| 777 | Date: Thursday, 28 Oct 2010, 18.26 | Message # 1 |
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User ID: 777
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| A 305-horsepower Mustang V6 for $22,995. A killer 412-horsepower Mustang GT V8 that starts for barely 30 grand. And coming soon, a 440-horse Mustang Boss 302 that will spark '60s flashbacks and almost surely start below $40,000. Hurry, remind me again: What exactly is the point of a $50,000-plus Mustang called the Shelby GT500?
The Shelby’s disconcertingly lofty price struck me again this week when I tested a new 2011 Mustang V6. That candy-red cream puff honestly offered just about anything you’d want in a 'Stang, along with something you never would have expected: an EPA fuel-economy rating of 31 mpg highway. Deep down, I still prefer the bellowing GT model, with its muscular helpings of low-end torque. But the lighter Mustang V6 handles a bit better than the GT, and decidedly better than the bulkier Camaro or Challenger, despite the Mustang’s old-tech solid rear axle.
Now the 2011 Shelby GT500 is certainly a quantum leap over its predecessor, one of the most ill-handling, lumpy-driving, poorly finished -- and insanely overpriced -- performance cars in many a moon. I chortled when Ford pimped the car, pre-release, as some kind of future collector’s item, and that was even before I tested the half-baked beast. Barely a year later, not only had there been no collector run on the Shelby, but models were rotting on showroom lots. Desperate dealers slashed $10,000 and more off the sticker price just to get rid of them.
The new Shelby GT500, surprisingly, is a bloody-red slice of beefcake, starting with its 550-horsepower supercharged V8 engine. Everything about the car is dramatically improved: engine, interior, brakes, suspension, you name it. For people who live and die by the Mustang, it’s a dream machine. But those fans (and as a former Detroiter, I know who they are) tend to be blue-collar types, even when they’re well-compensated blue-collar types. In a down economy, where every sports car’s sales are getting hammered, I can’t see many of those hard-working Mustang fans stretching to a Shelby GT500 that can top $57,000 in loaded trim. Meanwhile, people who aren’t Mustang fanatics will take one look at that price and buy a Corvette instead, or save $20,000 and get a Nissan 370Z.
I take one salivating look at the upcoming Boss 302 and see it for what it is: another nail in the Shelby’s coffin. That Boss 302 will post serious performance numbers with a V8 that makes 440 horsepower without the supercharged boost of the Shelby. It’ll be a lighter car as well, with a sport suspension that, in the real world, should be every bit the equal of the Shelby’s. Most importantly, the Boss will likely undercut the Shelby’s base price by at least $8,000.
So too, the Mustang has always been about affordable performance. From its seminal years in the mid '60s, right through today, the Mustang’s V6 editions have always easily outsold the higher-profile V8 models. When a Mustang starts climbing into the pricing territory of a Corvette or Porsche Boxster -- and I don’t care how fast it goes or how menacing it sounds -- it begins to lose its purpose and lose its way. And don’t forget that many true believers still prefer to start with an affordable Mustang and spend any leftover cash on customizing and improving the car with aftermarket gear.
Ford might see my take on the Shelby as pure criticism, but I prefer to see it as a compliment: Ford has simply done too good a job on the Mustang lineup. From the newly tempting V6 edition, easily the best-performing starter model in Mustang history, to the GT and soon the Boss, buyers will have three great reasons to not waste time or money on the Shelby. And if your heart is set on the king of the lineup, here’s my advice: wait. In a year or so, when Ford dealers again find Shelby GT500s gathering dust, they’ll throw in their firstborns just to make a deal. Lightly used models will be even more affordable. And when the Shelby dips below $40,000, that price will actually square with the performance.
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