Has anyone laid eyes on this show car yet? The pictures I've seen are interesting. Heat extractor hood, 19" wheels, 450hp 5.4 blown 8.5psi, 14" brakes in front and 13" brakes out back. Can't tell what sort of rear (hear its a live axle, unfortunately).
atlantamustangclub.com has a few pics and article.
I also have had no luck as of yet with msrp order. I hope I can find one honest dealer. I'd go 1000.00 over but no more. I hope Ford works this out after the horror of trying to order a GT (250k+) I would really like to buy one of these.
Ford says they'll build only 7000 GT500's. I suspect they'll be lucky to complete even this many, given that:
1. They won't make the introduction date (September) that will be set for all other Ford models. Look for the cars to start to ship closer to January 2006. Having prepared us all for "2007" badged cars arriving in mid-2006, this is supposed to be "good news". Anyone fooled by this should go stand in the rear of the class.
2. The availability of 8.8 solid axle rear ends is already holding up GT production (along with many other problems, of course). Starting to run overtime at the AAI Flat Rock factory will build a lot of V6's, and quickly suck the production stream dry of GT motors and axles. Smaller dealers throughout the US are already being told that "you've seen your last GT" (often also the only one). Keep in mind that although Ford is finally running overtime at AAI (everyone who thinks they should have been doing some of this earlier say "Duh!"), the Romeo engine plant that makes these motors (and ultimately the Cobras') is definitely NOT, repeat NOT running overtime, nor is any overtime contemplated! When the time comes to divert resources to hand-building a small number of Cobra engines, one suspects that a similar hard line will be maintained. Look for GT500 availability to be severely rationed.
3. Regardless of pricing on GT and Cobra models, availability of their motors will remain problematical so long as no expansion of hours at the Romeo plant occurs and corporate priority is given to selling high-profit margin F-150 trucks instead of Mustangs. (The F-150's use 4.6 and 5.4 motors just like the Mustangs). Ford's protestations of seeking to meet the huge demand for 05 Mustangs is therefore merely a promise to ensure an adequate supply of V6 models. The idea that the same person who wants a GT or Cobra will meekly accept a V6 is so ludicrous that it defies credulity!
If there is a bright spot to this analysis it is the fact that the GT500 exists at all. Instead of seeing it as the first accomplishment of a new management team, I see it as the last hurrah of a fading SVT soon to be subsumed into the corporate mass.
I expect to start a personal search soon for my own copy of this rare and wonderful phenomenon. I also expect my search to be fraught with long waits and eventual disappointment (I fear that even some early orders will eventually fall prey to cancelation).
I truly hope they prove me wrong. I'll hoist a few to Coletti and Theodore in the meantime.
The spokesperson at the Auto Show said they will be priced at just under $40k. Click on my gallery for more pictures.
Thats right - only none of the dealers will take orders yet. My own thought is that, in an environment where dealers are sneaking onto each others lots and buying GT's at prices over MSRP so they can have a GT on THEIR own lot to show, and with no end to the GT drought in sight (in all likelihood Ford will produce FEWER Mustang GT's this year than they did in 2004!), the GT500's will be doled out like political patronage jobs to those "most equal pig" dealers, who will then add $10,000 or so and quietly sell them to their own "most equal pig" buddies. I also expect the actual production number to be closer to 3000 units than 7000.
The $150,000 Ford GT that went for $250,000+ at the Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson auction didn't happen because Ford was routinely meeting their GT sale commitments!
How this mess benefits Ford I cannot imagine, but it seems that the situation is both no accident and somehow viewed as positive by the shiney new management team in Detroit.
With sales falling, profits down and their stock in another free-fall, look for Ford to "reinvent" themselves into the euro-model the new management team is most comfortable with.
The future holds diesels, hybrid everything, "SVT" Freestyles (and anything else thats not selling), and lots of money spent lobbying Washington for changes to rules and subsidies.
Anyone who finds a dealer willing to start selling GT500's at MSRP, let me know. There are thousands of hits on this site - hopefully one will be found - before all the quiet, private orders are in to gobble up the whole production run!
The "drought" of GT's seems to be a bit overplayed, at least in my perspective.
The dealer in town has 3 on their lot now, 4 v-6's and 5 roush mustangs of varying stages. They come and go and a fairly regular pace, but they never seem to be lacking any of these cars to have sitting on their lot.
Not a single one has ever been marked over MSRP.
I talked with the owner of the dealership and he said while they wont be taking any early orders as of yet, he did say that they will have "plenty" of GT500's to sell once they become available.
As the #1 Ford Dealership in the country, I tend to believe he has the pull to get it done.
Just got off the phone with a major Ford SVT dealer here in PA. He said that he will have the order codes in January and you should look for a run of about 5000 and 7500 a year for maybe 2 years. They expect to get about 10 to 15 cars. They are so sure that they are taking Deposits of $500.00. I am number 6 on the list. Nobody that works at the dealer is allowed to buy. They will have a 1-2 thousand dollar overage. I called alot of dealers. This guy was the controller he knew his stuff. Ride On
Be thankful for geography. The early GT runs were mainly routed to southern dealers (I live in Georgia) who have sold off their inventories - and now the spring weather is thawing out the midwest and northern states, so its their turn. Large dealers with ample allocations based on last year's sales will experience a brief surge in GT shipments (look for most of the first group to be AOD cars, since supply problems for the 5 speeds and correct drivetrain are plagueing AAI again). In the end, the first flush of promises and shipments will pass (by about the end of May), and a steady stream of 6 cylinders will fill the holes in the supply chain. The three large Ford dealers I visit here in Atlanta (2 of whom claim from time to time to be the "largest ford volume dealer") have a combined total of one slightly-damaged-in-shipment aod GT. My club's host dealers both tell me they can't get anymore GT's for at least 6 weeks.
Small town dealers with low allocation priorities have been told not to sell or take orders for further GT shipments which probably won't be filled.
Ford is commited to running the Flat Rock plant flat out - so long as we want to buy the 6-bangers they want to make. Otherwise, why aren't they gearing up Romeo and the 8.8" plant to make the components GT's (and Cobras, of course) need?
Our only hope is that the Ford stock price (in the toilet) and the Ford sales performance (in the toilet) enables the remnants of the old managment team (currently also in the toilet) to speak up and suggest that they get off their asses and start making cars people want to buy, not cars Ford management wants to sell.
Having said all this, how about publishing the contact info for that Nebraska dealer with the little store of unsold GT's? I bet there are folks reading this who can use that info...
tripleblack
Quote:
Originally Posted by kulak
The "drought" of GT's seems to be a bit overplayed, at least in my perspective.
The dealer in town has 3 on their lot now, 4 v-6's and 5 roush mustangs of varying stages. They come and go and a fairly regular pace, but they never seem to be lacking any of these cars to have sitting on their lot.
Not a single one has ever been marked over MSRP.
I talked with the owner of the dealership and he said while they wont be taking any early orders as of yet, he did say that they will have "plenty" of GT500's to sell once they become available.
As the #1 Ford Dealership in the country, I tend to believe he has the pull to get it done.
Just got off the phone with a major Ford SVT dealer here in PA. He said that he will have the order codes in January and you should look for a run of about 5000 and 7500 a year for maybe 2 years. They expect to get about 10 to 15 cars. They are so sure that they are taking Deposits of $500.00. I am number 6 on the list. Nobody that works at the dealer is allowed to buy. They will have a 1-2 thousand dollar overage. I called alot of dealers. This guy was the controller he knew his stuff. Ride On
Please publish this dealer's contact info - there are those who will beat a path to his door!
dude i agree..down here in texas we do however, have mustangs avail. at the dealerships. This guy wanted a 5k deposit (from an N.C dealership) for a preorder on a gt500. He then stated that he could not tell me how much of a markup i would have to pay and that i would only be on the list. I'm prolly just going to have to look around and see if i can order one from around here. Theres this really tempting legend lime gt vert. Thats the exact car that i wanted, only problem is that the shelby is going to be soo sweet, and i cant decide. I agree with triple, i see so many v6 stangs being pushed on consumers. Ive owned a V6 stang before, and it leaves you with an empty feeling knowing that imports can spank you in it. Anyways, if anyone knows a good place that is taking preorders on the new cobra plz send me a msg. I'm also going to look around for a place to preorder, and try my damnest not to buy a new gt, i'm just hoping they dont offer me anything under msrp, i dont think i could be able to hold off on my purchase if they did.
I went by there this weekend and they are either gone or moved. I didn't have the time to stop in and ask. I have seen a few vert's running around here too.
If you do buy from them ask for James Walsh and tell him that Shane sent you. He might give me a kickback =)
PS they may still have a couple of the Roush stangs too.
If you go to his site you will notice he has several dealerships.
I believe he is one of the top Viper dealers around too. He has some major pull there is no doubt about that, whether that gets any GT500's on his lot is yet to be seen.
2007 GT 500 Cobra 
