Ford has dissapointed me recently with thier development strategy. They've gotten back into the numbers and bean counting game, rather than providing a product the market desires. It's the same mentality that caused the Mustang to have to be developed in secret back in the day, Ford doesn't want to put effort and money into producing something exceptional or fully developing the powerplants they already have. Look at the Ford GT, they were in such a hurry to push the thing out the door to meet a deadline just for publicity purposes of bringing back a classic race car, that it was rushed through development, had to be recalled because of a high speed vibration, and didn't perform as well as it should have for the $$ it costs. They did well with the new Mustang, but they could certainly be doing better in the powertrain department. What are they gonna do when the new Camaro comes out? Ford is gonna have to start acting, and not reacting

 

First off, If Ford would have dropped the Aluminum 5.4 in instead of the iron 5.4 in the GT500,that car would have beena consistant bottom 12/ high 11 secondrunner right out the box.....O.K the Shelby MSRP would go up a bit, but ppl would'nt be as bent about this car if it had a 11second potential bonestock for a few extra grand..There is something exclusive about buying a 11 second car off the showroom these days and that alone would have elevated the Shelbys reputation by owners and non-owners alike..

 

Probably wouldn't have mattered anyways. It's the insane ADMs that have ruined the GT500 in the eyes of many enthusiasts. If you could actually get one for MSRP, 11 second ETs are just a retune away. For a sub 50K 4 seater sports coupe......thats not bad. But considering the 60+K needed to secure one at a dealership these days, all that really doesn't matter.....11 second car or not.

Ford should have just built it as the next Cobra, then just let Shelby Autos do their GT500 upgrade thing to them at the Nevada plant and charge whatever they want for them. Then at least the regular Mustang guys could have had a shot at a non-Shelby version without all the markup BS.

Of course, it is getting better. I'm starting to hear more stories of guys on other forums securingGT500s for invoice or justover invoice. 42K for a 500hp factory car isn't that bad.......if you can get it for that price.

 

Invoice is close to $5K below MSRP. That is an EXTREMLY RARE occurance...

 

Yes, it is indeed. But I have been hearing stories here and there or ppl getting that good a deal. A few more have been getting them for sticker. It's still a rare occurance, but it does seem to be happening. At the end of 06, you couldn't touch one for less than 10K over.......even WITH inside connections.