Got my GT!

Congrats, John. I'm watching a torch red GT on the Travel channel -- as I'm writing this. Their show is all about Mustangs. Oooh, there's a silver one doing a burn-out.

You made an excellent choice!

Bob '03 Cobra coupe

Congrats John! Great story about a boy and his horse.

Happy trails to you....

Kate

| > The dealership was in this out of the way town in north central Maryland, | > but the guy was old school nice and all. He pulled 2 build sheets out, | all | > automatics, and said they'd arrive in a week. Although I really wanted a | > manual, I said to give me a call if they came in. I was pretty skeptical | > about getting a call given the demand, but less than a week went by and I | > got the call. A screaming yellow automatic was in but so was a 5-speed in | > Torch Red. Drove it on Thursday, got the finances in order Friday, and | > drove it off the lot on Saturday. And the yellow automatic was apparently | > getting sold about then too. Right after buying the car I had errands to | > run a bit to the north in PA through some nice back roads. I wanted to | > break the engine in gently so I didn't push at all, but I sure as hell | > worked the curvy roads. | >

| > I had my last muscle car back in 1984 when I was married (let that be a | > warning, by the way). My first was a '69 Roadrunner, followed by a Dart | > Sport, then a Camaro...there's no describing the deja vu. Right now my | new | > Mustang sits comfortably in the garage, and damn it if we're not having a | > snow/ice storm tonight. There goes the Sunday blast down the highway. At | > 47 it's about 3 years ahead of my plans to give myself the ultimate | birthday | > present at 50, but I don't see ever letting go of this one. Never again. | >

| > My 18 year old son has a 2004 'Stang--I'll have to post something on the | web | > site for you all soon when the sun comes back out! | >

| > One question: how well are these factory tires in the wet? | >

| > John | >

| >

| >

| |

Congrats on the new 05 GT.

Ryan

Congratulations, John. I've got a yellow 5sp manual, and I love it!

The only thing I don't like is the logo in the center of the wheels. I'd much prefer the Mustang logo as opposed to a plain jane FORD logo.

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD, on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it." Rene Descartes

Lucky you. :) How much did you pay for it? Did you pay over MSRP?

Congrats! As far as the factory tires in the wet, why don't YOU tell US?

Carl

The only thing I'm finding odd is the lack of interior trunk release. It's easy enough to use the one on the key, both in our out of the ignition, but it takes getting used to. Unless I'm missing something.

The wheel upgrade on mine works for me, although the base wheels evoke more of the memories. I didn't have much choice though getting it off the lot.

The yellow automatic companion at the dealer was awesome looking, and I kept thinking how the dealer installed stripes (apparently all are backordered until February now) would look. I think the brochure has an example. Had it not been the automatic...

You're down in Deale, eh? My old rock band played the Moose down there a few years back.

John

Will do. The 10 day forecast is clear and above freezing during the day for the next 10 days, so it may be a while. I chugged around a bit on snow cleared but still wet roads (and an uncleared 80 ft driveway) without problems.

Glad to hear it :-)

I forbid you to drive in on salted roads!

I'd love to tell work that: "I can't come in today, the roads have salt on them...".

Before buying it I thought long and hard about what I wanted from the car, and decided it's got to be my daily driver. I traded in the old family minivan and an Accord so there's no looking back now. After getting married and unloading my Camaro 22 years ago, I've lived through a succession of sedans, minivans and SUVs that bored me to tears (well, a VR6 Jetta was a lot of fun but the dealer network was CRAP. Even my son wouldn't take it off me as a freebie). That means the usual dings and what not, but there's a self serve car wash on the way home, and I'll probably be there twice a week through the winter. When it's warm it will get TLC in my driveway every weekend. I promise. ;-)

List. Woudn't come down a nickel. But it least they didn't ask a nickel more!

John

"A boy and his horse." LOL! I think you're on to something there.

Speaking of that, there's this great short sci-fi film from the 70s starring a then unknown Don Johnson called "A Boy and His Dog". Ever see it?

John

Look inside the glove box. There should be a little button

| >>The GTs are still in short supply in Maryland (I've seen ONE on the road), | >>so I finally started looking at alternatives a few weeks ago. Went to a | >>Pontiac dealer and tried out the GTO--nice and fast but just not "right". | >>After the test drive I told the salesman my heart was really in a 2005 GT | >>but couldnt' seem to find one and would probably have to factory order and | >>wait. He told me his father was a salesman at Ford another 15 miles up | >>the | >>road (further than I'd been looking) and might be able to help. I didn't | >>have much to lose so I went. | >>

| >>The dealership was in this out of the way town in north central Maryland, | >>but the guy was old school nice and all. He pulled 2 build sheets out, | >>all | >>automatics, and said they'd arrive in a week. Although I really wanted a | >>manual, I said to give me a call if they came in. I was pretty skeptical | >>about getting a call given the demand, but less than a week went by and I | >>got the call. A screaming yellow automatic was in but so was a 5-speed in | >>Torch Red. Drove it on Thursday, got the finances in order Friday, and | >>drove it off the lot on Saturday. And the yellow automatic was apparently | >>getting sold about then too. Right after buying the car I had errands to | >>run a bit to the north in PA through some nice back roads. I wanted to | >>break the engine in gently so I didn't push at all, but I sure as hell | >>worked the curvy roads. | >>

| >>I had my last muscle car back in 1984 when I was married (let that be a | >>warning, by the way). My first was a '69 Roadrunner, followed by a Dart | >>Sport, then a Camaro...there's no describing the deja vu. Right now my | >>new | >>Mustang sits comfortably in the garage, and damn it if we're not having a | >>snow/ice storm tonight. There goes the Sunday blast down the highway. At | >>47 it's about 3 years ahead of my plans to give myself the ultimate | >>birthday | >>present at 50, but I don't see ever letting go of this one. Never again. | >>

| >>My 18 year old son has a 2004 'Stang--I'll have to post something on the | >>web | >>site for you all soon when the sun comes back out! | >>

| >>One question: how well are these factory tires in the wet? | >>

| >>John | >>

| >>

| >

| > Congratulations, John. I've got a yellow 5sp manual, and I love it! | >

| > The only thing I don't like is the logo in the center of the wheels. | > I'd much prefer the Mustang logo as opposed to a plain jane FORD logo. | >

| >

| > John H | >

| > On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD, | > on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay! | >

| > "Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to | > resolve it." | > Rene Descartes | |

The title is familiar, but I am not too sure if it is something I read or if I actually saw the film.

*** I Googled it. Sounds like quite a story. Not at all what I was thinking it would be. I love old Sci-fi and didaster films in particular. I may have to hunt this one down and watch it.

Kate

| > Happy trails to you.... | >

| >

| > Kate | >

2005 | > GT | > | > but couldnt' seem to find one and would probably have to factory order | > and | > | > wait. He told me his father was a salesman at Ford another 15 miles | up | > | the | > | > road (further than I'd been looking) and might be able to help. I | > didn't | > | > have much to lose so I went. | > | >

| > | > The dealership was in this out of the way town in north central | > Maryland, | > | > but the guy was old school nice and all. He pulled 2 build sheets | out, | > | all | > | > automatics, and said they'd arrive in a week. Although I really | wanted | > a | > | > manual, I said to give me a call if they came in. I was pretty | > skeptical | > | > about getting a call given the demand, but less than a week went by | and | > I | > | > got the call. A screaming yellow automatic was in but so was a | 5-speed | > in | > | > Torch Red. Drove it on Thursday, got the finances in order Friday, | and | > | > drove it off the lot on Saturday. And the yellow automatic was | > apparently | > | > getting sold about then too. Right after buying the car I had errands | > to | > | > run a bit to the north in PA through some nice back roads. I wanted | to | > | > break the engine in gently so I didn't push at all, but I sure as hell | > | > worked the curvy roads. | > | >

| > | > I had my last muscle car back in 1984 when I was married (let that be | a | > | > warning, by the way). My first was a '69 Roadrunner, followed by a | Dart | > | > Sport, then a Camaro...there's no describing the deja vu. Right now | my | > | new | > | > Mustang sits comfortably in the garage, and damn it if we're not | having | > a | > | > snow/ice storm tonight. There goes the Sunday blast down the highway. | > At | > | > 47 it's about 3 years ahead of my plans to give myself the ultimate | > | birthday | > | > present at 50, but I don't see ever letting go of this one. Never | > again. | > | >

| > | > My 18 year old son has a 2004 'Stang--I'll have to post something on | the | > | web | > | > site for you all soon when the sun comes back out! | > | >

| > | > One question: how well are these factory tires in the wet? | > | >

| > | > John | > | >

| > | >

| > | >

| > | | > | | >

| >

| |

I was tooling around with my son yesterday and he looked in there and said "no button". I'll look myself at lunch today. Oddly the manual only refers to the button on the key though. My son has an '04--is that the location for the trunk release on that platform?

First ungracious nitpick: the cupholders are RIGHT where your arm needs to be while changing gears. Perhaps they'll engineer a slight offset to the passenger side on later models. It's not that bad if you use the holder furthest back. I'll live.

First interesting hidden feature: the sound system (Shaker 1000) adjusts volume to interior noise. Make the engine growl and the volume goes to accomodate. For now I've turned it off so I CAN hear the engine growl. Maybe for trips if you're talking to a passenger... The bass response is, well, almost unnerving! I'm a long time rocknroller, and still am at 47 (hell, I play guitar in a classic rock band) but the volumes this thing is capable of is unbelievable. It may be the sweetist car audio system I've ever experienced.

John

backordered

It's based on a short story by one of the old sci fi authors. I remember seeing it in college back in the 70s, and hadn't thought about it since until your "boy and his horse" reference. Gotta tell the wife that one--she'll understand COMPLETELY.

No, I live in Alexandria, but I keep my little boat in Deale at the Harbor Cove Marina.

I love the yellow. I agree though that I would not have bought it with the automatic. I paid more than I should have because after looking for several weeks I finally found exactly what I wanted.

Sheehy Ford offered to order the car (with a 12 -14 week wait) for $250 *under* MSRP, but I didn't want to wait or risk not getting what I wanted. The salesman at Sheehy agreed that misorders often came in.

Oh well, I got it. I love it. The only problem is deciding which daughter gets it in my will!

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD, on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it." Rene Descartes

You did better than I. I paid $1000 over, but they *did* come down from $3000 over. Now they're getting $2500 over!

I can't help you with the wet traction issue. So far we have had only snow, treated with salt, etc., and I don't take mine out of the garage.

I've had Pirelli tires on other cars, and they have had great traction, wet or dry. I don't know about these new ones, but the old ones were great.

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD, on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it." Rene Descartes