Ford To Spend 87 1/2 Billion On SVT

Another nice ride they offer in Australia is the Falcon. You can even buy it with a DOHC 5.4 that has something like 390 HP IIRC. Too bad they don't offer them here, cause I would love to have one of those beasts. Erik D. '94 white lightning

It's had me depressed for years and the aussie line up just keeps getting better as time goes on.

The aussie fairlane and falcon are what I am refering to when I say that I hope GM making a holden into a GTO will inspire ford to do bring over their aussie line up. And ford doesn't even have to change the names, they are what they are, 2003 falcon and fairlane. Just like (other than the steering wheel being on the wrong side) they would be in the US if the name plates had stayed in use.

Originally the car was rumoured to be priced around $100K. But now it's going for $125K. I'd bet Ford will make enough profit selling them.

I vaguely remember reading something to that effect. But I'd also bet that if the car is a hit, Ford will find a way to keep producing it.

otay

We'll see. Let's revisit next year.

I just don't see your trend. Unless your trend is the '95 R, 2000 R and now the Ford GT. Yes, the two Mustang Rs models were irritating, but, again, I never expected the GT to be obtainable or affordable, even as a used car. However, again, EVERYTHING else Ford makes, or has made lately, is affordable and obtainable. 4-5 year-old Cobras are killer dealers. You can get 'em for about 40% off, and if you look around you can find 'em pampered and garage-kept.

I think it would also (besides punching them out for at least a few years) take a few versions of the Ford GT to get it to the affordable/obtainable status. Maybe like a normally aspirated (NA) DOHC 4.6 version, a blown DOHC 4.6 version, and a NA 5.4 version. That's what you're hinting at, right?

Who else has the high teens to mid $30K's covered like Ford? And with which models?

We need an CAFE exempt for performance cars like they have for trucks.

You didn't specify and I assumed (muscle car) horsepower. Sorry, suspension guy. That's because I'm on the other side of the fence and could care less about the IRS. Give me big brakes, a decent ride, and lots of HP, and I'm happy.

Me too. That's why I'd wait to pick up a Terminator or Mach 1 until about '08.

A friend of mine went that route with a used turbo Porshe. He loved it except for the trips to the dealer or mechanic for service. Repair costs for the turbo Porshe were about as easy to take as a raping with a cylindrical wire brush. But that was in the mid 90's, maybe service costs for these cars has gotten better.

Why? The Bullit and Mach 1 are both good performance cars. Why wouldn't you be interested in them. It isn't the SVT badge really that's important to you, is it?

Plus, the Mach 1's DOHC motor is, in my book, more than a tweak to a Mustang GT.

You're not into playing hard ball. You want it shopping-at-Wal-Mart simple.

I mentioned used because you mentioned getting harder to get/obtain cars (BMWs, Porshes) by buying used. I just don't understand why you don't want to use this same practice to get an SVT product. My guess is that you're wanting more refinement and better suspension than a Mustang offers.

That would be the '95 & 2000 R models.

Handling again. I guess if your daily commutes consists of cutting countless apexes then you'll need a premium chassis setup. Mine... stoplights and highways, so give me big brakes, a decent ride, and lots of HP.

We shall see. We'll revisit in a year or so.

You know it's all supply and demand. There wasn't much of a demand for the Camarobirds, so Ford was pretty much controled the supply for this market. But, you also know that if GM and Chrysler would build something desirable in the $20- low $30G Ford would have to compete. In other words, availiblity would go up, and prices would go down.

That's why I'll be watching to see how the new GTO affects Cobra sales.

Patrick '93 Cobra '83 LTD

Unfortunately, you're probably right. What's wrong with people?

It's called, A/C with self-adjusting climate control, cruise control, power windows/locks/mirrors, leather seating, moon roof, heated seats, stereo with 18 speakers and sub-woofer, 47 cup holders, GPS navigation, DVD player, personal computers and Play Stations for each passenger, sattelite dish, mini refrigerator/freezer, wet bar, jucuzzi, and king size bed. You know... the essential stuff everyone NEEDS these days.

That's okay, a 350-horse version would work.

Yeah, for a race track only (old) car, that's a good choice. But not for a late-model.

But they're not emission legal. Again, they're awesome for an old car, but not a late-model. I'd want my car to be resellable to anyone/anywhere without having to do an engine swap.

Um, the '65 Vette didn't come with a Ram Jet 502, nor did the '65 Rat motor have 510 horsepower.

More choices would be nice. And I prefer normally aspirated. However, boost is hard to beat. If a blown 4.6 (even without the valve covers ever being taken off) can throw a 3,800 pound car down the track in 10 seconds, I'd hate to see what a blown 5.4 could do. That's why, if someone races one, the new Ford GT will be WICKED fast!!

It is scary. And scarier yet, is Nitrous Pete's stock long-block 281 ('03 Cobra) now making about 750.

Patrick '93 Cobra '83 LTD

I'll repeat, it has to make *ENOUGH* profit. You are naive to think ford will build more than the few they said. I'll be surprised if they make that many. Ford will make it's point with the GT and then stop making it.

Ford will not be making a car in this class year in and year out. Their track record says they are going to do exactly what they say they are going to do with the ford GT. Make a few then break the mold.

No. What I am refering to is that the car looses value each year because ford has a new and improved model on the show room floor. This cycle goes on for 20-30 years until the price bottoms out and people want them again because they are classic. Now this *USED* to apply to low volume cars that were made for a year or two before the cars-as-investment boom of the '89 and early 90s. Now it seems these cars go directly to collector status. But for cars that are made every year, say like a higher end porsche, it's just like with regular mustangs, the prices fall, just as you said with the regular cobra. That's because ford makes better new cobras every year or two.

The question was the size of the performance line.

No, cafe should be repealed.

Then I'd just resto mod my maverick and be able to do practically anything I wanted. emissions tests be damned.

I would do it myself, just as with any other car. But I wouldn't be looking for a daily driver, I have perfectly good '97 GT for that and a winter beater to keep it out of the salt. But if I am going on the used car adventure I'm making it worth it. That means classics, oddities, luxury sports sedans, and exotics. (My other option is a 1970s ford falcon from austrailia, really just a odd looking torino in many respects, but it would boggle people's minds)

From a product development standpoint they are.

Don't make it sound manly for falling for the same marketing crap that women often fall for. There's nothing 'hard ball' about it. It's simple. Ford limits the supply so each dealer can easily find suckers to pay their premiums on each one they get. Anyone who plays 'hard ball' on price gets shown the door. (outside unusual economic circumstances)

I am not going to play their assinine game to pay hand-made-car-rarity premiums for what should be nothing more than a option line item. Do you think people had to put up with this crap to a 428SCJ mach 1 back in 1969? No, they just put down what they wanted, ordered it, and paid for it.

The SVT cobra isn't enough of an improvement over a basic mustang to warrant playing the games to get one. Maybe if impressing one's friends with being one of the 'lucky few' is a factor. For me it's the car. The cobra is good step up in the mustang line, but it's still a mustang and I'm not jumping through hoops to *BUY* one. I'd consider a cobra if ford SVT dealers have changed their ways when new car time comes around and the '05 ups are decent cars. But if it's gonna be the same the car is too precious to test drive crap or even touch crap I got before then I'll be passing.

Yeah, I see the straight line crowd all the time. They like to ride my bumper through cop-infested-low-speed-limit areas only to vanish in my mirror at the first curve/ramp/turn. Fastest I ever get to go is maybe 85-90mph around here with all the morons on the road and when it's cop infested even less. Around town it's no more than

So yeah, after 200 horse it really doesn't make alot of difference anymore, especially since I out grew the stop light drag races. (and in one of the few I've bothered in the last oh 5 years with took a lightning to a draw, yeah I know I shouldn't got my ass handed to me but I didn't, just had to ease up when his lane ended to let him in). It might be nice to have more hp, but it's sinking money into something I really won't be using.

For the straightline-only crowd the camarbird was the top of the pecking order. Even for autocross they did better than the mustang stock, if for no other reason just the acceleration in the short straights.

Ford will probably just axe it if the GTO so much as makes em sell it for sticker.