what it is. like i said before i must be old-school cause most of the options in cars nowadays are worthless extra $$$ spent that i dont use. my parents and uncles used to get their cars and modify them but you only had so much out there to modify it with and most of the time it was the engine, so i know all about that too. i do love the cars, just not the name on them.

bpmurr

I agree the costs of new cars are too high. They have totally outpaced people's income. At the same token because the price of these cars are so high I'm a little concerned about some of the cost cutting measures used on the car. I expected the quality of my car to be higher on delivery but had a handful of issues. Nothing major but not what I expected.

jsaylor

Probably not, but you say this as though the alternative would have been a good thing for Ford. I would prefer that dealers didn't charge ADM's myself, but the reality is that the same demand that lead to those ADM's created a situation where it is profitable for Ford to build this car.

With all due respect to other folks who may be reading this post, anybody who buys a new car as an investment is off their nut.

Had these been normal Cobra's they would have probably been very heavily rebated by the end of their second year and out of production not long after that. People keep forgetting that the purpose of FoMoCo is to make money, and the reality is that the GT500 has done that where most if not all of the SVT Cobra badged models which came before it did not. The GT500 has done far better in terms of marketplace performance than did the 03-04 Terminator and has managed to do so in a much softer market.

Part of the appeal of the Shelby is the badge/moniker, and that has directly contributed to this cars success. Like I said before, people want to believe that their choices were a Shelby GT500 or a SVT Cobra when the far more likely choice was a Shelby GT500 or nothing at all.

SINBUSTER007

Part of the appeal of the Shelby is the badge/moniker, and that has directly contributed to this cars success. Like I said before, people want to believe that their choices were a Shelby GT500 or a SVT Cobra when the far more likely choice was a Shelby GT500 or nothing at all.

so lets just say for agument sake that ford would produce 2 mustangs built exactly the same and one put svt on it and the other shelby. would you say the shelby would sell more just because of the name even thought the public knows the cars are exactly the same? would the dealers charge the same? more? would they promote one over the other?? i say this only to make the point that they couldnt charge the same because shelby would want royalties from his name thus making the car more. you couldnt deny the fact that both are the exact same car and couldnt sell it as such. also i thought that the adm's from the dealers were just that, dealer markups. they pay the same price from ford no matter what. the dealer sets the standard of profit for their cars. with me if there was a choice between the two metioned above i would go for Cobra.

eci

The car says Shelby and SVT on it. Problem solved. Everyones happy.

bpmurr

Actually it turned a lot of people off to the car. Plus they are still a lot of 08 and 09's on dealers lots. Don't even get me started on how many KR's I see sitting at dealers. The ADM's did nothing for Ford only the dealerships that charged them. It probably turned off more potential customers then it was worth. However, they were just looking at the $$$$ not the long term repercussions.


Agreed, however you'd be suprised how many of these people did just that. Hence keeping the ADM's going longer because the dealers were getting that money instead of people having common sense.



The only soft year for the GT500 was the 2009 model year. Maybe part of the 08 year when things started taking a major downturn. The Cobra would have sold just as well but most likey to a different clientele.


If I had the choice between a GT500 or a Cobra straight up I'd take the GT500. However, if I had the choice between a GT500 and a Cobra minus what Shelby gets for each GT500. I'd take the Cobra.

jsaylor

Again, I don't agree with dealer ADM's, but to be honest the only reason they existed in the first place was the high demand the model was experiencing. Your argument seem to be that the same car badged as a Cobra would have more likely been sold sans ADM's. I'll agree, there would have been fewer ADM's, but that would have occurred because demand would have been lower meaning that chances of this car succeeding would have been far worse.

ADM's are an issue Ford needs to address, but that problem is to be blamed on the dealer and on Ford's inability/unwillingness to at least try to discourage the same. I cannot agree that badging the car as an SVT Cobra in place of the GT500 moniker the car actually wears is a solution since, to be honest, that is akin to saying that giving the car a badge more likely make it less popular is the answer to these issues.

Agreed, but I wont blame that on the name of the car.

I do not believe that a SVT Cobra would have sold as well, not as time passed.

And I am the exact opposite. I would take either car, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the difference in msrp for that Shelby badging being on the car is less than a grand per unit. Given the fact that the styling of the car is pure Shelby, I would prefer the Shelby badge despite the added cost. To be honest, given that Shelby inspired styling, were I an owner and the car were badged as a SVT Cobra I would feel like I owned something of a knock-off.

If Ford decides to nix the Shelby label I'm fine with that, but I would prefer they discontinue the usage of what is blatantly 68-Shelby inspired bodywork were that ever to occur.

rarecat

From a corporate business perspective, using the Shelby name and brand was a brilliant marketing decision. Look at all the press, demand and attention the car recieved before and after launch. The GT500 graced the cover of every major automotive rag, most of them many times over. How many of you went to dealerships multiple times looking to see if they had one yet? As a company, this is exactly what you want your "halo" product to do for you.


I'm likely the prefect target demographic, a 47 year old professional with enough income to afford a second car and an unmet longing for a Shelby Mustang, new or old. I had to wait a year and a half to have the opportunity to order mine at MSRP. I love that it's a Shelby but I also understand the SVT Cobra only perspective, I've owned those too.

Just another way of looking at it....

bob

I'm curious as to why you say that, well at least what your definition of a true Shelby is? If people want to split hairs, then the last true Shelby's were the 1967 cars (IIRC, 66 may have been the last "true" Shelby Mustangs) afterwhich from 68 to 70 they were manufactured in house by Ford (with the 70 cars being left over 69's which were titled as 70's again IIRC).