And it was on par with what the ZR1 is today and comparable cost. So yeah it made a Vette killer for similar money. And they are still selling used for more than their sticker...while the mighty Vette depreciates.

 

Well, waaaaay back there was the Pantera, which was sort of an Italian/American hybrid sort of Vette killer, sort of. That was actually sold by Lincoln Mercury from '71 through '74. Unforetunatly, just as they were getting the thing debugged enough to be considered an actual car, Ford's suits, uncomfortable with the whole concept of selling something that sold only a couple thousand units a year, pulled the plug on it. DeTomaso still sold it overseas for another two decades or so, though in increasingly ridiculous garb after the clean, classic styling of the orginal few years.

I always thought Ford should have had some sort of neo-Pantera, i.e., a mid-engined (to distinguish it) V8 sports car in the Vette price class as a halo car. They did come out with the incredible GT, but the pricing on that was more in the ionosphere and well out of reach of the moderately successful regular guy/gal that could reasonbly swing a Vette's note.

The GT 500 sort of, clumsily (double entendre sort of intended) fills that role of a halo car in lieu of any real one. That beast certainly IS fast, in a straight line at least (how could it not be with nearly 650hp), but falls short of being a fully-fledged halo car everywhere else (riding on a stick axle out back, puleez, that's halo-car 1937-level tech, not 2014).

 

If only there was a market big enough for vette killer. Man, I'd really dig mid-engined Ford powered product that was fairly light weight (just above 3000 pounds) using a further upgraded Boss V8 and going for around 60-70k

 

This.
And this.

Or using the 5.8 from the GT500

 

Maybe the Thunderbird?

 

To much luxo-barge baggage with that name. Ford has twice failed to make the Thunderbird into a proper sports car, its only bright spots were the turbo and super coupes during the personal luxury years.

Its to bad the name Mangusta is taken, would be pretty cool for a car that could beat the Viper in both cost and performance.

 

As cool as it would be to see Ford make a Corvette (or better) class car, I'd rather see them make a two-seat sports car (preferably mid-engined) in the $35-45K range. I think there are a lot of people for whom $50K is a barrier that just cannot be crossed. If it's light enough, you don't need a V8. A high-winding six would do fine. Pure fantasy of course, but a boxer six would be especially nice because of the low center of gravity. If it where 95% as fast as the Corvette for 80% of the money, Ford could have a real winner.

 

Is it me or is the 15 Mustang one of the best kept secrets ever? I am starved for more information.

 

No it's not just you, Ford is doing an awesome job at this hide and seek game.

Not any much more longer as they'll have to bring out a camoed mule to start testing it.

 

So no ecoboost 4 or V6 has been spotted yet or what? If we saw either one in an American spec prototype, it would help figure out which of those Edmudns or R&T rumors are correct about which engines for the US.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the US only gets the 3.7 and 5.0 engines we currently have. And Europe gets the 2.0T. Didn't someone say that in England they pay taxes on engines larger than 2.0?

 

Maybe we will know more info next month

 

Not sure about the rest of Europe, but here in the UK, we're taxed on C02 emissions, so really, the bigger the displacement, the more tax we'll pay. Although I'd wager a 2.4 turbo and a 3.7 V6 would be close.

If.........and it's still a pretty big IF, Ford offer 4, 6 and 8 cylinders, I can see the 6 being marketed as a luxurious cruiser, the 4 as a nimble corner carver and the V8 keeping the muscle car vibe.

 

Ok, thanks. I couldn't remember how it went.

 

Saw that Edmunds posted the 4cyl only for Europe and the 3.7 and 5.0 stay for US. Probably end up with very subtle styling change and the independent rear.

 

Guys, just because someone publishes an article, doesn't mean that it's true. It is the Internet after all...

 

True, very true. But for now, this guessing game is all we've got

 

why no ecoboost 5 or 7? 9??

 

Well.........the old Focus RS was a turbo 5

 

Which is what I think the car mags are doing sometimes.

Seems you can't trust any of them when they constantly contradict each other or their 'sources' turn out wrong.