Mustang thoughts

bitbucket wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@sverige.freeshell.org:

If I were getting a Cobra, I'd definitely want to own it as opposed to "renting" it for a while. Another option is to look for a used one. You can save some decent $$ on a 1 or 2 year old car. 2 cents.

Joe Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

** so maybe i've hit my mid-life crisis. or whatever. but i decided that ** for the first time in my life that i want some serious american muscle. ** ...married, kids... you know.

About to hit 40, eh? Welcome back to the dark side. Busting out of that kids/wife/marraige bullshit is like waking up from a 20-year coma.

If you're hoping the 'Little Woman' will kick your butt to the curb, buying a Mustang will set it in motion very quickly. Here's the deal. Unless you're now single, expect a serious ration of shit. The 'Little Woman' will be jealous of the car, and won't let up until the day you die. The pointless nagging will be endless, like a mosquito trapped in both ears for all eternity. Every time you cut a check for a car payment, registration or an insurance payment, the feminine noise will get even louder, as she realizes that she's somehow missing out on some of that cash.

Worse, out of sheer jealousy, many co-workers will start treating you like an AIDS carrier. Some will want to damage the car while parked. You will probably want to use the beater to head this off.

You will notice that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE on the road will tailgate you very closely. Window tint will start looking good, just so that tailgaters will stop invading your privacy. Everyone will want to race at every damn stoplight - even ugly, angry 'Burb women with kids in their minivan or Sport Ute. Cops will follow you every chance they get. And unless you have a locked garage to park it at night, expect to replace wheels and airbags on a regular basis.

About the car , you should consider buying over leasing. The money you quoted turns into $649/mo. when all is said and done, which is within $100/mo. of purchasing. You *will* want to do a few mods, trust me. (real SFC's at the very least and perhaps a better shifter.) 15k miles/year sounds like a lot, but you'll be surprised how many miles you'll put on a car that you really like to drive.

There isn't a hellova lot of modding I'd do on an '04 Cobra or Mach One, other than strengthening the frame a bit. Don't sweat having to turn into a mechanical genius if you buy - just drive an enjoy the hell out of it.

-JD

________________________________________________________ | | | 1998 Laser Red GT RAMFM Member Since 1997 | | M-5400-A Suspension http:/207.13.104.8/users/jdadams || Subframe Connectors & Seat Bracing, Strut Tower Brace || 4-point K-frame Brace, Tremec T-45 & OEM 3.27:1 Gears ||________________________________________________________|

Where in the hell do you live? Nobody treats me like that around here =). Except last night... I was going out for some fast food w/ a buddy of mine & this 94 Trans Am pulls up... gives me a really dirty look.. it was an automatic & he starts spinning his rear tires.. barely able to so I was smiling & laughing to myself.. he's like "that's funny ain't it?" in a real hick ass voice.. so I said "yeah it's pretty damn hilarious from over here." & he's like "yeah it's gonna be even funnier when you get your ass kicked." I just laughed harder & he got pissed... light turned green & he turned left, I went straight. Nothing happened... just a mouthy SOB.

-Mike

When I purchased my 98 cobra I told my wife (confidently) that I would drive it very little, and use the beater 87 toyota longbed pickup to make the daily commute to and from work (about 80 miles a day round trip in L.A. traffic) She was 100% supportive of my buying the cobra.

(When we first met I was rebuilding a 65 GT mustang. I am still not sure if it is my dashing looks (laughing hysterically) or my fondness for mustangs that attracted her to me. :) )

(Laughing)

That 'drive the beater and leave the Cobra at home' idea didn't last long. The cobra was so much fun to drive, and had such great maneuverability and brakes that I found that I could not control myself and began driving it daily. I still get a *@#% eating grin when I think of driving that car. The cobra saved my arse from having a collision multiple times due to its nimble handling, quick stopping and excellent performance. I even took the cobra on a road trip through the sierra and to yosemite. If it wasn't for the stopping power of those huge brakes, I would have surely run over a kid who jumped out of the forest onto the road along side Tenaya Lake. Talk about a Darwin Award candidate! Thank God I was maintaining the speed limit, but even so had that happened while I was driving my F-150, I am 100% sure that I could not have stopped in time. And a panic stop in the F-150 may likely have caused me to end up going off the road. If you have been on Hwy 120 you know that going off the road is not something you are likely to survive.

I finally sold that wonderful car to help send our kid to school and get ourselves into a new house. When I drove it into the lot to sell it the guy about died because it looked like it did the day I first got it. I have never had a vehicle that retained its value like the Cobra.

Man, that laser red paint sure was nice too. I called it 'pull me over and beat me like Rodney King red' but I never really had a problem with harassment from the police. Of course I didnt drag race around town (very much.....) and I am a nerdy looking white guy.

The 04's seem even nicer mechanically speaking (my thoughts about the changes to the body style not withstanding). But with my 'self control experience' I would humbly suggest that a lease that only allows 15K miles per year might seem OK at first but end up being too few in the end if you live where the climate allows driving a car of that type year round. It may take a crow bar to release your grip from the wheel!

I cant imagine having a pony in the garage and not being able to drive it!

As far as problems with theft / vandalism go:

I had my convertible top cut once but they didnt find anything to steal in the car and my comprehensive insurance covered it less a $100 deductible. They cut my wife's 98 GT mustang top at the same time. Our insurance company was not happy but they cant raise comprehensive rates based upon a single claim. GET COMPREHENSIVE!

I had a gang tag carved into a fender once when the vehicle was parked in a sketchy part of L.A. during lunch. Again the $100 comprehensive covered the re-painting of the fender, and hood and door to feather in the paint job. When the job was done even I could not detect any evidence of it.

Over the same time period (4+years), my toyota truck was broken into over 4 times and suffered more damage as evidently the thieves do not understand how to remove a stereo from the dash using the 4 easily accessible screws. Instead they appear to prefer gnawing electronics out using their bare teeth or power tools. My neighborhood wasn't *that* bad, believe it or not, but on one occasion it really looked like Godzilla had 'made love' to my dash board.

The only thing that stopped the vandalism was installing a proximity sensor to the alarm that would sound a warning or activate the alarm if (in the case of the cobra) someone waved their hand over the convertible top and (in the case of the beater toyota) stuck their hand into the cab. I will never have a car alarm without a proximity sensor.

Get the car! and let me take it around the block. I havn't had a chance to drive one of the new supercharged cobras. I promise not to flog it....

Too badly anyhow....

Steve

Heh.

I must be married to the only woman in the Midwest who could see a flaming red/orange Cobra-clone Mustang convertible sitting on the lot, and say "Heeeey...now *that* one looks nice!"

We owned it within the hour.

Of course, she's now had to go back to driving the old Subaru Outback, before she killed herself or got a mega-buck speeding ticket!

:-)

(She flies airplanes, sky-dives, and rides motorcycles too, by the way...)

You, my friend, need to move to America.

I get those all the time at lights......they start brake torquing the wheels, and I rev the engine like I'm stupid enough to race them, then, when the light turns green, they squeal their front rubber, and I turn right.........LOL.......I'm too old (44) and not stuipd enough to race in the streets......these idiots around here don't have a clue what a red light is......and I work for law enforcement and would be too embarassed to get stopped......not that I'd get a ticket, but I don't want the hassle.......if they want to race, take it to a track.

On Sun, 27 Jun 2004 11:30:08 -0700, JD Adams wrote: | ** so maybe i've hit my mid-life crisis. or whatever. but i decided that | ** for the first time in my life that i want some serious american muscle. | ** ...married, kids... you know. | | About to hit 40, eh? Welcome back to the dark side. Busting out of that | kids/wife/marraige bullshit is like waking up from a 20-year coma.

36 not 40. ugh. i'm affected early! i am married, but have no kids, and never will. my wife is actually cool with it all -- that simply is not an issue. the issue may be who gets to drive it most! she has a honda civic, and you'd think she was in that movie `the fast and the furious' the way she beats on it. of course no mods, though!

| About the car , you should consider buying over leasing. The money you | quoted turns into $649/mo. when all is said and done, which is within $100/mo. | of purchasing. You *will* want to do a few mods, trust me. (real SFC's at | the very least and perhaps a better shifter.) 15k miles/year sounds like a | lot, but you'll be surprised how many miles you'll put on a car that you | really like to drive.

i've given it a lot of thought today, and i am now thinking an outright purchase of the mach 1 is the way for me to go. seriously, that cobra is a lot of fscking car, and i just might not be able to stop from dropping loads in my shorts. not to mention killing myself. although i don't know if the mach 1 will cut down on the stop light racing factor. but i don't intend to do any street racing...

that stock shifter on the mach 1 has a fairly long throw to it -- i agree, i'll definitely want to do something there...

Hmmm, not sure how to take that. What were you trying to convey?

I am living in the USA. So are the thieves that kept stealing stuff out of my truck.

Steve

Jay H>>Over the same time period (4+years), my toyota truck was broken into

Steve, I'm talking about REAL America. You may live in the continental United States, but most of that ain't "America" anymore.

Where I live, we don't lock our cars. I park my Mustang with the top down, on a Saturday night, downtown -- and no one messes with it. There is no crime to speak of, because people respect one another here.

Believe it or not, there are parts of this country that still resemble the America we all once knew.

Now I understand what you were getting at. I mistook your comment for something it wasn't.

I would love to not have to be concerned in the slightest about criminal activity.

Where is it that you live that is so wonderful? What do the police do there with all that spare time on their hands?

Steve

Jay H>>Hmmm, not sure how to take that. What were you trying to convey? >>

His signature:

Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA

2000 Mustang Convertible Pathfinder N56993 "Your Aviation Destination"

-Mike

98 Mustang GT

Come visit sometime!

;-)

They bust college students for public intoxication... That alone brings in between $2K and $4K per weekend!

(Iowa City is home to the University of Iowa. 35,000 18 - 22 years old out on a Saturday night is something to behold!)

Sounds like the University of South Carolina. Cops love to get the students for public intoxication and jaywalking. The jaywalking charge is $149.00 alone. Since college students are plentifull and stupid, the cops have a great racket going.

You WON'T regret it. I still enjoy that whine and the instant kick in the rear when you floor it every day !

Don't think so. I think the svt team has been busy with the Lightning. Why would they no offer it ?

I'd buy it but that's just me I guess. Remove NO-SPAM from email address when replying

** Where in the hell do you live? Nobody treats me like that around here =).

Hey man, this crap could only happen in............

CALIFORNIA!

-JD

-JD

________________________________________________________ | | | 1998 Laser Red GT RAMFM Member Since 1997 | | M-5400-A Suspension http:/207.13.104.8/users/jdadams || Subframe Connectors & Seat Bracing, Strut Tower Brace || 4-point K-frame Brace, Tremec T-45 & OEM 3.27:1 Gears ||________________________________________________________|

** Steve, I'm talking about REAL America. You may live in the continental ** United States, but most of that ain't "America" anymore. ** ** Where I live, we don't lock our cars. I park my Mustang with the top down, ** on a Saturday night, downtown -- and no one messes with it. There is no ** crime to speak of, because people respect one another here. ** ** Believe it or not, there are parts of this country that still resemble the ** America we all once knew.

AMEN!!!!! JC, out here in California, where life ** S U C K S **, this is the bullshit we have to put up with, just to own a decent car. Every baggy-ass, dipshit gang-member wannabe is constantly cutting into Mustangs around here, and even in this very small, 1-horse town I live in, you absolutely MUST lock your car in a garage at night, or it won't be there in the morning, guaranteed.

Iowa is nice. It's been a few years since I have visited, but don't think for a moment that it has left my mind. I plan to bolt from this POS state next year, and I don't think I can run far or fast enough to get the hell out of here. And it won't take me long to say GOODBYE either!

-JD

p.s. Oh yeah, CALIFORNIA S---S--S-SUCKS!!!

---- snip a fairly common first post ---- Well, I say...

HELL YES, GET THE COBRA!!!!

With that in mind, I'd go about it in a completely different manner. Keep an eye out for a really cherry 03 or 04 with plenty of factory warranty left. There are some nice deals out there if you're patient. You'll pay WAY less for the car but it won't be any less fun.

There's still a gazillion great financing deals out there and you can lock a good rate with any number of sites. Last year I bought an 01 Ranger and ended up using Capital One Auto, pre-approved check deal. The rate was extremely competitive and the deal was smooth as can be.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tom

1998 GT Coupe 5-spd. Bright Atlantic Blue K&N FIPK, Tri-Ax, 3.73's, FRPP Coated Shorties, SpeedCal, P&P 2K Heads, 2K Intake, Bassani X-Pipe and Cat-Back, Subframe Connectors, JMS Chip, Eagle Alloy Wheels