Addition to the Stable: 2008 Shelby GT

When I was detailing my former 2003 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra, just days before it left the stable, I had a bit of seller's remorse; I really liked that car a lot!

Well, it didn't take long, about six months, before my desire for a rumbly V8 muscle car started to get to me :) Actually, it started with a desire for a rumbly V-Twin Harley Davidson V-Rod, but family and reason talked me out of it. I've always loved those bikes; they look great and have a modern, Porsche-designed, V-Twin! Here is a photos:



A muscle car is basically a 4 wheeled cousin to a Harley, so it wasn't long before I started thinking about getting a new Mustang (the only other Muscle car that vaguely interests me is the new Camaro, but they won't be out for a while and I need a fix, NOW! :) And, I like Mustangs better :) ).

The current replacement for my 2003 Cobra is the Shelby GT500 Mustang, which is actually the car I wanted when I bought the Cobra. At the time, the markup on the GT500 was well over $10,000 and the local dealers wanted $25,000 over MSRP! Rediculously crazy! I bought the Cobra for $28,000; a tick over the dealer markup for a GT500. Now, things have settled down and I was able to find two dealers that would take $1000 below MSRP; what a difference two years makes!

The other Mustang that interested me is the Shelby GT. Confused? Let me enlighten you, dear reader :)

The GT500 is essentially a modern version of the 2003/2004 SVT Cobra Mustang; the top of the line performance Mustang. It is supercharged to 500HP (the Cobra was 390HP), has a 6 speed transmission and several other performance upgrades compared to a standard Mustang. Ford made a marketing deal with Carroll Shelby to use his name on the car so instead of being called an SVT Cobra, it is called a Shelby GT500.



Shelby is famous for creating Shelby modified and branded cars like the Cobra, GT350 and GT500; all from the 1960's. When the latest generation of Mustangs arrived on the market in 2005, Shelby started to make Shelby Mustangs again. Such Mustangs are sent to Shelby Automobiles in Las Vegas, NV, to be modified and converted to Shelby Mustangs and then sold through Ford dealerships.

The first of these Shelby Mustangs was the Shelby GT-H, which was only available for rent at Hertz rental stores at major airports. Shelby and Hertz did a similar thing in the 1960s. The Shelby GT-H cars are now out of the rental service and Hertz is auctioning them off so they are now available for purchase.

Before the GT-H's were auctioned off, there was no way to buy a Shelby Mustang, except for the GT500, which many argue is purely a marketing deal and not a real Shelby. As you can imagine, this is a hot debate among Shelby fans... I tend to agree.



Eventually, in 2007, the Shelby GT was introduced; it is basically the same as the GT-H, but could be purchased at a Ford dealer. The main differences are that the GT-H was available only with an automatic transmission, in black with gold strips and a different hood while the GT was available in white or black with silver stripes and a five speed manual transmission.

In 2008 the color was changed to blue with silver stripes and a convertible version was introduced. And that is the end of the Shelby GT production.



I bought this 2008 Shelby GT 5 speed coupe for the stable.

First track day is the 16th :)