I did notice one thing different from the orig Yellow GT500 that showed up. They did a better job with the strips. The Strips don't stop when you get to the raised hood exhausts, they continue as if they were unbroken. The Strips *** NEED *** to be painted on though. I still don't like the new hood and the changes that have been made to the hood, or the rear of the car. Maybe the need to be raised to help get more air out from underneath the hood, but do they have to be slanted? Why couldn't they be squared up, like the Red Version. Someone prob thought it looked cool slanted, It reminds me of the wings of the eagle painted onto the hood of a mid 70's Trans Am. LOL A more squared version of the exhausts on the hood might make it look a little better, and a little closer visually to the original concept car. But i doubt it. But just wanted to point out a small change from that orig yellow car to the pics of the newest yellow GT500 that I noticed.
Without a doubt, the original hood is the winner. Would I still buy the car with this latest hood...yes....would I pay more to get the original design hood...ABSOLUTELY. Count on someone in the aftermarket cloning the original design if Ford ends up not using it.
A few things I noticed was: 1) They were still using the brake light in the rear deck lid instead of putting it on the spoiler or high above on the inside of the rear window 2) The Gas cap design on the rear shows a Mustang & not a Cobra 3) If they are still worried about letting more heat out from under the hood they could take out 1/2 if not all of those plastic vents & leave it open like the GT40 or rasie the rear portion of the hood another 1/2" & let the heat/air flow out at the bottom of the windshield & over the car.
The strakes are back on this yellow one. They were not on the other one. If they can just find a way to keep the big SHELBY lettering across the rear end - the modifications will be tolerable.
If they had only kept with the original design. This latest version SUCKS as does the previous one to it. Sorry for the harsh opinion, but the direction that SVT is going with the new GT500 is the very reason why I've lost any interest in purchasing one. It realy looks no different than just another GT with some more gound effects than the previous one you've just seen on the road a few minutes before. I do hope the general concensus reaches the SVT group and affects a change, but I doubt it. Oh well, back to my '69 GT350 for more RESTO WORK!
BLU SHLB, I agree with you. I look at it and still think "Mustang GT" and 99% of the people on the road will think the same thing. Okay, its got close to a 500hp engine in it but unless you are driving through the streets full throttle like Steve McQueen people won't tell the difference. Are they ashamed of the Shelby name or something? The lettering is so freaking small along the base you will need to paint an arrow towards it. WHen I saw the red version I kept rereading the car mag. This I look at and say "GT" Oh well, I will want and see what it ends up at. Maybe I will just keep my 300C and spray paint "Shelby" on the side! ha ha
I fell in love with the Red prototype. The yellow car doesn't even come close to the coolness of it. Major gripes with the yellow car (besides the colour scheme): hood (discussed); tailight (discussed), do we even need that third taillight, must be regulated; also the gas cover could look better, I would prefer a smaller one or a metal one; also I would prefer colour matched ground effects; stripes NEED to be painted (discussed); this spoiler looks a bit tacked on, and not integral to the car; are the exhaust tips not chrome now? If I bought one I would be tempted to mod it a bit so it looks more like a classic one. I don't know, the yellow car is OK, but the red car was exactly right. All of the recent changes since the red prototype have cheapened the look of the car. So they are obvisously for cost cutting reasons. This would be fine, I guess, if the dealers weren't planning on making huge profits off the hype of the name. I'm worried.
Let's hope this isn't the final version. I liked the red version displayed at the auto show. If the car doesn't stay pretty damn close to that configuration, I won't buy it. I'm not going to wait over a year for a GT with a bigger powerplant.
Long Live the RED MULE! My sentiments exactly! Who wants to pay an extra 15K-20K for a GT-looking GT 500 (not including the dealer's mark-up) that will depreciate once the hype dies!? I'll take the HP but not the body. I think the guys at STV "screwed the pooch" when they deviated from the "RED MULE"! Come to think of it, I'm going to see if Mier Racing here in CA wold be willing to do the correct fiberglass hood and tail for the RED MULE! : Heck they do the Elenor kits all day long...
