The GT500 is the product of collaboration between legendary tuner-whiz Carroll Shelby and Ford's F in-house special vehicles team, a group of performance-oriented mad scientist types. When it's finally available this July, the GT500 will boast 500 horses from a 5.4 liter V8, all at an astonishingly reasonable $42,975 -- that's including a $745 destination charge and $1,300 gas-guzzler tax.
A convertible model will run $47,800. With the "C6," the little changes make a big difference. By comparison, the entry level Chevy Corvette, the Mustang's main rival and America's other iconic sports car, starts at a relatively expensive $43,690 for the coupe with a 6.0L 400 hp V8 engine (see BusinessWeek.com, 12/28/05, "2005 Chevrolet Corvette").
SNEAK PEAK. What makes those comparatively low figures even more exciting is that the Shelby shares technologies with the Ford GT, the $151,245 supercar that is being retired in September. Some of the common DNA includes the engine's aluminum four-valve heads and the brakes' master cylinder. This is a rare instance in which technology crossover in a manufacturer's product line both exhilarates and instills bragging rights.
Ford provided BusinessWeek.com with a "pre-pre-production" show car to review. And, in person as in print, it's a real stunner. From the front, the car looks even more muscular than last year's Mustang. The fog lamps have been minimized as well as moved down and outwards. The new, lower air splitter gives the car a much more aggressive maw. The hood has serious-looking heat extractors protruding close to the leading edge.
The traditional chrome Pony on the front grill has been removed and replaced by an offset Cobra emblem, Shelby's classic insignia. The idea is "quiet but deadly." And, maybe best of all, the bold Le Mans-inspired racing stripes scream "I can take on anything made where they call ice cream 'gelato,' whatever that is."
HEAVY METAL HIGHWAY. Inside, the Mustang is perfect. The cabin really needs to be seen firsthand. Although in pictures I found the retro design to border on overstyled, up close the black leather-trimmed dash, chrome vents, and red-stitched steering wheel elegantly coalesce. The speedometer and tach have been reversed, focusing the driver's attention on the delightfully high 6,250 rpm redline. The Shaker 500 audio system in my review car was everything KISS would want it to be, though there is a more powerful Shaker 1000 system available as a $1,295 option.
At first I'd resolved to test the GT500 on winding New England roads. But, leaving Manhattan, I couldn't shake the feeling that what this muscled monster really wanted was old-fashioned straightaways. That's when I changed my plans and redirected westward.
Leaving behind the East, I barreled toward the heartland, headed for a more Mustang-apt destination: Ohio's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum. I wanted to push the car on the straightest highways this side of Bonneville and find out what regular Americans thought of it along the way.
OOMPH FACTOR. Push the GT500 I did. I would never knowingly endanger myself or fellow highway travelers by going twice the legal speed limit or more. But I couldn't resist gunning the GT on empty stretches of interstate 80. Without incriminating myself, suffice it to say that at over 150 miles per hour the V8 feels like it just wants more and the cabin barely jitters. The car hunkers down at high speeds, daring you to go faster. (Showing some restraint, I didn't, however, hit the GT500's 155 mile per hour limiter.) The 18-inch wheels' Brembro brakes are equally astonishing. They really do feel like something inherited from a race car.
Generally, having my foot on the GT500's gas pedal resulted in completely irrational giddiness and a constant sugar-high grin. I couldn't stop thinking it was like having the launch codes to the nation's nuclear arsenal or, even better yet, being Steve McQueen's wheelman.
Speaking of racing, if you can get your hands on one of these, expect some friendly challenges on the highway. In a brief weekend, I was flashed by a Porsche 911 (see BusinessWeek.com, 2/3/06, "Porsche 911 Carrera Cabrio"), a Bentley Flying Spur, and an older but admirably gutsy Camaro. Though these rivalries were by no means scientific or all-out, the GT500 prevailed every time with its crisp six-speed transmission and seemingly endless supply of oomph.
AMERICAN BEAUTY. And if at its limits the car handled like the champ I'd expected, it also wowed me with its generally pleasant demeanor tooling around town and even in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Unlike other performance cars in its class, the GT500 rode comfortably in every scenario I threw at it. The suspension is particularly smooth, giving the car a sort of dual personality, sweetness and light at times, fire and brimstone at others. (Anybody who's piloted Ford's previous bad boy, the 2001 SVT Mustang Cobra R, will know what a technical achievement all this is.)
Taking the GT on a road trip is like being a goodwill ambassador from a "Best of America" tour. Simply put, Americans love this car. As they should. Everywhere I went people stared, waved, grinned, honked, cheered, and put their thumbs in the air -- men and women, young and old alike.
At one point, I came up alongside a tricked-out Mini Cooper S (see BusinessWeek.com, 12/28/06, "2005 Mini Cooper S Convertible". As we came nose to nose, my comrade rolled down his window and stuck out his fist. In his hand, a just-released auto mag with the GT on its cover. Later, when he caught up to me at a gas station, he told me he was going to trade in his Mini once the GT was on sale.
WORTH THE WAIT. At rest-stops and diners all along the way people were eager to talk about the new model, look under the hood, check out the dash, and hear it growl. I was surprised by the number of people who knew about this new Mustang. It really seems that anticipation for this car is running high.
And, that leads me to strongly anticipate another Mustang-sized success for Ford, though volumes will be pretty low -- Ford told me they expect to produce between 8,000 and 10,000 GT500s annually. That's going to make buying one difficult, given the premiums people were paying to get into regular Mustangs a year ago. But frankly, for this the most powerful factory-built Mustang ever, premiums and long lines are more than worth it
Because I had such a ripsnorting time driving it, I find it hard to acknowledge, let alone recognize, the GT500's problems. Luckily, my gripes are few and far between. Unless you're on the short side, as am I, the back seats will be cramped to say the least. Gas mileage, meanwhile, in my pre-production test vehicle ranged from 12 to 16 miles per gallon. (Note that mileage ramps up with use and my Mustang had a mere 2,000 miles on the odometer when I got it. I'd fully expect that to improve.) Additionally, this pony only eats premium oats, making it rather costly to keep.
SIGN ME UP! My only other suggestion would be to beef up the radio antenna. It seemed a bit pliant at speeds over 130 miles per hour.
My last stop before returning the car in New York City was at a Jersey roadside diner. In the parking lot, I talked to a group of Teamsters. Mack -- who'd bought himself a late-1960s Boss Mustang when he came back from duty in Vietnam -- summed up his and his buddies' feelings on the new car: "In a heartbeat." And that's exactly how I feel too. Given the chance, I'd buy it just as fast.
Printer-Friendly Version