Shelby hah what are they thinkin

Caldwell said:

Sorry to say it, but **** the GT500... I read a recent interview with him in Road and Track, and they asked him, point blank what his involvment was with the new cobra...

he said... that it was difficult to explain... but his name is on it.. and then he completely changed the subject. He never answered the bleeding question.
I should see if i can find the mag and quote his ass.

$10 says he didn't even look at the car, he just signed on the dotted line so they could use his name.

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preach on, preach on

as soon as they announced that the 07 cobra would not hold the SVT name but Shelby. i said it would give ford a reason to jack the price through the roof. ford saw the success with the 03-04 cobra and wanted to double it by catering to the older guys that saw the originals shebly corbas. by giving them the chance to have a shebly of their own today. sure they will have old rich guys to buy it. but those old rich guys are not the same crowd that raise the bar so quick with 03-04 cobra. the crowd that bought 03-04 where 18 -30 or to mid 30s. that turned the aftermaket for the 03-04 into a frenzy. in a matter of a year you had whipple, kenny bell make bigger blowers for a car that was just out for not even a year. an aftermarket that could not keep up first and foremost cause the car was affordable to the general public. i'm not saying everyone cause i can't afford one. but affordable to a wide range of poeple. now up the price to almost double if not that and limit production and you seriously put a damper on the range of people who will not only buy the car but be the driving force behond the aftermarket that brings the name and popularity above all other makes and models.
sure the crowd that buys them will upgrade and change things on the car, but i believe not to the degree that ford thinks it will. they will just get a crowd a guys that hope the value goes up 10,000 times the amount that they paid for it. just like if you bought an original shebly cobra back in the day an still have it today. thats how much profit you made on it today. thats no lie, or type-o. 10,000 % appreciation.

now put the SVT name back on it, and bring the price back down to like the 03-04's. make production the same if not more than the 03-04's and they have another big hit. with an insane aftermakert thats driven by the wide range that pushes the edge, and bring the Mustang name to be the most loved sports car ever make.

but why do what they're doing, one word: GREED

Fellas.... if you haven't been paying attention, American automobiles are in deep crap. The asians do it better, cheaper, and faster. We can't afford to pay American Auto Unions. GM is in such bad shape even their executives took pay cuts.

The '05 Stang and the F150 are the only things keeping Ford in business right now. They have to get the best price possible. And hell, if they can get it, then who's to blame them? Ford isn't in the business to make sure gear heads get the latest and greatest, they are in it for money.

If you're running a business, and you can sell a widget to your friend for 10 dollars and feel good, but you could sell it to a rich dude for 30 bucks and keep your business afloat, what do you do?

- capitalist

Fellas.... if you haven't been paying attention, American automobiles are in deep crap. The asians do it better, cheaper, and faster.

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Maybe in 1985....not now.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/01/23/american_cars/index.html

Top five automobile brands for reliability include three American companies (one FoMoCo) and only one Japanese company...

Fact is, American cars on average are AT LEAST AS reliable as comparitively priced Japanese cars...futhermore, they offer AT LEAST comparable performance and amenities. Often, you will get more performance and more comfort for your dollar with the American choice...but I digress.

We can't afford to pay American Auto Unions.

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Exactly...it has nothing to do with the quality of their products- fact is, the Japanese are able to produce a product with FAR less overhead expense because they have a cheaper work force.

I'm sorry, but an automobile factory line worker should not be making $30/hour....period.

GM is in such bad shape even their executives took pay cuts.

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Yup. And it's only going to get worse for the big three American car companies as all their baby boomer generation union employees retire and start collecting fat pensions and using their health care package...

I agree with the comment above. 15 yeas ago, the Asian manufacturers were producing a better product. That just isn't true any more. The stigma from that will remain for another ten years or so though, and in ten years, there won't be an American made automobile. That is, unless they can find a way to dismantle the unions.
Brandon

I don't blame ford at all for doing this. it's all part of this retro fad that sgoing through the big three. The Shelby name is name that people can associate more with performance and speed than SVT. Big marketing pstep by Ford and it's seems to be working for them. Lik eI said, give it a year and teh price will drop back to sticker then down to rebates off. I remember when the 03 cobra came out and had an outragous mark upon it around here. the next year in 04, they were trying to give away 04 cobras. I remember that the price. yeah, the 05 was comming out soon but the point is the people who wanted them so bad and couldn't stand it got one and the rest who waited for a better price got it. Look at the new GT. ebay now has a listing for them and they are selling close to sticker compared to those first double mark ups. Times have change and we have to pay more. Just like the new Mustang GT is a pinch more. Just have to wait our turn.

ignorance

I love how guys can sit back and rip apart Ford or any other company. ANYONE can sit down and say what someone is doing wrong by looking from the outside in. But i would be willing to bet that if you were in the position...you would see just how HARD it is. What the American Big 3 are going through is not just something that came out of no where....its been doing things wrong for years and years. And now its catching up. Guess what though, its gonna take years and years to get back on their feet. The Asian companies DO IT BETTER. No, their product may not be superior anymore. But they run their business FAR BETTER than our American companies. You wanna talk about the work force....thats right. But how about our CEO's that are taking home probably more than all the asian CEO's combined.

My point is this. Ford has A LOT of smart people. They know their problem. They know what direction they are heading in. Same goes for GM. So they are doing what they HAVE TO DO for the best of their future. Not our future. They are doing what they think they need to do to save their own ass. And no one who isnt in the position, or extremely knowledgeable about the WHOLE business andhow it works, should sit back and criticize Ford...or GM at this point. Its not going to do any good.


And the other thing....Ford has been doing the mustang right for years and years. We havent even seen what has happened from the decisions with this new model. Everyone wants to jump the gun and complain about this...and complain about that. Its not easy for Ford right now. So how about everyone relax and lets hope all the guys that made such great decisions with the mustang in previous generations comes through again for this new model. Cause like it was said above, if they fawk up the mustang....what else do they have? The f-150's? I really dont think at this point that Ford will shoot themselves in the foot. I think they are trying to recover from years and years of doing things wrong. And that they are doing the best they can do right now with what they have to work with. Cause if they dont....they'll be bankrupt.