Well this is a racing sight afterall and that means cars. So here is an update from me!
I love cars. I would own every one I like if I could. That's the way I am. Yes it can be a financial burden. It always seems just when I am near a payoff on one car a new one steps in it's place.
Over a year ago this happened. I've always owned Mustangs. I love them. I am a Pony car whore afterall. I had strayed from this when I bought a 350z. I admit I enjoyed the hell out of it but I felt "off". I was missing something. Turned out I was missing the Mustang. I am a Detroit boy always. Born and raised, it's in my blood.
Later I returned to Mustang greatness when Ford unleashed the new S197 Mustang. The "retro" Stang as it has come to be known. I was in love again. But I felt hollow inside. Something was missing.
Ford annoucned a partnership with Carroll Shelby once again. This set off all kinds of craziness in my mind grapes. For the first time I saw a potential return to legacy of the Mustang. Soon I would discover it would be a pipe dream.
Ford did unleash a product from this Shelby union, the GT500. A sexy car to be sure for any Pony fan. However dealerships ensured to mark up the price and keep it more than an arms reach from me. The price to enter this dance would be well above my means. So...I surrendered to the "normal" Mustang GT. Once again going down the "modding" path to make the car what I wanted.
So here I was with my 2007 Mustang GT. Now it wasn't your run-of-the-mill Mustang GT, it did have some modifications. The most prominent was the 405rwhp Vortech supercharger.
Let us "brake" for a moment.
You may be wondering why such a fan of racing would drive a "pony" car. They are notorious 1/4 mile cars but racing? FORGET IT! Well, that's not entirly true.
For any of you happening to be reading this that are educated in racing beyond what they've been fed in the latest console video game; you'd know Mustangs have been modified for road racing quite successfully for many, many, years. In fact recently they took a couple of first spots on the podium at racing venues, like Grand Am.
But I digress...
I had the supercharger, yes. I also had a fairly decent coil-over suspension too. However there are always issues when you modify car a from stock. Noises, clunks and squeaks. Generally unavoidable. When you change the car from stock you are tossing out years of development. The various car manufactures spend 1000s making sure a vehicle performs. And in 3 hours of tweaking one can ruin all of that for the sake of performance. I am guilty of that.
My Mustangs suspension was very taunt, very precise. But on the Los Angeles roads it was a nightmare. Rattles, clunks, and god knows what else. I could make a 'smoothy' in my car with out a blender. It sucked.
Also, after all my doing, all my tweaks, it was still "just a" Mustang GT. A car that in a couple of years would be near worthless. The bolt on goodies tend to LOWER value, not raise it. So I was faced with a dilema.
I wanted a "legacy" enabled Mustang. If I am to bear the brunt of high cost fuel and other costs of owning a Mustang why not make it something worth it in the long term? A Shelby GT500 you might say? Sure, that is surely to be worth some cash in the future. Especially when Shelby dies. (god forbid) But the car is $70,000 at most SOCAL dealerships! There must be a better way.
There is.
The Shelby GT came out about 4 months after I bought my GT. Here we had a Mustang that not only had the Shelby name on it but it actually went to the Shelby factory and had HIS signature on it. Even the GT 500 cannot make this claim. The SGT is truly something to cherish in the future. Especially with only 10,000 to be made. (Ford makes around 250,000 Mustang GTs a year)
However not all is golden in the land of priveledged ownership. Shelby GTs tend to demand a premium. $5000 to $10,000 over. You could buy a nice new Kia for that alone! (uh huh)
So I forgot about the notion. I would make due with what I had. Enjoy my Mustang GT and all its depreciation. But then something happened, something I would not have expected in a million years.
My phone rang. The salesmen that I had purchased two cars from previously, including my mod'd Stang, was telling me of some recent deals. I quickly side-stepped him and nearly hung up. I didn't need a new car right now.
Before I hung up the phone I off handedly said, "well the only thing that would get me in there is if you had any 2007 Shelby GTs in black with a manual tranny." I smirked to myself knowing full well these first generation Shelby's had long been snapped up by the Mustang faithful. But my internal victory was short lived. For the salesmen had a response that simply...blew me away.
"I have one. And it's on promo."
"Promo?", I said in a mildly amusing tone.
He went on to tell me that Ford was having a clearence sale for all '07s. This included such titans as the GT500 and the lessor Shelby GT. The "Baby Shelby" as it's known. Baby or not it was limited run and had Shelby's name on it. I was intringued.
Ford was offering 1.9% financing on these cars. That's incredible! Considering the rather high bill, low interest finacing is a must. So I did the math.
Turns out, in the end, I'd end up paying $4000 less for my current plain-jane Stang over the Shelby. Or another way to look at it...for $55 more a month over 72 months I could own a collectible. This was madness. Could it be? I told him I'd be right over.
Six hours later and much negotiation...I had my Shelby! Gone was the hacked and modded GT. Replaced with a "done" Shelby GT. Everything I'd want in a Mustang and collectibility to boot. I couldn't be happier.
So with this I come to a close. I plan to post a review later. A Back Seat Racing review at least. Which some may know by now has always meant a disclaimer of, "we don't drive them but we give you our opinion." Well this time I will be able to actually give you a "hands-on" review.
Stay tuned and Happy Holidays.
