Hertz is a rental car company here in the U.S., can rent anything from kias to cars like this. Still, it better have more than just 25hp more than the standard v8.
I love the new Mustangs and I still cannot get over the price!! "The 2007 Ford Shelby GT will be priced a starting MSRP of $36,970", this works out at 18,873GBP which is astonishing especially for a Shelby GT as far as i am concerned ... what do you lot reckon about this?
I also reckon if i was going to import one, it would be one of the only American cars i would bother with, except for the Dodge Challenger due in 08
Last but not least, it looks excellent in white!!
/Johnathan
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I love the new Mustangs and I still cannot get over the price!! "The 2007 Ford Shelby GT will be priced a starting MSRP of $36,970", this works out at 18,873GBP which is astonishing especially for a Shelby GT as far as i am concerned ... what do you lot reckon about this?
I also reckon if i was going to import one, it would be one of the only American cars i would bother with, except for the Dodge Challenger due in 08
Last but not least, it looks excellent in white!!
/Johnathan
I say this is overpriced, and you may have this confused with the ford shelby gt500, which retails at like 44k usd, thats the one that 5th gear reviewed. This one isnt special enough to be paying 8k usd more over a regular v8 mustang. They are just trying to hype the car up because it says shelby on it, which recently doesnt mean much. Like the shelby gt500, sure you get 500hp supercharged v8, but it weights in at 3900 lbs, I mean what type of sports car is that? The mustang is so beloved around the world because its been one of the longest selling cars ever, not because its a pure sports car. People here aren't really fond of that new gt500 just because of the curb weight, the predecessor Mustang SVT cobra is much more favored, which came as a 2003-2004 model with a forged bottom end from the facotory and a roots type blower producing 390hp/390tq and a IRS & 6 speed manual trans (t56, same as vipe,corvette, monaro/gto,camaro), with minimal mods, they were able to make beasts of these cars, and they weighted in at 3600lbs, which is 300lbs less but still heavy, it was the only production mustang to have a IRS i believe, which actually made it turn well. The whole car was based around a mustang but almost everything inside it was different, from the suspension to the bumpers to the endine to the wheels etc... heres some info about it
if you were going to import any mustang, make it that one. They are usually referred to as "terminator" because in the early development stages, ford nicknamed the project "terminator".
But if I had it my way, the new "performance" version of the mustang would have the 4.0 straight 6 turbo out of the aussie ford fpv typhoon (which produces like 362hp and 406tq or something) mated to their 6 speed rwd trans, and sell that as a factory racer. Sorry to make it so long, but the new mustangs don't really make great sports cars, but cruisers, although you can make them go fast in a straight line, thats bout it.
Obviously you guys will have a better idea of the range of cars and the performance specs available and then subsequently value for money, as they are on your doorstep. I must admit that i may have actually got the Ford Shelby GT and the Shelby GT500 mixed up! I do recall Top Gear here reviewing the GT500 (i think), on the Isle of Man, along side the Holden Monaro! (the monaro came out as the winner by the way)..
I still think though for an iconic sports car like the Mustang (and i use 'sports car' in the more loose sense), its a great deal for importing. The exchange rates make it pretty desirable, and i am stunned there are not more on our roads to be honest. I also dont know if you can buy them directly here? The 2007 Shelby GT at £18k is still superb, and even the GT500 only comes in at £22k ... i mean thats about the same cost as a Jaguar X-Type which i would bet can not take a corner either (in stock trim).
As far as 'American Cars' are concerned, i am not the biggest fan in the world. I love the V8's, and i have owned a Formula 400 Firebird (which i bought for the engine), but as far as corners go, i dont think even the corvettes do very well. I agree that it would be better as a cruising highway car than an out and out sports car, but i think if i had the option of some boring executive car for that price and a 2007 shelby GT, I would take the Ford!
Remember we Europeans are used to little tin cans with very small 4 pot engines, so the sight of a big American muscle car makes us do all sorts of uncontrolled dribbling and falling over!
:#) Johnathan
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I still think though for an iconic sports car like the Mustang (and i use 'sports car' in the more loose sense), its a great deal for importing. The exchange rates make it pretty desirable, and i am stunned there are not more on our roads to be honest. I also dont know if you can buy them directly here? The 2007 Shelby GT at £18k is still superb, and even the GT500 only comes in at £22k ... i mean thats about the same cost as a Jaguar X-Type which i would bet can not take a corner either (in stock trim).
18k for a Ford Mondeo or 18k for a 'Tang.
Tough choice! :-)
Well, out of all the american "muscle cars" I think the corvette can actually turn well. If top gear did a test about the two cas its mustve been a writeup on their website since I know it aint coming back on till january 28th. 5th gear did a video review of it though and the only reason a car like the gt500 can turn is the massive torque and horsepower, its available almost anywhere in the rev range and due to that the car will swing sideways or want to pull through a turn just because of that, but its not a valid reason to do so. In your terms it sound like a bang for the buck, or bang for your quid/pound, but I've heard that a gt500 wil run about 40k pounds when imported and taxed etc.. You see, I've been seeing how cars are priced here and anywhere else, and notice that we pay the least, I am not sure how the U.K. economy is bankrolled or whatnot (I know current exhange rates are something like 1.80 us dollars to 1 british pound) and maybe you guys just make more money and it just seems like you pay more for your cars, but consider this, a porsche 911 turbo will run you about 90k pounds in the UK, which should be around 162k USD, here the starting price for the same car is 115k USD, same goes for the vauhxuall monaro (our pontiac gto), right now a 2006 (last model year we get them) gto will run for under 30k usd, while you guys would pay around 30-35k pounds, which would be 54-60k usd equivalent here, given though that our gto's are not as dearly equipped as your monaros are, I think all car companies underprice their cars here just so that americans will buy them, because if they don't, we won't buy them, and they can afford to loose on the price just so that we buy them because the car market is so huge of here, that they'll be crazy not to. Although we do get screwed on some of Europe's/japan's finest, like the audi S3, its only a myth here, our A3's only come in 4 door, or the lancer evo, our standard evo model come with a 5 sped trans, only the MR comes in 6 speed, while the rest of the world (or most of the mitsu market outside of the US) gets the evo standard with a 6 speed, and even some countries get higher hp models like the FQ series from the dealership. Another thing is, I think ford should really bring that fpv typhoon from Australia over here, have you seen that thing? Its a beast! Also, we don't get such a thing as a mondeo over here (besides the jaguar based x-type), I saw the new mondeo in the Casino ROyale movie and it looks damned swell for a ford I must say. But enough with my ramblings, bottom line, if you are going to consider any type of mustang importation for whatever personal reason, get the 2003-2004 SVT Cobra, the only IRS (independent rear suspension) mustang produced, which actually makes it turn better, supercharger from the factory, with 5k in mods can net you 500 rwhp, has a strong 6 speed trans, one of the best mustangs ever produced IMO.
Also, we don't get such a thing as a mondeo over here (besides the jaguar based x-type), I saw the new mondeo in the Casino ROyale movie and it looks damned swell for a ford I must say.
Excellent post.
Just to be picky the Ford in Casino Royale is the Focus ST not the Mondeo. They're quite decent little motors.
Mondeo is the equivilent of the Taurus I believe.
The test i saw on top gear was on TV and was done by Clarkson. For the life in me though i cannot find a copy on the internet (it was a while ago, so not the 2007 shelby GT). Like i say i am unsure which mustang he reviewed, but it was very good.
There were also some reviews of the Shelby Stang and a model prepped by Rouche?? The outcome was that although the shelby had more power because of a bigger s/charger, the Rouch had better handling too which meant it knew what a corner was when it came to one. This again brought the shelby out on the bottom as it did against the monaro VXR
The 2004 SVT Cobra is nice, i really like those, although i am slightly knocked about the IRS comment, thats truly shocking! Importation is something i have thought about for a while now (although i never really looked into it), and i just dont want to go the old 'bring a skyline in from japan' route! I know certain states have problems with importing skylines, but here its a popular thing .. or at least generally anything Jap with a turbo!
I think a few lads on here run SVT Cobra's
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Excellent post.
Just to be picky the Ford in Casino Royale is the Focus ST not the Mondeo. They're quite decent little motors.
Mondeo is the equivilent of the Taurus I believe.
The base for our Mondeo is also basically what a Jag X-Type is. I used to love showing customers the Ford badge stamped on their jaguar gearboxes in the workshop.
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There were also some reviews of the Shelby Stang and a model prepped by Rouche?? The outcome was that although the shelby had more power because of a bigger s/charger, the Rouch had better handling too which meant it knew what a corner was when it came to one. This again brought the shelby out on the bottom as it did against the monaro VXR
The Rouche vs Shelby was on his latest DeeVeeDee the good, the bad and the ugly. Or something along those lines.
The Rouche vs Shelby was on his latest DeeVeeDee the good, the bad and the ugly. Or something along those lines.
Ha I just got that, I gotta watch it. Roush is an American factory tuner, meaning that you can buy a rousch modified mustang from the dealership with warantee. And the car in casino royale is a ford modeo, it was the 2008 ford mondeo prototype (only one in its existence valued at a couple million usd), one of the main reasons that it was in the movie. You guys should receive production models in summer of 2007 as a 2008 model. One ford I really despise the fact of never being received here in the states is the cosworth escort, pure awd turbo goodness! I already saw protoype pictures of a prototype focus rs awd, supposedly boosting 300hp and rhd too, but I doubt we will be getting it, I mean, out of all companies, why should and american company bring its own cars to its homeland? (being saracastic)
And the car in casino royale is a ford modeo, it was the 2008 ford mondeo prototype (only one in its existence valued at a couple million usd), one of the main reasons that it was in the movie. You guys should receive production models in summer of 2007 as a 2008 model.
I must have completely missed this. I'll have to take another look.
One ford I really despise the fact of never being received here in the states is the cosworth escort, pure awd turbo goodness! I already saw protoype pictures of a prototype focus rs awd, supposedly boosting 300hp and rhd too, but I doubt we will be getting it, I mean, out of all companies, why should and american company bring its own cars to its homeland? (being saracastic)
Damian.
Thats a true shame, i think Escort Cosworth sales would have gone balistic in the states, i do remember you mentioning this before. It is however one car i love, but could never afford due to the price its badge demands. The only other cosworth i have known to rival this has been the RS500..
I just bought someone the Clarkson DeeVeeDee (haha), and neglected to get myself a copy, so i will have do do that as soon as possible.
Thats a true shame, i think Escort Cosworth sales would have gone balistic in the states, i do remember you mentioning this before. It is however one car i love, but could never afford due to the price its badge demands. The only other cosworth i have known to rival this has been the RS500..
I just bought someone the Clarkson DeeVeeDee (haha), and neglected to get myself a copy, so i will have do do that as soon as possible.
