Why is the Shelby Super Snake so expensive?

[Jstang23]

I think few would argue that the SA products don't hold their value better than a modified car, especially when any dealer is concerned, but that's more of a back end consideration.

It's like, "Should we buy this 5 bedroom luxury home for $1.5M or buy this 4 bedroom semi-custom home for $500k." It's about how much money you're sinking into it (the value). An argument (weaker) could be made that investing in the more expensive property will yield better resale later, but cars are generally terrible capital investments and depreciate severely over the first few decades (especially when you consider insurance, maintenance and recurring costs).

The real question is whether you feel that the upgrades are worth the $140k price tag. I'd argue no. The GT500 in stock form (to me) is better and still carries the Shelby name (although Shelby purists turn their nose up at the licensed product).

From a strictly PERFORMANCE measurement of value, (which is largely where I speak from) the Super Snake is very low value. Sure, you get a lot, but it COSTS A LOT. True, you get the uniqueness and the notoriety of having something few have, but in terms of pure performance, it's a low value purchase (only because it's so expensive).

I hear you, but the SA cars absolutely hold better value than a modified car. It has to do with a lot of politics, which shop performed the mods/ diy modifications, warrantied parts, etc. Not to mention a dealer will give you close to the same value of the parts "added" to the base GT to make the SS. I agree that the SS is very expensive and performance may not be as good as the price.

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[BombZombie]

It seems I owe this thread a bit of an apology...

My experience seeing a stock SS beat at stock GT500 on the track was not exactly true. I reached out to the owner of the SS and asked was it truly stock and he said no. He put the steeda stop the hop kit on and had Cup 2 Rs on. He also had track pads installed. It did beat the gt500 but I believe the upgrades made this a bit of a unfair race. I apologize as my experience did not have all the facts.

Funny, those are exactly what I have on my Super Snake (plus some extra stuff) to fix the issues I experienced when pushing the car when I first got it. I also had mine retuned for, what I feel is, safer and better power delivery.

 

[Cux211]

A friend of mine has a super snake and they most certainly are supercharged and the biggest hp mustang ever built and fairly rare so $$$$$

 

[IPOGT]

I hear you, but the SA cars absolutely hold better value than a modified car. It has to do with a lot of politics, which shop performed the mods/ diy modifications, warrantied parts, etc. Not to mention a dealer will give you close to the same value of the parts "added" to the base GT to make the SS. I agree that the SS is very expensive and performance may not be as good as the price.

Marketing is perception. That’s what sold “Pet Rock”.

 

[BombZombie]

Marketing is perception. That’s what sold “Pet Rock”.

I'd buy a Shelby American Wide Body pet rock for sure

 

[GrayS550]

A friend of mine has a super snake and they most certainly are supercharged and the biggest hp mustang ever built and fairly rare so $$$$$

I asked about the SS at my dealership and was told its priced the way it is because of the Shelby exclusivity and its rarity. Also, apparently the SS is pretty high in demand, so that affects the price as well.

 

[Cobra99]

the biggest hp mustang ever built

You sure of that?

 

[Dharri21]

The reason Super Snakes are so expensive is because they are collector cars. They are in a different market than pure performance markets. The people in the collector car market move these things around like Pokemon cards and it is big business and they are willing to spend big bucks to keep the value up. It's no different than Rolex watches. Nobody collects cheap casio watches. Home modified GT mustangs are great cars but not collectable. If you are worried about the value proposition then you are not in the collector car market and I hate to say it but probably can't afford to be in that market. Super Snakes will hold a decent value over time especially if they are very low mile cars. Look at Code Red $200K+ over the price of the car and sold out in no time. Shelby isn't even building them.

 

[Angrey]

The reason Super Snakes are so expensive is because they are collector cars. They are in a different market than pure performance markets. The people in the collector car market move these things around like Pokemon cards and it is big business and they are willing to spend big bucks to keep the value up. It's no different than Rolex watches. Nobody collects cheap casio watches. Home modified GT mustangs are great cars but not collectable. If you are worried about the value proposition then you are not in the collector car market and I hate to say it but probably can't afford to be in that market. Super Snakes will hold a decent value over time especially if they are very low mile cars. Look at Code Red $200K+ over the price of the car and sold out in no time. Shelby isn't even building them.

There's plenty of people with more money than sense. But I agree, at certain levels, people stop caring about "value" or performance and make fairly dumb purchase decisions. You can tape a banana on a white poster board and display it at an art festival and sell it for stupid money because some idiot with money believes it's precious because he/she has the only one.

If you're buying ANY car as a "collector" item, then performance and value go right out the window.

 

[s2ms]

That's not exactly true. Ford paid SA good money to use the Shelby name and logo/brand/image. Some other gurus can weigh in on just how much Ford Racing involved SA in the development input, but once "Shelby" sold their name to go on the car, they get credit (and or criticism) for it.

It's no different than when Trump sells his name for a Trump property or when Dewalt puts their branding on a product. Dewalt makes very little of what they sell, it's manufactured by someone else and sold/licensed to them and sold under their name/brand.

It would be interesting to know how much involvement SAI had in developing the current GT350, I would suspect minimal at best. Guess I'm just an old school purist, as far as I'm concerned SAI's involvement with the GT350 and GT500 ended during the 1967 model year when Ford took over production.

 

[LetItRide1978]

As long as you like it and enjoy it then it’s not a “dumb” purchase decision. How much money have we all spent on mods for our cars? Not the smartest purchase decisions but we enjoy them.

 

[K4fxd]

There's plenty of people with more money than sense.

This, and one man's junk is another man's gold.

Typically people who buy SuperSnakes are the same people who buy Ferrari's and Lambo's, because they can.

 

[Dharri21]

Most people buy SuperSnakes because they hold their value better than a modded out GT. I can pay $120K for a SuperSnake speedster and put it in a bag in a warehouse and in 2 years pull it out sell it for >$120K. I could buy a GT and mod it out to 1000Hp and put it in a warehouse for 2 years and then I would have to remove the mods to sell the car for a 20% loss and try and sell the parts on forums as 2-year-old parts. Were's the value in that.

 

[Angrey]

Most people buy SuperSnakes because they hold their value better than a modded out GT. I can pay $120K for a SuperSnake speedster and put it in a bag in a warehouse and in 2 years pull it out sell it for >$120K. I could buy a GT and mod it out to 1000Hp and put it in a warehouse for 2 years and then I would have to remove the mods to sell the car for a 20% loss and try and sell the parts on forums as 2-year-old parts. Were's the value in that.

I buy cars to use them and enjoy them. If you're looking for something that's going to give you an ROI, I could point you in the direction of dozens of other ventures with better returns, less risk and overhead, etc.

 

[Cux211]

You sure of that?

Ok I’ll bite what other mustang is factory close to 900hp honestly asking if there is one I’ve never seen it

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