Ricardo

Nobody ever looks at a Mustang with one and says, " omg that windshield banner is so hot!" They were huge in the 90s. i put them in the same category as Altezza taillights. Banners are cheezy as hell unless it is a company advertising platform, as in the company project vehicle.

White05GT

Personally I don't want someone else's name on my car, but I'm not that impressed by "tuner" cars either. Must be something wrong with me for not getting all excited by seeing a Shelby, Saleen or a Roush.

07BLACKGT

Putting Saleen suspension on it doesn't make it a Saleen. Windshield banners are tacky anyway broooo.

Mr. D

So what if a dealership or even an owner goes to an "authorized Roush Shop" and gets many of the Roush upgrades installed on a car, but doesn't have the little number plate under the hood that Roush, Shelby and Saleen charge so much for? At what point does can an owner put some Roush badging on the car that came from Roush?

I went to Shelby in Las Vegas and they basically told me I could buy a $10K or $20K package and I could not pick and choose what parts I wanted on my Mustang even though some of the parts did not improve the car for my taste or usage. I decided "forget it", and on the way out "for a joke" I flashed some hundred dollar bills and said just sell me one of the little serial # plates! You should have seen the look on his face! Well OMG! So I contacted Roush where I could decide what I wanted to have put on my car!

Frankly, I wish Ford would make a GT 500 for less money without all the Shelby hype and the extra markup! Shelby was certainly an interesting guy, but he never payed any of my bills! Take $5K off Ford's price and they can badge my 5.0L Mustang as a "Laguna Mojada"! You know Dude, like Seca (dry) & Mojada (wet)! Just kidding!

I think the issue is to just be honest about what the car is! People whose opinions mean anything understand the difference from a Mustang with Roush, Shelby, or Saleen upgrades and an numbered original. To each his own!

(Legal Disclosure: The Mustang below does not have a Roush number plate! I bought it in the automotive section of Walmart! On its "Equate" label it said "Compare to Roush Mustang!")

Blacksmoke

Mr. D

Your post was pretty funny and some things made sense.
However, making a GT500 that's not a Shelby makes no sense, as Shelby is the one that brought us that car.
Why make a cheaper GT500?
The GT500 is meant to be the elite Mustang.

Sure you can make a Mustang that is in between the cost if a GT and GT500, but name it something else....as it IS something else..not the king of the Mustangs.
Talk about being honest with the car, now that's honesty.

I understand the way Shelby does their packages.
If you want a Shelby build, then they want you to build it as a Shelby, not just a few parts then call your car a Shelby.
Yup it's expensive, but that's the price you pay for owning the king of the Mustangs.
Their name means something to them, their history and heritage with Mustang means a lot to them. Their quality means something to them. Their car means something to them...and all these SHOULD mean a lot to them.

If you want your car to be a Shelby, they are gonna make damn sure it meets their standards on what a Shelby is, and I say good for them for doing so!

I'd like our Shelby to be a Super Snake, but we can't afford the package.
Therefore our GT500 is NOT a Super Snake.
I'm glad we can't buy one or two of the parts and have Shelby label it a Super Snake.

If we allowed a few parts we chose made by these companies be enough to call our cars one of those vehicles, with then the true definition of what these vehicles are would get lost.

kevinmalec

I checked with several club members and car enthusiasts with a similar question. I wanted something silver to accent my Cobra R wheels (12" racing stripes, fender stripes or Saleen faded stripe) and decided on the Saleen Faded Stripe. I did not include any Saleen lettering, due to not wanting to misbadge my car.
I've received more compliments than negative comments, which is better than I expected.

RedFire281

I, personally, would never badge my car with an aftermarket name or logo because I just don't like the looks of most of them. But after having said that, I think people who do badge their cars have a perfect right to do it especially if, in fact, they have substantial modifications that support the use of the badge. IMHO, the aftermarket manufacturers encourage the use of their identity by actively recruiting vendors to sell their product - including badges, banners, logos and decals. Jack Roush and Carroll Shelby long ago sold out their names, so why are the "purists" blaming the legitimate buyer and not the authorized seller or OEM? They may be rightfully upset because they paid premium dollar for the "factory" assembled product but IMHO they should re-direct their issues toward the OEM who is, at the same time, also encouraging the general public to buy whole kits from authorized dealers - which many times include badges and banners and decals in the packaging. I recall Hillbank Motorsports selling the Shelby kit, including supercharger, which was packaged with Shelby lettering and a dash badge. Just because Hillbank was authorized to sell the Shelby kit doesn't make the kit parts more legitimate than if someone were to buy the exact same parts on the open market as separate pieces from other authorized Shelby vendors.

The only time I have an objection is when the car goes up for sale and the seller tries to pass it off as a production car. That's just wrong. Just my .02

PNYXPRESS

Put the "RaceCraft suspension" decals it as that is what the saleen suspension is labelled. that way no one can say you are trying to misbadge the vehicle.

akiba17

I'm also a purist, heck my entire car's exterior except for the windshield banner and GT fender emblems is debadged. I am totally against fake badging, example all the fobras out there, that being said it is your car so do as you please.

wcgman

The only time Im a purist would be if there was fraud going on. For example, don't "build a GT500" then try to sell it as an authentic GT500. That's illegal.

Other then that, until other people start making your car and insurance payments, they can bite the big one. It's your car, it's freedom of speech, it's a free country (for now) etc... If businesses weren't in it for the money, then you would not have the ability to buy the Saleen stripes or badging aftermarket anyway.

Badging it however you want for your personal edification is your right and privilege. If other people don't care for it, well it's their problem and not yours.

And to reiterate...only becomes a problem when you are trying to defraud someone by selling something that it is not. A tribute car is not the real deal. It's like putting lawn decorations out for Christmas. It doesn't mean Santa's frakkin workshop is on your front lawn.