Guy is right on the ball with his post...

BTW, '02 Camaro SSs with the SLP group and all Firehawks had 345hp "factory rated", FWIW...

And yes, if you drove one, you could immediately feel the difference between that and a stock 310hp version I miss those days...

 

I've had a rendering of the new "H" as a screensaver for about 18months now...

Now I can replace the rendering with a REAL shot...


One thing about renting them... Back in 1966 you had to be a Hertz Gold CLub Member to even qualify for renting one, and THEN you had to reserve them in advance too. They were HIGHLY sought after (for various reasons) and were difficult to rent, and they made 1000 of them in 1966 (twice the number of these new ones). The same will likely apply for these cars... Gold Club membership or some other elite status will be required.
You WON'T be able to just stroll up to a Hertz counter and rent one of these...





What scares me most is that many rentals get "dings", "dents", and "bruises" from those who know they won't own the car... anybody wanna place bets on how many of these 500 units actually survive to be auctioned to the public?

 

Marketing gimmick or not, its still pretty cool nonetheless. Two things I thought of when I heard of this:

-With the GTH having 330hp, how soon till the regular GT gets 330hp?

and

-These things are gonna get pretty thrashed.

 

This is a great idea and yes it is a gimmic but...GM would KILL for press like that. This is going to keep a hot model hot. 330 horses in a rental car in a package that is going to be fairly eye catching...I think folks are going to eat this up.

 

Unlike the opera thing with the G6, Ford isn't giving these cars away. They will be rented for $100+ a day then sold after about 20,000mi.

Ford might actually make some money on this deal too. If the avg. day sees 150 miles, thats over $13,000 for 20K mi., $20,000+ if the cars get to 30,000.

 

To the best of my knowledge there was never a special editon Mustang built by anyone with a "cammer 5.0" in it, so it wouldn't be the same.

I don't know what Mustang websites you go on, but I visit stangnet pretty often to see what is going on, and the corral as well. They are pretty much the same as this site (just like most forums), so I don't know why you are trying to play off a different attitude on those sites. There are plenty of Mustang guys over there that hate fbodies.

I guess you assume I am some big time GM nutswinger huh? Not really the case; I am not sure how else to interpret "anything goes to get those horsepower bragging rights".

There would be a peep from me. I am not a some huge Camaro only enthusiast. If GM pulled this sh*t, I would be one of the first to say how ridiculous it was.

I don't see how you can call the ZL1 the same kind of "gimmick". At least if I had the cash I could go and buy one if I wanted. Ford is selling Mustangs with the higher output 3v 4.6 to rental car companies. Why not just put the 330hp motor in the GT now.


I really hope not to see rental Camaros sporting more powerful engines as Hertz rental cars only.

This is a message board. People do have conflicting opinions. Why you seem suprised about this, I have no idea. My specific reason for not liking this simply stems from the reality that Ford continues to only draw from it's past, and seemingly throws inspiration into the wind. Not all of us were around in the 60s; not all of this is nostalgia to us. I would love to see Ford move forward with their pony car, instead of constantly looking behind them.

 

I would have personally posted practically the same thing if this had been a special rental Camaro with only automatic transmission.

All your other points are right on.

 

The FR500C (the C stands for Cammer) is for sale from Ford to anyone with a cool $125k...
http://www.grandamerican.com/News/Article.asp?ID=4856

"The Mustang FR500C features Ford Racing's 5.0L Cammer 'R50' V-8 engine, a unique T-56 6-speed transmission, Dynamic Suspension coil-over dampers and struts, Brembo brakes, and a Sparco racing seat all built into a body-in-white that has been seam-welded and roll-caged to Grand-Am Cup specifications."

 

Yeah, I know, but this is a full out race car. Good luck having that pass any kind of state inspection (at least here in PA).


On a sort of unrelated note, I wish Ford would have developed a tuned down street version of that motor to use in a Mustang. Being able to put the 5.0 badges back on a Mustang would have meant alot to many people. Anyone remember the special edtion Boss Mustang that Ford was talking about making a few years back during the 99-04 body style? I remember the 5.0 cammer was at the very least being discussed to be used in that special editon car. Of course, none of this materialized. Many of you guys on here probably know alot more about this than I do.

 

It was my understanding that the ZL1's were done by GMMG which would make them a tuner and not a factory car. How is it any different than the 500+hp S351's Mustangs Saleen has been making for the last decade?

It's hard to be dissapointed with what Ford is doing with the mustang hp wise. Especially when they'll have a factory GT500 model due this summer with 475 horses (probably underrated). And when you factor in future SE's like the BOSS and Mach's which will probably have outputs between 340-400horses (wild guess), it's easy to see that a 300-330hp GT has its place in the lineup. You don't need a 350+hp GT when you've got other trims/SE's filling in that range.

Just the way ford does things. They want each model to fill in a specific slot and they want each model to be different and unique with regards to looks and performance. Can't argue against it really.

 

Word.

But the GT-H is still a gimmick

 

In case you haven't noticed, Ford is doing pretty good with their "looking behind them" Pony car. Besides, the Mustang is not targeted at the 23 year old crowd.

And the "gimmick" that ya'll are talking about is already paying off for Ford. All one needs to do is read this thread to figure out how.

 

No but there sure are plenty of 20-25 year olds that do love the current 'stang and/or own one.

 

What in the world does 69 (2002) ZL1 cars have to do with 500 rental car ringers? lol

Guy your gonna pull your shoulder out of socket if you reach much further to make that point, lol.

 

Guion,
I like the new Mustang for what it is. We actually somewhat considered a GT, then we drove the GTO, and we were sold . My point, was I am disappointed that IMHO Ford hasn't gotten the GT to were a lot of people would like to see it powerwise.

$7,000? I haven't seen a new GT locally that was selling for right at $25,000. Base MSRP isn't what a GT goes for. The GTO has VERY few options, and the price from one to another is less than $1000.

Also, 25% of the numbers? Since when did the Mustang only move 60,000 units a year. I think you're lowballing Ford on that one

I agree 100%. Right now Ford almost can do no wrong since there isn't a real competitor to Mustang on the market. I just wish Ford would ante up the power for the GT.