Maybe Dodge will do a 'Cuda version.

New Shelby GT sure to extend the Mustang phenomenon

By Matt Nauman
San Jose Mercury News



General Motors stole some of the nostalgic-mojo momentum from Ford's Mustang by first showing a Chevy Camaro concept in Detroit earlier this year, and then saying it will build the car. Dodge is doing the same with its Challenger.

But that new Challenger won't go on sale until 2008, and the new Camaro won't arrive until early 2009, and Ford knows it'll sell a couple of hundred thousand more Mustangs between now and then.

To make sure that the Mustang, revised and substantially improved in 2005, stays hot, Ford Motor has started making special versions for enthusiasts and collectors.

We've seen all this before, of course, when that original '64 Mustang spawned all manner of GT, Boss, Mach1, Shelby and Cobra models over the next several years.

So, if everything old is new again as we enter a second muscle-car era -- even if this one is fueled by nostalgia and not cheap gas -- then No. 1 on the charts is the 2007 Shelby GT500, just now reaching dealerships.

Coming next year is a Shelby GT (non-500) version of the Mustang. You also can rent a Shelby Mustang GT-H at Hertz locations in 25 cities. There's even a rumor that Ford will produce a new Mustang Boss in 2007.

After a few days holding the keys to a bright red Shelby GT500 convertible, I can testify that this car draws a crowd.

A pair of delivery drivers outside my favorite Chinese restaurant made me pop the hood. They peppered me with questions after I ate peppered shrimp. (OK, it was orange chicken, but I couldn't resist that parallel construction.) Two moms at our swim club coyly said they wanted to see the car, borrowed the keys and took a ride without asking permission.

That's the enduring appeal of the Mustang -- first spawned at the World's Fair in New York in 1964 -- and its many incarnations. Typical of that zeal is what Patrick Covert writes in "Ultimate Mustang:" "like fireworks on the Fourth of July, the Ford Mustang phenomenon celebrates who we are."

Who we are, circa model-year 2007, is the continued strange mingling of horse and snake. The Mustang is a wild horse. The car is named for a fighter jet, but the galloping horse has grazed on its grille for decades. Yet, on Cobra versions of the Mustang over the years, a ready-to-strike snake replaces the horse. I suppose Carroll Shelby deserves blame or credit for this.

He created a Cobra in 1962 by putting a Ford V-8 under the bonnet of a British roadster. He then allowed both his name and the word Cobra to become associated with Mustang.

Ford, by the way, just calls this car the Shelby GT500, although you could identify it easily as the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 SVT Cobra.

And while I do love the American beauty and be-true-to-your-school personality of the new Mustang, I remain at least a little unconvinced about the wisdom of the Shelby GT500.

Here's why: The Mustang GT, with its loud-and-proud 300-horsepower V-8 is all about affordable fun. Priced from $26,000 to $32,000, depending on whether you opt for deluxe or premium trim, and hardtop or convertible versions, the Mustang GT is a performance-car bargain. That's why publications such as Consumers Digest name the Mustang as a best buy.

The Shelby GT500, at $43,000 for the coupe and $48,000 for the convertible, is something altogether different. And despite its big boost in horsepower, it's certainly no bargain. Car-shopping sites, such as Kelley Blue Book's www.kbb.com, show that buyers are paying $65,000 and up for the '07 Shelby GT500.

Thanks to a Roots-type supercharger, Ford says the 5.4-liter, 32-valve V-8 in the Shelby GT500 makes 500 horsepower.

But this one feels somewhat less quick and certainly less sophisticated than other cars I've driven with that much power. Ind

 

People are buying it just for the name and number. I prefer to have my car and build up. With the new whipple charger for the 4.6L, you can get close to 500HP and still come in alot cheaper for the car and SC. This guy said he had a problem with take offs even though they said they put a better suspension system on. I wonder if they still used the same crappy LCA's though. This is what causes most of the wheel hop people are getting. This will be the next to be replaced on my car.

 

I think that most people don't have the savvy and or time so they just get all they can even though they might not get the best bang/buck but they get the name.

The Whipple name you mentioned I think was used originally on the Ford GT 5.4L engine. What an awesome car!

If you can do all of the work, then more power to you because then you get the car you want and the satisfaction that you did it all and can show it off.

Assuming the Challenger has all the horsepower I want, one thing I may do is replace the interior engine parts with polished parts or something like that.
I will decide that when I see the final car in my garage.

 

I sure hope so. Even if they don't revive the 'cuda name, they could release something like a Challenger T/A (Hence my sign-in - I'm certainly not hoping for a Trams Am!!).

Not sure if you remember the T/A version of the original Challenger, but as I recall they were street cars built so that Challengers could be raced in SCCA. I think the 'cuda equivelent was called the AAR. Not sure if they were higher performance that the R/Ts were, but I believe they were produced in fewer numbers.

I'm just hoping for an additional 'step up' from the SRT-8, just like Ford is doing with the Shelby.

 

I believe you're correct about the SCCA racing and the T/A version being the Dodge equivalent of the AAR. I also hope they offer something more than the 6.1L or give it a power upgrade to offer similar hp & tq numbers even though it appears it will be pretty even with the GT500 already.