using shelby and cobra and mustang together is not sacrilege. it comes fromt he 60s gt500 cobra jet and supercobra jet engines. even then they had cobra emblems. i dotn know where you are gettign that sacrilege thing

 

This car freakin' rocks. And for you naysayers bitching about how it doesn't have a "more sophisticated" rear end, sit on a tack. Ford has done a kick *** job on building solid axle suspensions for years. I used to think the stick-axle Cobras were only meant for the drag strip. These cars can boogie and shake with the best of them. Plus, Mustang tuners like Kenny Brown have been working to make the stick a lot more competitive against cars with double wishbone, multilink, whatever suspensions. It's not the most comfortable nor the most complex design, but it works, and it has for many years.

SVT has really impressed me this time, despite the use of an overweight Mustang. But with 400+ hp on tap, that 3800 lb curb weight goes away, fast.

 

This car doesn't excite me at all. 98% of the people on the road are gonna see "one of those new Mustangs" They could at least style the car to stand apart from the half a million Mustangs that'll be on the road in a couple of years. And the 450/450 doesn't stand apart from the crowd. The Cobra used to a decent lower priced alternative to the Z06. Not anymore, unless they managed to strip about 350lbs off the chunky weight, which I doubt. I am glad to see the car selling so well, even if Ford elevates their numbers with the rental fleet stripped models. But I remain unimpressed with the new model. But I grew up a "Chevy guy," with a dislike of Mustangs :p .

 

No doubt it works, or can be made to work. But, it is hardly ideal.

 

Z06: $65k
C6 Z51: ~$50k
GT500: $40k

Maybe you can elaborate more on why the GT500 is no longer a lower priced Z06 alternative but the '03/'04 Cobras were.

 

Because:

1. It no longer puts the numbers up, when compare to the C6 Z06. 500Hp/475Tq with a 7000rpm redline.
2. The Z06 weighs in at 3130 pounds. The Cobra 3500ish?

Where the '03/'04 Cobra vs C5 Z06:

Z06: 405Hp/400Tq at 3116 pounds $50k
Cobra: 390/390 at 3600ish. $32-35k

I guess looking at it that way, the Cobra was never a low cost competitor, just plain heavy :p

But it seems Chevy is moving the Z06 into competition with $100k+ 'supercars' and leaving the GTO to compete with the Cobra, which is a much better comparison, numbers-wise. The Cobras have always been cheaper for aftermarket power adders, though. Given the cash to buy one, I'd choose the base C6, but I'm a fan of cornering, and the Vette wins hands down in that category.

So perhaps it is a lower cost competitor to the Z06, at least for the average joe, but the C6 Z06 is a race-bred machine that's going to be running with some of the best sports cars available on the road courses. And it'll do so right off the showroom floor, for half the price. Too much car for me, to tell you the truth.

 

Does anybody know how many GT500 are being made?

 

7,000 to 9,000 .. Those are the initial numbers that I am hearing.. or rather read about

 

I called SVT to get on a list to be one of the first to get one, I was pretty much told to **** off if I didn't have a "power lease" on a 03-04 cobra. I told them I kinda have a ford and used to have a SVT Contour no dice. The guy was so rude but I did have time to tell HIM to **** off, and a CTS-V it is. Maybe but droppin GM to him hopefully got too him a little. Either way the car is going to be something special, and who knows what it will really weigh and put down..........I'm SURE it will really be something(it says Shelby on it)