For people mad that Ford is ditching Shelby, hear me out

[FunkinGoNuts]

Regardless of what you think of current day Shelby American, I wonder if they will end up taking this DH SC and re-badging it to sell it as their own GT500 build... it will be interesting.

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[Barstoolman]

I hear you on Shelby. I owned two GT500's, a 2008, and a 2010. I knew I was buying a car engineered by Ford and named after a legend. The cars just had street appeal and an exciting name to most. I have no problem retiring Shelby. I do have an issue with the Dark Horse name. What happened to SVT Cobra or BOSS?
I'm sure the new Dark Horse SC will be a well-engineered car. Does it have street appeal? NO! Does it have an exciting name? NO!
Will I buy a $100K Mustang? NO!
In the end, they will sell a few, but Ford is now taking the fun of a pony car away from most of its loyal Mustang fans who also have house payments and higher and higher costs of living.
Just check FACEBOOK MARKET PLACE. There's a lot of (NEW) Dark Horse Mustangs listed. If they were that hot, they wouldn't need FB for help!

I remember buying the 2008 GT500 and thinking, wow $45+ for a Mustang. The pricing back then was unrealistic for most Mustang enthusiast and yet they continued selling the car at a higher and higher price for years. With inflation, cost of living increases, the car in 2008 dollars, it’s pretty close to the cost of a dark horse today. Obviously the SC will be a lot more, as was the last iteration of the GT500. Not many enthusiast could afford that and we know Shelby had nothing to do with it other than getting paid for the use of their name.

You don’t have to like the name, you don’t have to like how much it cost, you don’t even have to buy it. Hell, cars that used to be $20,000 or less, are now $50,000.

 

[armyGT]

Most of the people I know fall into the middle to upper middle class. When the Shelby GT500 came out in 2007 they were around $47K. My friends bought them. Things have changed that have added so many additional costs of daily living. The fun money has been taken away by inflation. Wages haven't kept up with prices. So fewer people have the resources to spend $100K on a Mustang. It's a fact. My friends look at the Dark Horse SC and just shake their heads.
Bless those who have the money to afford one of these cars. That's what's great about America...it's out there if you want it.

 

[Alan Applegate]

I agree. In 1983 I purchased a Mercury Cougar with every factory option expect two tone paint and a moon roof. The car was just under $20,000 before taxes, etc. Today, that would be about $65,000 which is Dark Horse territory.

 

[smurfslayer]

IDK who you think you're going to reach with this thread, but the overwhelming majority of whiners in the Dark Horse SC thread were never going to consider buying it in the first place. They're bloviating on and on with rationalization after rationalization, shaking their proverbial fists at the phone or computer screen in righteous indignation that the newly released car isn't an RS200 or not an S550 Mach 1 at $35,000 US fully optioned.

Yeah, the track pack cars are going to be expensive, rare and almost all will come with ADM probably to the tune of 20-30 thousand. I'm sure the car is going to be great and have a few tricks up it's sleeve, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it fares on the track.

I'm hoping that now the Ford has seen the light, drastically scaling back the not ready for prime time EV fleet, we won't be amortizing as much of the EV losses on the Mustang. One can hope anyway.

 

[robvas]

I agree. In 1983 I purchased a Mercury Cougar with every factory option expect two tone paint and a moon roof. The car was just under $20,000 before taxes, etc. Today, that would be about $65,000 which is Dark Horse territory.

Didn't those start at $8-9,000? How did you add $10k in options?

 

[Katastrophe]

Fella's, don't forget that names meant more back then (all of them) because you could watch them race on the weekends. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday type of thing, right?

The race cars and street cars had a very clear connection/lineage back then. Racing nowadays is sooo far removed from what you can actually go and buy at your dealership, the relationship is basically non-existent.

1970 = watch Parnelli Jones win in a Bud Moore Boss 302 in Trans Am. Go right to your dealer the next day, buy what looks to be the same car. Live out every damn fantasy you want down your favourite backroad.

1971 = watch Richard Petty win in a blue Plymouth Road Runner in NASCAR. Same thing...go to your dealer, buy one and drive like the KING.

There are obviously a mountain of examples we could use from multiple time periods and multiple locations around the globe. Look at the touring car scene in Europe or even WRC. Those were HUUUGE for building some sick homologation specials for the masses.

We just don't have the relatability anymore. In saying that, though...I think that's what RTR is trying to do for Ford in this day and age. You like drifting? You'd have seen Vaughn compete and win in Formula Drift then. Since he owns RTR it's a connection some of the younger crowd can relate to.

Anyway, just food for thought.

 

[robvas]

I'd love to see the sales numbers for the RTR cars...

 

[Katastrophe]

I'd love to see the sales numbers for the RTR cars...

Not only that, but the first RTR vehicle you can actually order via Ford is going to be the RTR Ecoboost package right?

2026 Ford Mustang RTR Is a Four-Pot Pony That's Ready to Drift

For what it's worth, I do think it's pretty cool. It's not something I'd personally buy, but I can see the appeal for the younger generation.

 

[Frogdog1]

I remember buying the 2008 GT500 and thinking, wow $45+ for a Mustang. The pricing back then was unrealistic for most Mustang enthusiast and yet they continued selling the car at a higher and higher price for years. With inflation, cost of living increases, the car in 2008 dollars, it’s pretty close to the cost of a dark horse today. Obviously the SC will be a lot more, as was the last iteration of the GT500. Not many enthusiast could afford that and we know Shelby had nothing to do with it other than getting paid for the use of their name.

You don’t have to like the name, you don’t have to like how much it cost, you don’t even have to buy it. Hell, cars that used to be $20,000 or less, are now $50,000.

Is $50K a lot for a car?

 

[347Stang]

The Shelby name isn't what it once was. It still matters to some mustang buyers, but the Shelby name isn't as much of a selling point today as it was 10-15 years ago, and nowhere near as iconic as it was in the 60s when Shelby was at their peak. Shelby has ruined their relationship with Ford by charging outrageous licensing fees, but they've also ruined their own reputation by frankly half assing a lot of the Shelby America creations.

All of the meh Shelby models come from Shelby, and all the truly great Shelby models aren't Shelby's at all, they're Ford performance creations. Whenever Shelby America half asses a product, we see uninformed enthusiasts blaming Ford. Those same uninformed enthusiasts give Shelby, not Ford, credit when Ford makes a great car like the gt 350 and gt 500.

It's a weird, complex relationship where the meh cars are made by Shelby, and the great cars aren't Shelby by are, and most enthusiasts don't understand it.

No need to explain on this, we all knew Ford would one day walk from Shelby. The Dark Horse and the the RTR was Fords turning point and I don't even have to defend the "GTD" . Now this new DARK Horse SC is the equivalent to the GT500 IMO. This will give the Shebly market a run.

And this is just me throwing my thoughts out there. I mean no disrespect

 

[MaddNomad]

It was originally the Dark Horse Boss anyways

 

[Rated R]

Given Farley's comments posted on YT he may been the one killing the Dark Horse Boss. Can't say I'd blame him if that were the case.

 

[Upacurb]

The Shelby name isn't what it once was. It still matters to some mustang buyers, but the Shelby name isn't as much of a selling point today as it was 10-15 years ago

Wrong........

 

[Upacurb]

I hear you on Shelby. I owned two GT500's, a 2008, and a 2010. I knew I was buying a car engineered by Ford and named after a legend. The cars just had street appeal and an exciting name to most. I have no problem retiring Shelby. I do have an issue with the Dark Horse name. What happened to SVT Cobra or BOSS?
I'm sure the new Dark Horse SC will be a well-engineered car. Does it have street appeal? NO! Does it have an exciting name? NO!
Will I buy a $100K Mustang? NO!
In the end, they will sell a few, but Ford is now taking the fun of a pony car away from most of its loyal Mustang fans who also have house payments and higher and higher costs of living.
Just check FACEBOOK MARKET PLACE. There's a lot of (NEW) Dark Horse Mustangs listed. If they were that hot, they wouldn't need FB for help!

There are 2 year old NEW Dark Horses sitting on lots by me at 7K discounts ........
Seeing massive discounts everywhere.....

I dont think there was ever a time where Ford Performance GT350s or GT500s were selling under sticker - partially because of that Shelby name ....and yes I know that Cars and Coffee crowd driving part of that ......

The Dark Horse is a great car- have driven a few and loved them.......but yeah to just throw out history because you want to move forward.....then why even call the car a Mustang.....isnt that an old boomer name from the 60s too?

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