Took delivery of my '05 Vert last Friday. Black with red leather GT, all options except the 1000 watt shaker and the automatic tranny. I guess I am one of the lucky ones because I ordered the car in early February, it was built on 14 March and I received it on 31 March. I'll post some pics once I figure out how.
First, l'll dispense with the bad and the ugly. The ugly part is easy - there is no ugly and so far, I LOVE THIS CAR!!!! A couple of bads though:
When I put the roof down I have to get out and push it the final inch or two. Putting the roof up is an ever bigger chore. To get it up someone has to physically start the "up" process (get your filthy minds out of the gutter!). It takes only a gentle nudge but withoiut it, the roof will not raise. More bothersome is trying to latch the hood. It is simply not a 1 person job. When the roof reaches the windshield latch area it stops about 2 inches short. Pulling down works to get the roof to the windshield area but not enough to get the pin into the hole. For that I have to get assistance from a bystander. The only way to get the roof to a position where it can be latched is for me to push forward with everything I can give 'er, and for a bystander to put tremendous weight on the roof front from the outside. I've posted a request for info on the Tech site.
I also had to order the rearview mirror with the "Homelink," compass, thermometer and auto-dimming feature as an after delivery option as it was not available when I ordered the car. It is a Ford part and it may be available at time of ordering now.
The final bad is the lack of a heated seats option. Living here in one of the coldest places in Canada, heated seats are an option that I have enjoyed on all previous vehicles. I believe there is an aftermarket fix but it would be nice to get them from the factory.
Now the good, and there's plenty of it:
This is the most nimble car I have ever owned. It's handling beats the 1978 Corvette, the 1981 and 1982 Camaros and the 1984 Fiero I had, and a 1992 BMW 5 series I rented in Germany for two days. Don't know about any more recent sports cars as I have been driving pickups since 1990. I have driven it with the TCS on and off. While it was on, the nimbleness likely saved my life on Sunday night - more on that later.
The get up and go of this car is also truly amazing. It would be excellent in any price range but given the relatively low cost, this car's performance is exemplary.
The fun factor is also truly excellent, at least for a guy who has been away from sports cars for so long. Along with it is the WOW factor. I know most of us on this site think that Ford did an outstanding job on the retro styling but we are biased. However, because of all the looks and "thumbs up" I have garnered to date, I know we are right.
I have put on 2000kms since last Thursday, including a drive of about 1500 kms. That drive took me from Edmonton to Jasper and back the long way. I left Edmonton at about 10pm on Saturday night. I wanted to experience the stars and the openess of the car, to see if it compared to driving my motorcycle. So , I headed out for a short drive with the top down. I had my sheepskin coat, sheepsking gloves, a scarf, toque and winter hiking boots on. I headed north in plus 5 degrees celsius (about 40-41 farenheit) weather, with no destination in mind but intent on a short drive. Well, I got interested in a talk show and before I knew it, it was 1:30 am. I had no idea where I was because I was driving back roads and when one ended I simply found another. I knew I was northwest of Edmonton but that was about as close as I could reckon.
I started heading south and at about 2:00 am I saw lights in the distance so I headed for them. Turned out I was in Hinton. For those not familiar with this area, Hinton is a three hour drive west of Edmonton and it is the "gateway" to Jasper National Park in the Rockies. I was pretty cold at this point as the temperature had dropped well below zero celsius. I decided to stay the night so I called home to give the missus my intentions (and got an equally cold reaction!!).
When I woke up Sunday morning I decided to take the long way home by driving west to Jasper then south along the Icefields Parkway, with the top down. The Icefields Parkway has frequently been described as the best drive in the world in terms of scenery, though I would I would rate portions of the Alps in Italy and Austria as equally good, and I would personally rate the western portion of the "Going To The Sun Highway" in Montana as better.
I had the highway almost to myself. The road was uncharacteristically clear and dry but I did expereince near whiteout conditions and deep snow for the portion about 3 clicks north and south of the glacier itself. I took the opportunity to turn off the TCS in that snowy area and, as expected, I fishtailed wildy. Re-engaging the TCS, I tried to get the rear end to kick out but it was very, very difficult to do so. On a humourous note, I was dressed as per Saturday night and I was driving top down with the windows up. I passed a tourist bus filled with what were obviously foreign guests, that had stopped on the side of the road to take pictures of the glacier (the Icefield Parkway Visitor Centre was closed). The snow was blowing, my scarf was flapping like a WW1 pilot's and my toque and face were full of frost. The expression on their faces was one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen!!
I also pushed the car hard through the twisties (the bare ones) and I was extremely impressed. At one point I entered a turn much too quickly, or so I thought, but the car didn't show any sign of loss of traction.
At the Saskatchewan River Crossing I turned east on Highway 11, toward Rocky Mountain House. The scenery was fantastic as the setting sun caused many of the snow covered peaks to shine pink. Saw lots of goats, sheep, elk, deer a lone wolf, 4 coytes, and 3 cariboo (a very rare sight in these parts), all a safe distance on the side of the road.
I also saw an adult moose, close up, that scared the bejeezuz out of me. For those who have never hit a moose or who have never seen one close up, I can tell you that about 80% of the car/moose encounters end in serious human injury and about half end in human fatalities. The moose' body structure is such that most vehicles take out their long, skinny legs while the windshield receives the full brunt of several hundred, and sometime over a thousand, pounds of meat (I hit a baby moose at 100kph with an F250 and the truck received $8,000 damage and was not driveable.). In addition, while deer or goat's eyes, and to a large degree their skin, reflect headlights at a good distance, moose' eyes do not until you are right on top of them. I was near Rocky Mountain House, the sun had fully set and I was doing about 110kph. The moose ran on to the road and I had only enough time to jam the brakes and wrench the car to the left. I passed the moose close enough that I could literally distinguish individual hairs. I credit the TCS and the ABS for saving me that night.
I know this has been a long post but I thought it might persuade some of you who are thinking of an '05 to go ahead and get one. I can't recommend it highly enough!!
Cheers
P.S. For those of you wondering about the heating comfort while driving in the winter with the top down, it is really pretty good (with the windows rolled up). I had the driver's side heating vents pointed down towards my legs and the passenger vents off. I was wearing jeans without long underwear or insulated overpants and my legs got a bit cool but not intolerably so. The stange thing was that due to the way the air circulated, my right knee froze often, so much so that I had to stop, get out of the car and massage it to get the circulation back. Next time I'll wear long underwear!!
Oh, and another thing. For my U.S. friends in the south of the country, a toque is a winter knit cap. If you remember the Second City Comedy Show, in particular "The Great White North" with Bob and Doug MacKenzie, they were wearing toques.
First, l'll dispense with the bad and the ugly. The ugly part is easy - there is no ugly and so far, I LOVE THIS CAR!!!! A couple of bads though:
When I put the roof down I have to get out and push it the final inch or two. Putting the roof up is an ever bigger chore. To get it up someone has to physically start the "up" process (get your filthy minds out of the gutter!). It takes only a gentle nudge but withoiut it, the roof will not raise. More bothersome is trying to latch the hood. It is simply not a 1 person job. When the roof reaches the windshield latch area it stops about 2 inches short. Pulling down works to get the roof to the windshield area but not enough to get the pin into the hole. For that I have to get assistance from a bystander. The only way to get the roof to a position where it can be latched is for me to push forward with everything I can give 'er, and for a bystander to put tremendous weight on the roof front from the outside. I've posted a request for info on the Tech site.
I also had to order the rearview mirror with the "Homelink," compass, thermometer and auto-dimming feature as an after delivery option as it was not available when I ordered the car. It is a Ford part and it may be available at time of ordering now.
The final bad is the lack of a heated seats option. Living here in one of the coldest places in Canada, heated seats are an option that I have enjoyed on all previous vehicles. I believe there is an aftermarket fix but it would be nice to get them from the factory.
Now the good, and there's plenty of it:
This is the most nimble car I have ever owned. It's handling beats the 1978 Corvette, the 1981 and 1982 Camaros and the 1984 Fiero I had, and a 1992 BMW 5 series I rented in Germany for two days. Don't know about any more recent sports cars as I have been driving pickups since 1990. I have driven it with the TCS on and off. While it was on, the nimbleness likely saved my life on Sunday night - more on that later.
The get up and go of this car is also truly amazing. It would be excellent in any price range but given the relatively low cost, this car's performance is exemplary.
The fun factor is also truly excellent, at least for a guy who has been away from sports cars for so long. Along with it is the WOW factor. I know most of us on this site think that Ford did an outstanding job on the retro styling but we are biased. However, because of all the looks and "thumbs up" I have garnered to date, I know we are right.
I have put on 2000kms since last Thursday, including a drive of about 1500 kms. That drive took me from Edmonton to Jasper and back the long way. I left Edmonton at about 10pm on Saturday night. I wanted to experience the stars and the openess of the car, to see if it compared to driving my motorcycle. So , I headed out for a short drive with the top down. I had my sheepskin coat, sheepsking gloves, a scarf, toque and winter hiking boots on. I headed north in plus 5 degrees celsius (about 40-41 farenheit) weather, with no destination in mind but intent on a short drive. Well, I got interested in a talk show and before I knew it, it was 1:30 am. I had no idea where I was because I was driving back roads and when one ended I simply found another. I knew I was northwest of Edmonton but that was about as close as I could reckon.
I started heading south and at about 2:00 am I saw lights in the distance so I headed for them. Turned out I was in Hinton. For those not familiar with this area, Hinton is a three hour drive west of Edmonton and it is the "gateway" to Jasper National Park in the Rockies. I was pretty cold at this point as the temperature had dropped well below zero celsius. I decided to stay the night so I called home to give the missus my intentions (and got an equally cold reaction!!).
When I woke up Sunday morning I decided to take the long way home by driving west to Jasper then south along the Icefields Parkway, with the top down. The Icefields Parkway has frequently been described as the best drive in the world in terms of scenery, though I would I would rate portions of the Alps in Italy and Austria as equally good, and I would personally rate the western portion of the "Going To The Sun Highway" in Montana as better.
I had the highway almost to myself. The road was uncharacteristically clear and dry but I did expereince near whiteout conditions and deep snow for the portion about 3 clicks north and south of the glacier itself. I took the opportunity to turn off the TCS in that snowy area and, as expected, I fishtailed wildy. Re-engaging the TCS, I tried to get the rear end to kick out but it was very, very difficult to do so. On a humourous note, I was dressed as per Saturday night and I was driving top down with the windows up. I passed a tourist bus filled with what were obviously foreign guests, that had stopped on the side of the road to take pictures of the glacier (the Icefield Parkway Visitor Centre was closed). The snow was blowing, my scarf was flapping like a WW1 pilot's and my toque and face were full of frost. The expression on their faces was one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen!!
I also pushed the car hard through the twisties (the bare ones) and I was extremely impressed. At one point I entered a turn much too quickly, or so I thought, but the car didn't show any sign of loss of traction.
At the Saskatchewan River Crossing I turned east on Highway 11, toward Rocky Mountain House. The scenery was fantastic as the setting sun caused many of the snow covered peaks to shine pink. Saw lots of goats, sheep, elk, deer a lone wolf, 4 coytes, and 3 cariboo (a very rare sight in these parts), all a safe distance on the side of the road.
I also saw an adult moose, close up, that scared the bejeezuz out of me. For those who have never hit a moose or who have never seen one close up, I can tell you that about 80% of the car/moose encounters end in serious human injury and about half end in human fatalities. The moose' body structure is such that most vehicles take out their long, skinny legs while the windshield receives the full brunt of several hundred, and sometime over a thousand, pounds of meat (I hit a baby moose at 100kph with an F250 and the truck received $8,000 damage and was not driveable.). In addition, while deer or goat's eyes, and to a large degree their skin, reflect headlights at a good distance, moose' eyes do not until you are right on top of them. I was near Rocky Mountain House, the sun had fully set and I was doing about 110kph. The moose ran on to the road and I had only enough time to jam the brakes and wrench the car to the left. I passed the moose close enough that I could literally distinguish individual hairs. I credit the TCS and the ABS for saving me that night.
I know this has been a long post but I thought it might persuade some of you who are thinking of an '05 to go ahead and get one. I can't recommend it highly enough!!
Cheers
P.S. For those of you wondering about the heating comfort while driving in the winter with the top down, it is really pretty good (with the windows rolled up). I had the driver's side heating vents pointed down towards my legs and the passenger vents off. I was wearing jeans without long underwear or insulated overpants and my legs got a bit cool but not intolerably so. The stange thing was that due to the way the air circulated, my right knee froze often, so much so that I had to stop, get out of the car and massage it to get the circulation back. Next time I'll wear long underwear!!
Oh, and another thing. For my U.S. friends in the south of the country, a toque is a winter knit cap. If you remember the Second City Comedy Show, in particular "The Great White North" with Bob and Doug MacKenzie, they were wearing toques.
