2013 GT500 in the 9"s!

[38P]

there is no downside to an American manufacturer making hyper-fast cars. Would I own one? probably not, but in a land of competitive advantage, everyone and their electric brother will feel duty bound to build cars that are 10 shades of awesome.

These cars also homologate high-performance powertrains for emissions purposes, which will help future Bangshifters wanting to "clone" emissions-legal factory combos. And the parts developed for these halo cars are showing up in the parts books for use on other builds. Lots of good h.d. cooling system and brake parts have been developed for the GT500 and Boss programs. That's a huge win for Mustangers, even if they'll never be able to afford a Boss or Shelby.

[38P]

I've been peaking at the Shelby forum and there are a few dealers listed selling at msrp. According to them Ford has set no production limit.

It'll be interesting to see how widespread that trend becomes. Typically, what happens is that dealer gouging squelches demand as the perception grows that dealers won't deal. This happened with several specialty Fords (Marauder, '03-'04 Terminator Cobra, retro Thunderbird, and even the GT500.

As a practical matter, CAFE standards will limit production of the Shelby. Given that it's not a flex-fuel car (flex-fuel allows for a huge loophole in CAFE average calculations), they have to sell several high-mileage FWDs to average-out every 18 m.p.g. (combined)Shelby. Of course, they're in better shape than the supercharged Camaro, which is a whopping five m.p.g. worse in highway fuel economy.

Given that the highest production SVT Mustang was only about 14,000 units/year, and typical GT500 production is around 5,000/year, even if there was no CAFE concerns, it's doubtful that the Ford production planners have bought enough hardware to build a large number of $50,000-$65,000 "halo" Mustangs in My 2013. That's the sad reality.

[Scott Liggett]

A mustang that costs $60,000 before the tuner gets it damn well better haul serious ass.

[SpiderGearsMan]

predicting more government intervention

[SuperBuickGuy]

predicting more government intervention

okay Chicken Little

Until then, fill the horizon with glorious tire smoke

[38P]

Who needs Chicken Little?

predicting more government intervention

I guess it could get worse, but it's hard to see how.

Nearly a quarter of the states follow draconian California emission rules. Most major cities have emissions inpection programs that force most Bangshifters into a dwendling supply of exempt vehicles. Existing fuel economy standards will force most new vehicle drivers into pricey hybrids, diesels, or tiny FWDs over the next twelve years. Hundreds of pages of protectionist motor vehicle standards already deprive us of many of the cool cars that are legal in the rest of the Western world. Thousands of Bangshiftable V8s have been senselessly destroyed in the stupid "Cash for Clunkers" welfare program and other "emissions credits" scams. Rampaging pirate lawyers that are killing race tracks and driving up the cost of insurance . . . .

But for the regulatory mess we've got now, new V8s in RWD supercars would cost a fair amount less. And there'd be a lot more late-model "tin" of interest to Bangshifters in the JY and in used car markets. But the special interests can't let the free market work. And Bangshifters bear the increased costs. Unbangshiftable CRAP like FWD, SUVs, CUVs and minivans are all market circumventions to excessive regulation.

Just imagine how great it'll be in A.D. 2025 when the norm is a screaming 1-liter 3-cylinder turbo/electric hybrid weed-whacker powering your average family car. And pony cars (if Detroit even still builds 'em) cost $100,000+ in limited production V8 form. And "The Man" and "Big Insurance" have forced revenue/driving "check-up" nanny chips in all of our cars. And road taxes are levied upon miles driven instead of just gallons purchased.

I guess it's NOT hard to see how it'll get worse . . . .

[bbnova]

Spidey does have a point.

The only '13 GT500 I've actually seen "in the steel" was a showroom ornament with a fully-loaded $67,000 sticker that was already sold to a "friend" of the dealer within minutes of its arrival (for well over sticker, of course).

According to the dealer's son, they have no idea when or even if they'll get another one. Now this is a small-town dealer who doesn't have much Mustang "allocation" (Ford insiders will know what that means). But it points a few big problems:

1. Demand will likely far outstrip supply.
2. Dealers will gouge customers on the price.
3. Spidey's point -- there are plenty of ways to go just as quick and fast on a lot less money (albeit not with a full OEM warranty, insurance, 50-state emissions compliance, installment financing, daily driver reliability, etc.)

Now if someone simply bought a base 5.0, a Hellion turbo kit and support parts, a built shortblock and the necessary safety and driveline upgrades, I strongly suspect they'd out perform the '13 GT500 for a lot less investment.


That being said, it's great that Ford (and GM) are taking a last shot at blue-collar supercars before the 54 m.p.g. CAFE law shuts all this OEM fun down.

Are you kidding they are all over ebay

[38P]

eBay '13 Shelbys

Are you kidding they are all over ebay

Right. And the cheapest one is ~ $70,000. http://motors.shop.ebay.com/sch/Cars...3+shelby+gt500

Exactly how does that disprove any of my opinions or predictions?

[38P]

And I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that all of this conclusively disproves the snarky, uninformed blow-off by Hot Rod Magazine "cubicle farmer" Brandan Gillogly in his sarcastic "Blog Comment of the Year" post at Hot Rod.com: "Our sneaky methods have something to do with the fact that 2013 GT500s likely won’t be for sale by the time Drag Week 2012 starts."

Read more: http://blogs.hotrod.com/blog-comment...#ixzz215JG9xmg

http://www.bangshift.com/forum/showthread.php/35919-Hahaha-Hot-Rod-Blog-Drag-Week

[Barry Donovan]

9.70s and he left like grandma driving to church. Dang. I love the sound of that thing during the burnout!

that is the win.

it seems if one is or was around fast, the gear subject is absolutely silly.

I am impressed by the ford.
me greatest was 2.73 and a four speed auto...still is, as memory only.

knowing power and how to use it does not have 4.11s killing it.

my own 90hp rice box is 103 in third. I am glad they have at least that adult size part for me to enjoy with my aging maturity.

if a poer steering pump has to whine to function. that is fine. nothing in the drivetrain has to.

[groucho]

Is that silly noise in the background really necessary on a drag pass video? BTW, fast car....wonder how much time it'd pick up if he thrashed the trans more on the shifts?

[38P]

Time on the strip or time in the shop fixing the trashed syncros?