06GT: IIRC, the only problem with Ford GTs was the A-arm cracks that necessitated a "Do Not Drive" order while all of them were replaced under warranty. Some Ford GT subcontractor company in Tennessee had secured the rights to some stamping process using partially-melted aluminum that Porsche also uses for 911 parts--only this company did not clean the dies between stampings and that resulted in impurities in the A-arms that led to cracks in some of them. A sharp mechanic caught the A-arm cracking problem during routine maintenance before any Ford GT A-arms broke as a result of the cracks. Ford then had to obtain true forged aluminum A-arms and foot the bill for the labor to disassemble and replace every A-arm on all Ford GTs that had been sold.

Basically, never farm out anything if quality control is important. It's hard enough maintaining quality practices & procedures in your own facilities and well nigh impossible maintaining quality practices & procedures in someone else's facilities (Are you listening, Toyota?).

Feel free to correct or supplement anything I've stated in this posting.

Greg "Eights" Ates

 

Sounds right to me...although if quality is truly important, and you must farm out the job, it helps to validate and verify your subcon's commitment to quality prior to awarding a contract

 

Sounds about right.
The cost wasn't cheap either.

 

Don't forget that 4 cyl Dodge walked all over a 65 GT350 in a magazine test.

 

I was all set to buy a new Cobra back in 05-06, but the Shelby name took it out of my price range.
As time went on, I used my money on other things and eventually bought an 08 Mustang GT. So Ford missed out on me spending thousands of extra dollars.

I still want a GT500. I drove my friends 2010 Shelby GT500 Vert on Saturday and fell in love with it.
But, who knows if & when I will be able to buy a car in that price range. By the time I have some money saved up, the Next Gen Mustang GT may be close to that performance level?

 

More then likely it will be up to that price level as well. 2007 Base GT500 was just under $41K. I've seen 2010 GT's approach that.

 

I'm seeing 2010 GT500's in the $45k range. But, I think you are right, and its sad. We will just have to wait and see.

 

I am sorry but that is just ignorant i mean that is soooo bias on your opinion...not trying to start an argument but you look at Shelby in production for 40+ years and then you look at SVT that only had 12 back to back years of production and the 2011 svt raptor. I mean in the 70s they totally shut down "american muscle" IE boss 302 and shelby. Hense why SVO was created with the 2.3 in it. Of course the SVT will have smaller numbers. I mean your basing everything off opinions and not cold hard facts. Another thing is look how many years and how many shelbys there are being produced. So your telling me 50 years from now that the 03-04 SVT Cobra will be worth less then a 2010 or 2007 or 2008 Shelby. YOUR NUTS!!!! I mean the termi's are already selling for 30k+ with low low miles and low assembly line numbers. Thats close to the MSRP and its only been 7 years so come on with the opinions and state some facts im not outting shelby but SVT is somthing way different then "JUST MUSCLE." and for that right there i bet you anything SVT will bring a more sensible approach to the meaning of a true enthusiast. Lastly SVT started for the limited edition of the cars made. COBRA R MMMMMMM. GT500 there are so many of them how many svt cobras do you see to gt500s maybe 15:1. I mean there not comparable and your talking historic to modern day performance. The media plays the role in shelby which is why its more sought after. So here is my opinon with facts Shelby makes a F****** awesome car but dont out SVT which brought back the true meaning to an all around high performance and track car.

 

SVT builds the Shelby anyways. Then they slap a bunch of Shelby stuff on them.

 

We should thank God Ford builds it and not Shelby!

 

........

 

Well if Shelby built them they'd be overpriced, under engineered, and lacking quality control.

 

I'm glad you said it.

 

Well it needed saying.

 

I didn't say anything. I was just thinking ford has always built them for the most part.

 

I'm with coffeejolts on this one. Like Shelby or hate him, the SVT Cobra's were never really a sales/marketing success while the Shelby badged car is. Some will say that this is because the GT500 is a better car, but then a lot of those same people will say that the Terminator was a better car than the 07-09 GT500's were under differing circumstances which makes it clear that bias isn't a one way street here.

In the end SVT as a marketing scheme was a failure, I'll leave each of you to pick your own reasons why, and the Cobra was part and parcel of that failure. In contrast, thus far, every year of GT500 has been a good seller for Ford relative to what they expect to sell, need for rebates, etc. Put more simply, SVT products have very arguably fared better since they stopped emphasizing the SVT badge than they ever did prior (Raptor and GT500 are both extremely popular and while both say SVT Ford isn't saying those three letters nearly as loudly as they once were)

As for slapping a bunch of Shelby stuff on the GT500, it's exactly the same thing they did in 1968, 1969, and 1970 so I can't say I'm surprised with the strategy. Personally, I think it would be a bit odd to call a car that so obviously owes it's inspiration to the GT500 models of the 1960's anything but a Shelby GT500. Why build a modern Shelby GT500 and then call it a SVT Cobra? But then I never subscribed to the SVT marketing strategy anyway as it felt too much like a blatant ripoff of the BMW Motorsport/Mercedes AMG concept to me.

 

I agree with some of your thinking. The Shelby is what the Shelby was. Out of reach for most mustang enthusiasts.
The 93 cobra was exciting. Ford Special Vehicle Team. Not out of reach just a little more to offer. 94-95 same deal. 96-02 only way to get the good motor but still kinda attainable. 03-04 greatness but not cheap. Then Shelby again. And the hood and grill and emblems and interior. Could have done with just the snake.

 

Well actually SVO existed well before the SVO Mustang. Special Vehicle Operations was the precursor to Ford Racing Performance Parts and the SVO Mustang wasn't a return to detriot muscle rather it was an effort to offer the sort of sophisitcated performance found in european cars. The GT Mustang of the day was Ford's muscle car effort.

Some Terminators are, I've seen and heard transaction prices from the high teens to the mid to high 20's and scaricity does not ensure continued high transaction prices in the future. Although a bunch of SVT nutswingers will certainly help.

What would that be btw? Your argument that the GT500 is just a musclecar could certainly stand with the 07-09 GT500's but the car has seen continued refinement. The 2010 cars recieved a host of upgrades beyond the 40hp increase. The suspension and areo saw significant change, the 2011 GT500 even more so and the 2012 car saw further improvement and the 2013 car recieved significant improvement over that culminating in part of its development at the Nurburgring. Frankly measured against the GT500 no SVT Cobra road car has seen a similar scale of refinement.

Well actually total SVT Cobra production excluding exports and the R models was around 60,200 cars. GT500 production to date has totaled around maybe 36,500 cars and thats just supposing 2010 GT500 production was in the ballpark for the 07-09 years, it may have been closer to the 2011 model's 5500 units (which was set by Ford btw not a soft market). So the ratio is more than likely 1.5 -2 Cobras for every 1 GT500 <---edit---> if there is any truth to the rumors that GT500 production will end with the S-197 and they will be called Cobras again then GT500 production will never have exceeded Cobra production <---edit--->

And no, the media isnt the sole reason Shelby's are more sought after, Shelby as a name carries more history than SVT ever will (might want to check into it). Carroll Shelby the man won Le Mans in 1959 in an Aston Martin and was instrumental in Ford capturing the only manufacturer's cup by a US car company ever with the GT350s, Cobras, Daytona Coupes, and GT40s.

The GT500 itself debuted in 1967 with a 428 which was a full model year before Ford put the 428 in the regular Mustang (and then only in limited numbers) and during the 68 model year that would have been the regular path (GT500KR) to the 428 until 1969 and 1970.

 

Shelby was the only American manufacture to win the world sports car championship. When the GT40 program failed Ford called Shelby to make it a success. I think only a handful of enthusiasts know that the Boss was name after Bunkie Knudsen while most of the car world knows Shelby. Let's give a little credit to one of the true personality's and driving forces behind high performance for America.

 

I understand that some Shelby items are ridiculously priced, like Super Snake hoods or even the new GT350. I love all things Shelby but even if I had the money I don't think I'd buy a GT350, it's just overpriced.

Having said that I don't understand the hate for the current GT500. I mean how much do you really think the licencing cost is for a GT500? Seriously can someone in the know chime in on this? How much cheaper would an SVT Cobra really be?

I'm gonna buy another Mustang, either a '14 or '15 depending on how the new one looks and I'd love to get a Shelby but I'd still want it even if it was called an SVT Cobra.