Input from Pebble Beach & the Ford intro party
08-13-2004, 02:37 PM
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Input from Pebble Beach & the Ford intro party
Great party. I didn't get there till near 7, and there was a interesting crowd. Had my son with me & took quite a few pictures.
The Cars:
The new Shelby concept, the Cobra from lthe auto show circuit earlier this year, the silver Mustang with the stripes from the auto circuit, the Mustang GTR concept, the Ford GT, an original Shelby Daytona coupe, an original Ford GT40, and of course, a Shelby 427 Cobra.
J.Mays:
You know you're on the top when you can come to a semi dress up party in a pull over shirt, jeans, tennis shoes, and a raincoat, and still be the coolest one there. J. Mays was hyper busy giving interviews, and was busy non stop, but was extremely nice and gracious when I asked a couple of questions & posed with me at the event. Although he's not young, he still seems to be very young in heart & actions.
Car Crazy's Barry Meguiar:
George Hamilton has nothing on this guy's tan. He is a great guy. Very talkative, and intrested in the person he's talking to (or an expert at faking it.
). I asked him to take a picture with my son (watches his show religiously) and instead he wanted all 3 of us in it & got his wife to take the picture. Asked where we were from, how we liked the area, and of course, a little bit about cars.
George ??? (the guy that actually designed the new Shelby concept):
Very young guy from Greece I believe. I met him later in the evening, and talked to him briefly. He was there with his parents, and I think he was in his mid-20s. He said it took him just a weekend to design the car. He was a little lost in the group because everyone from Reggie Jackson to J. Mays and Caroll Shelby was there. It's embaressing I forgot his last name, though.
Caroll Shelby:
He wasn't able to talk very much. He did a round of interviews, and seemed like he was also pulled in every direction. He also seemed very tired as well. I still think he had a great time, though. He seemed happy to take a picture with my son after everyone else was done with him. I think he needed the break.
The new Mustang:
The car was parked away from the bright lights, and when it got dark, the car looked absolutly fantastic! I've seen the car under bright lights & daylight before, but when it's night, and there is just a little light on that car, the Mustang looks great! The way the wheel arches & the sheetmetal creases reflect dim light gives it a look that is completly missed in broad daylight. My son, the Camaro fanatic was talking about why he liked it, and a Ford guy (don't know who he was) overheard him, and came over & listened for awhile. The guy was very happy that the car appealed to "his age group", and said the goal with the design was to appeal to a wide age group.
One final note. If Ford sells the GT under $25,000 with THAT interior, forgetabout it. That car is going to be e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. Oh, and by the way, you HAVE to hear how that thing sounds.
The GTR:
Look up over the top in the dictionary, and you'll see this car's picture. It actually looks better in person than in pictures (where it looks almost ugly), but that rear spoiler is just tooooo much! The car is extremely load. The young guy there (looked barely 21) who worked on or spearheaded the project started it up for everyone. There's gotta be people in the next county who's ears are still ringing.
The GT:
This is the 2nd time I got up close & personal with the new GT, and the 1st time I've seen it in any color than white. This one was painted to match the Mustang GT it was parked next to (Silver with light silver stripes). Hate to say this, but the Mustang looks meaner.
Ford's Shelby Concept....(finally
):
1st of all, it was essentially a styling vehicle. This means the car had no engine, no suspension, and an interior that was assembled of molded fiberglass pieces, with a race car's steering wheel and seats. Just enough to look like a real car in any pictures anyone takes of the car. This means anything you read about the car outside of it's dimensions is just guesswork, NOT the actual car you see in the pictures.
Whith that said, I think the front 3/4s of the car is darn near perfect. In a way it looks alot like the later Ford GT40s. Alot of attention to it's lines, and bulges is obvious. It's a good looking ride. But when you get to the back quarter, it looks like it was rushed and wasn't finished in time. While the front is full of details, the body from the rear of the doors has nothing but a smooth curved surface. The direct from the rear view looks good at a distance, but up close, you also get a feeling that it was a last minute design just to have something. The rear end also swoops back at an angle that puts the top edge of the rear much farther back than where the lower part where bumper would be.
In all honesty, I think the Cobra concept looks better overall than the Shelby GT concept, though possibly because it looked more like a finished car than the Shelby GT. The Shelby GT seemed more like a continuation of the Ford GT in design, though it's expected to sell at a much lower price.
As a side note, there were no barriers between the cars and the people. You could walk right up to all these cars and get a close up look of the Cobra's engine comparment, or lean inside the GTR's cockpit and touch the chrome intakes of the engine, or press your nose up against the new Shelby GT concept (though there actually was nothing to see in there).
Lexus has some type of introduction scheduled for today, and Chrysler's going to take over the clubhouse area tomorrow for the 300 SRT-8 intro (since the pictures are already up, it's going to be a bit anti-climatic). It's been posted that Chrysler has something else being shown tomorrow, but I haven't heard anything beyond the SRT just yet, so we'll see.
The Cars:
The new Shelby concept, the Cobra from lthe auto show circuit earlier this year, the silver Mustang with the stripes from the auto circuit, the Mustang GTR concept, the Ford GT, an original Shelby Daytona coupe, an original Ford GT40, and of course, a Shelby 427 Cobra.
J.Mays:
You know you're on the top when you can come to a semi dress up party in a pull over shirt, jeans, tennis shoes, and a raincoat, and still be the coolest one there. J. Mays was hyper busy giving interviews, and was busy non stop, but was extremely nice and gracious when I asked a couple of questions & posed with me at the event. Although he's not young, he still seems to be very young in heart & actions.
Car Crazy's Barry Meguiar:
George Hamilton has nothing on this guy's tan. He is a great guy. Very talkative, and intrested in the person he's talking to (or an expert at faking it.
). I asked him to take a picture with my son (watches his show religiously) and instead he wanted all 3 of us in it & got his wife to take the picture. Asked where we were from, how we liked the area, and of course, a little bit about cars. George ??? (the guy that actually designed the new Shelby concept):
Very young guy from Greece I believe. I met him later in the evening, and talked to him briefly. He was there with his parents, and I think he was in his mid-20s. He said it took him just a weekend to design the car. He was a little lost in the group because everyone from Reggie Jackson to J. Mays and Caroll Shelby was there. It's embaressing I forgot his last name, though.
Caroll Shelby:
He wasn't able to talk very much. He did a round of interviews, and seemed like he was also pulled in every direction. He also seemed very tired as well. I still think he had a great time, though. He seemed happy to take a picture with my son after everyone else was done with him. I think he needed the break.
The new Mustang:
The car was parked away from the bright lights, and when it got dark, the car looked absolutly fantastic! I've seen the car under bright lights & daylight before, but when it's night, and there is just a little light on that car, the Mustang looks great! The way the wheel arches & the sheetmetal creases reflect dim light gives it a look that is completly missed in broad daylight. My son, the Camaro fanatic was talking about why he liked it, and a Ford guy (don't know who he was) overheard him, and came over & listened for awhile. The guy was very happy that the car appealed to "his age group", and said the goal with the design was to appeal to a wide age group.
One final note. If Ford sells the GT under $25,000 with THAT interior, forgetabout it. That car is going to be e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. Oh, and by the way, you HAVE to hear how that thing sounds.
The GTR:
Look up over the top in the dictionary, and you'll see this car's picture. It actually looks better in person than in pictures (where it looks almost ugly), but that rear spoiler is just tooooo much! The car is extremely load. The young guy there (looked barely 21) who worked on or spearheaded the project started it up for everyone. There's gotta be people in the next county who's ears are still ringing.
The GT:
This is the 2nd time I got up close & personal with the new GT, and the 1st time I've seen it in any color than white. This one was painted to match the Mustang GT it was parked next to (Silver with light silver stripes). Hate to say this, but the Mustang looks meaner.
Ford's Shelby Concept....(finally
):1st of all, it was essentially a styling vehicle. This means the car had no engine, no suspension, and an interior that was assembled of molded fiberglass pieces, with a race car's steering wheel and seats. Just enough to look like a real car in any pictures anyone takes of the car. This means anything you read about the car outside of it's dimensions is just guesswork, NOT the actual car you see in the pictures.
Whith that said, I think the front 3/4s of the car is darn near perfect. In a way it looks alot like the later Ford GT40s. Alot of attention to it's lines, and bulges is obvious. It's a good looking ride. But when you get to the back quarter, it looks like it was rushed and wasn't finished in time. While the front is full of details, the body from the rear of the doors has nothing but a smooth curved surface. The direct from the rear view looks good at a distance, but up close, you also get a feeling that it was a last minute design just to have something. The rear end also swoops back at an angle that puts the top edge of the rear much farther back than where the lower part where bumper would be.
In all honesty, I think the Cobra concept looks better overall than the Shelby GT concept, though possibly because it looked more like a finished car than the Shelby GT. The Shelby GT seemed more like a continuation of the Ford GT in design, though it's expected to sell at a much lower price.
As a side note, there were no barriers between the cars and the people. You could walk right up to all these cars and get a close up look of the Cobra's engine comparment, or lean inside the GTR's cockpit and touch the chrome intakes of the engine, or press your nose up against the new Shelby GT concept (though there actually was nothing to see in there).
Lexus has some type of introduction scheduled for today, and Chrysler's going to take over the clubhouse area tomorrow for the 300 SRT-8 intro (since the pictures are already up, it's going to be a bit anti-climatic). It's been posted that Chrysler has something else being shown tomorrow, but I haven't heard anything beyond the SRT just yet, so we'll see.
08-13-2004, 02:54 PM
#2
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Tampa, FL
Posts: 188
Re: Input from Pebble Beach & the Ford intro party
It's going to be tough holding on to my "on hiatus for the F5" mentality when good cars (300C and the new Mustang) are upon us like a tidal wave. I even like the G35 coupe for its performance and great interior....Once you jump ship it may just be difficult going back to the original, unless the F5 represents more for less (or equal or slightly more) money.
08-13-2004, 10:45 PM
#3
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 98
Re: Input from Pebble Beach & the Ford intro party
Guion, thanks for your writeup, it was great! Glad you like the new stang. BTW, anyone ask Shelby about a possible Special Edition for the mustang in the near future.
New rumour is that we may see something at SEMA
New rumour is that we may see something at SEMA
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