Guys, how important is the “Shelby” name to the enjoyment of your car?

[young at heart]

You do have a tendency to point out in your many posts that you own 2 Mach1’s. ( an A10 and 6 speed)Anybody who is a regular would already know that.

That’s accurate. But since I know it can sound assholeish I try hard to only do it for context. Trust me, my situation wasn’t planned but just how things wound up. I don’t hate it but don’t think it makes me cool. I guess if I did I wouldn’t have started this thread.

Sponsored

 

[svttim]

I hope you’re incorrect. I think there’s still enough of us in our 40’s and 50’s that would love to see the Boss or Cobra nameplate one last time before they totally move on from us. But I understand what you’re saying and fear you may be right, they’re definitely trying to get the next generation of Mustang enthusiast, hence all the screens and added technology and goofy name (Dark Horse. GTD doesn’t bother me). As long as they keep the V8 alive I’m a happy camper, but one last time around with the Boss and/or Cobra would be nice.

I hope your right too. But, it's going to have to be a huge change at Ford. At least we are still in the V8 game.

 

[DopamineQuest]

I think the GT500 is easily one of the best cars you can buy for the price, and seeing how cars are only getting more expensive, I don't think that will change in the future.

I think it is easily THE BEST performance car you can buy for the money, and it really isn't close. Haven't put too much thought into it but what would compare? C8, M4/3, those aren't even in the same league to me (yea im biased).

 

[MAGS1]

I think it is easily THE BEST performance car you can buy for the money, and it really isn't close. Haven't put too much thought into it but what would compare? C8, M4/3, those aren't even in the same league to me (yea im biased).

If you can get over the looks and poor visibility, the ZL1-1LE will give the 500 a run on track. That’s the only one in the same price point I can think of.

 

[Angrey]

I'm truly the antithesis of the Shelby snob. I could GAF.

I think it's kinda cool, but whatevs, it doesn't matter to me one bit. As such I've modified my car so far beyond the horror of the Shelby purists, it's a bit unfair to call it a Shelby anymore.

Not that it ever was a "true" Shelby, as it's technically a licensed product (it was made by Ford and Shelby American never touched the car beyond whatever licensing was involved and their inputs to FR on the design development).

I bought the GT350 because this is my 3rd Mustang. My first mustang was a GT. I heavily modified it. My second mustang was a Roush Stage 2. It had the wheels and body kit that I really wanted.

This time around, I heavily priced the options of buying a GT and modifying it to my liking OR buying a Shelby and modifying it.

Curiously, the licensed products (The S550 GT350 and S550 GT500) are CRAZY high value.

Meaning if you tried to buy a GT and swap or upgrade parts and components, you could NOT even come close to the price that Ford was offering it at. Not even close.

Body panels, hood, front face, splitter, rear fascia, exhaust (at the time the active exhaust was exclusive to the GT350), brakes, calipers, rotors, wheels, transmission, recaro seats, gauges, recaro steering wheel, engine, heads, radiator, torsen 3.73, upgraded axle (driver's side), motor oil cooler, trans cooler, diff cooler, suspension (magneride), heads up display and shift light, etc, etc, etc.

I could have bought a GT and then upgraded many of the non-powertrain items (like body parts, coolers, brakes, etc) but just the power train alone was a huge piece of the value.

Compare and contrast that to a Shelby American product. Outside of the exclusive parts that you can only get from SA (which at this point is the wide body kit) you can largely build your own equivalent and a starting GT and come out at the very least even with the price of an SA product. If you go with different brands you can equivocate and come out ahead.

There's NO WAY you're doing that with a GT350 and even the GT500 you'd be hard pressed to replicate either a standard trim or a CFTP car and spend less money by modifying a GT.

So to answer your question, I never assigned one single red cent to the Shelby name or the logos/badges. I like it, I don't mind wearing hats and shirts and what not, but if someone said "hey, you can have this identical car with or without the shelby name, but the Shelby costs $100 more." I'd be taking the generic car without the name.

Case in point, I damn near bought a GT key Fob because the dealer informed me (at the time) that the GT replacement FOB was $390 and the Shelby snake Fob was $440. You pay $50 extra for a damned plastic snake. I thought both prices were laughable and luckily I found the other fob. But I was about to be a Shelby GT350 driving fool with a pony on my key fob.

 

[JAJ]

[...]
For those of you who are SVT fans, as I am, there is no chance at this point it will ever return. In reality, the new Mustang was not made for anyone in this group. Its not called a Cobra, Mach 1, Boss ect for a reason. We are no longer the market target Ford is interested in. They are looking for the younger market. They are no longer interested in the historical names. Hanse, Darkhorse, GTD ect

There's definitely something happening at Ford. Just for laughs I looked at the Owner's Manual for the 2024 Mustang. The Dark Horse is included in the manual, but only a few references to it. No "Owner's Supplement" for this car. Also, it's got a mix of performance stuff that doesn't make sense to me - you can get CF rims on it but you're stuck with an MT82. The advertising sounds good but the specs make it hard to take seriously.

Update: I posted an answer to @MAGS1 's post below this. Turns out, the Owner's Manual doesn't say Tremec, the Ford website for the DH doesn't say Tremec, but the Ford Press Kit PDF file does say Tremec. Hard to figure out what's happening.

 

[MAGS1]

There's definitely something happening at Ford. Just for laughs I looked at the Owner's Manual for the 2024 Mustang. The Dark Horse is included in the manual, but only a few references to it. No "Owner's Supplement" for this car. Also, it's got a mix of performance stuff that doesn't make sense to me - you can get CF rims on it but you're stuck with an MT82. The advertising sounds good but the specs make it hard to take seriously.

DH get the Tremec as an FYI

 

[Hack]

Lots of good points in this thread. I was never interested in the S197 Shelby because the car itself wasn't special enough in my opinion. The recent GT350 was hot-rodded enough above the GT that it was special to me.

I don't like the Cobra name, because to me that name should be owned by Shelby and it belongs to a 2 seat convertible car. I don't like the name Cobra being used on a Mustang. Might as well call it a tiger, roadrunner or a challenger.

Boss has some history to it and I somewhat think it's ok for that reason, but to me it's kind of like some of those oddball 60s paint colors - doesn't quite work for me. People don't use the word boss in conversation unless they are talking about their supervisor. I like my boss, but I don't need to have a car named after him. By every account, the recent Boss 302s were good, but I'm certainly not yearning for that name to come back.

 

[svttim]

I don't like the Cobra name, because to me that name should be owned by Shelby and it belongs to a 2 seat convertible car.

100%
Since Ford acquired it the put it on engines and Torinos as well. Cool cars but not like the original

 

[308 Cal. Bullitt]

Love when others like to bolster their purchase decisions by starting these types of conversations. People are so dumb to need this type of thing to make themselves feel good.

If you didn't buy a GT350 or 500, you bought an inferior Mustang, get over it ;)

Evidence - where are there any GT350 people posting in other forums saying - DO you guys feel good that you got a nice sports car for less money and didn't pay all that money for JUST the Shelby name? Nope.

 

[young at heart]

I'm truly the antithesis of the Shelby snob. I could GAF.

I think it's kinda cool, but whatevs, it doesn't matter to me one bit. As such I've modified my car so far beyond the horror of the Shelby purists, it's a bit unfair to call it a Shelby anymore.

Not that it ever was a "true" Shelby, as it's technically a licensed product (it was made by Ford and Shelby American never touched the car beyond whatever licensing was involved and their inputs to FR on the design development).

I bought the GT350 because this is my 3rd Mustang. My first mustang was a GT. I heavily modified it. My second mustang was a Roush Stage 2. It had the wheels and body kit that I really wanted.

This time around, I heavily priced the options of buying a GT and modifying it to my liking OR buying a Shelby and modifying it.

Curiously, the licensed products (The S550 GT350 and S550 GT500) are CRAZY high value.

Meaning if you tried to buy a GT and swap or upgrade parts and components, you could NOT even come close to the price that Ford was offering it at. Not even close.

Body panels, hood, front face, splitter, rear fascia, exhaust (at the time the active exhaust was exclusive to the GT350), brakes, calipers, rotors, wheels, transmission, recaro seats, gauges, recaro steering wheel, engine, heads, radiator, torsen 3.73, upgraded axle (driver's side), motor oil cooler, trans cooler, diff cooler, suspension (magneride), heads up display and shift light, etc, etc, etc.

I could have bought a GT and then upgraded many of the non-powertrain items (like body parts, coolers, brakes, etc) but just the power train alone was a huge piece of the value.

Compare and contrast that to a Shelby American product. Outside of the exclusive parts that you can only get from SA (which at this point is the wide body kit) you can largely build your own equivalent and a starting GT and come out at the very least even with the price of an SA product. If you go with different brands you can equivocate and come out ahead.

There's NO WAY you're doing that with a GT350 and even the GT500 you'd be hard pressed to replicate either a standard trim or a CFTP car and spend less money by modifying a GT.

So to answer your question, I never assigned one single red cent to the Shelby name or the logos/badges. I like it, I don't mind wearing hats and shirts and what not, but if someone said "hey, you can have this identical car with or without the shelby name, but the Shelby costs $100 more." I'd be taking the generic car without the name.

Case in point, I damn near bought a GT key Fob because the dealer informed me (at the time) that the GT replacement FOB was $390 and the Shelby snake Fob was $440. You pay $50 extra for a damned plastic snake. I thought both prices were laughable and luckily I found the other fob. But I was about to be a Shelby GT350 driving fool with a pony on my key fob.

This post comes across as credible, well thought out and completely genuine. No BS agenda and no whistling past the graveyard. No hiding behind smart assery, just honesty.

Not always easy putting what you really think out there.

Thanks, appreciate your thoughts!

 

[Angrey]

This post comes across as credible, well thought out and completely genuine. No BS agenda and no whistling past the graveyard. No hiding behind smart assery, just honesty.

Not always easy putting what you really think out there.

Thanks, appreciate your thoughts!

In fairness to the Shelby purists, we all tend to have something in our lives that we value more than what most others do. I don't like paying for anything other than bargain basement when it comes to any flight less than 6 hours. I figure I can suck it up for 6 hours and that additional money is better spent on a nice meal or a car part or toward a new firearm or whatevs. But there are people that think that it's important enough to pay for the comfort. I'm also a large sized male, not ginormous, I have a friend who's 6'5" and I can understand why he has to buy upgraded ticks.

I tend to be a bit more of snob for things like firearms. But I'm also heavily vested in the concept of value (i.e. benefit for cost). So if you can find a cheaper way to get the same product or performance, I'm all about it. I don't put much stock or faith in brand or imagery for most things. I can afford fancy watches, and I have a couple, but I rarely wear them. I wear (in my mind) the best watch you can buy, and it's less than $600. (a Tritium illuminated Luminox chronograph that keeps time, is waterproof to 200m and tough as nails).

I buy premium stuff, but only if it actually brings premium value and performance.

So when Ford came out with the latest gen GT. I laughed. Everyone drooled and oohed and ahhhd and all I could think is, you can buy the same performance for 1/3 of the price. I feel the same way about the GTD. What an overpriced failure. Sure it's a badass car. If you gave it to me I'd happily drive it. But $300k? Seriously? No thanks. Yes, it's formidable (in truth we're all assuming it will be as I've yet to see actual performance data from any major track). But the price is formidable as well. Even value. What would have been AWESOME is if Ford developed the GTD and instead of paying the likes of Multimatic or whomever they contracted with to provide overpriced CF, Ford said they're investing in a new arm of the company to offer affordable CF and passed along the value to the customer. If they said "Hey, the cost of a transmission is the same in the rear of the car vs the front of the car" and passed along the value. That's not what they did at all. They created a "halo" car. Yawn. Not impressed or interested. Offer that car at like $140k, and now all of the sudden we're all going "sign me up."

 

[JetGray_Mach1]

I love Shelby name and the cars they have put out. That snake emblem is the best. I was sucked into the snake back in 03 with that terminator badassery. Fast forward to today, I really considered that awesome GT350 but since I wanted a new car as a daily driver I went with the Mach 1 (Plus I was always fan of the Mach 1 name as well and fell in love with the HP FJG M1).

I even considered the GT500 but the lack of 6 speed was a deal breaker and I did not want to drive it daily, that will be perhaps be down the line. I really wanted an awesome drivers car with a 6 speed. I am hoping to add 350 and 500 to my collection in the near future.

 

[dpAtlanta]

To the OP…. Why is this important to you?

 

[Mjc1241]

My question is this; is the "rebirth" of both the GT350 and GT500 similar in application to what the originals were supposed to be? Now the current GT500 was built to handle much better than what the original GT500 was set up to be, but the 2016-2020 GT350 was closer in spirit to the original IMHO. I could be wrong. Taking the Shelby name out of the equation, was the intent of the spirit of the cars upheld when they were resurrected?

Sponsored