You are a better Mustang historian than I am, so I'm sure you remember that proposed 25th anniversary Mustang ford had running around (Roushe helped with that car I believe) that had a either a blown 5.0 or 5.8.

Donald Peterson canned the idea himself, because he was "appaled" at it's power & it's difficulty to handle (This is the Ford CEO that not only went through performance driving school himself, but required all senior Ford executives to go through it too, so he wasn't speaking as a numbers cruncher).

On Chevy's side, it also had a screamer as a proposed anniversairy car in 1992 which was killed by GM's then financial implosion.

 

is the 300c suppost to be a hemi?
http://www.chrysler300club.com/Hemi300C/Hemi300C.html

 

That's NOT the one that's going to be unveiled in New York.

The sedan 300C when compared to the convertible concept in that link looks like it came from an entirely different company.

It's not sleek looking by any measure, but it does make a huge impact, and will no doubt be a classic. Not everyone will like it, but I think it will be a classic.

 

why should us mustang guys have to defend anything?ford never made any promises with this anniversary model,i think it's a fine looking car for the ONE and ONLY picture ford has shown,so it's a tape and stripe job,big deal,we still have the cobra and GT and we also get the mach 1 for another year,not to mention the new mustang next summer.so a tape and stripe job does not offend me,at least we still have a pony car.i didn't like the 35th f-bodies because for one,the TA looked like a bumblebee,and you would think the morons at GM would have given an icon a more fitting send-off than stripes and badges,but hey,35 years of an incredible heritage,not to mention a huge and very loyal fan base,which was virtually slapped in the face,stripes and decals,according to GM,should be enough.GM isn't all bad,they're looking out for the car nuts they abandoned,they slapped a legendary name on a import and are charging an arm and a leg for what looks like a fast grand am,not to mention that bad-*** mini-van slaying 41K SSR,and we get the f-body back after a 30 year nap,boy that lutz is awesome!!

 

I doubt it will cost much more..

There have been several "spring special" models (this goes back to the Fox bodies), as well as the 35th anniversary models. None added significantly to the bottom line on the sticker.

BTW, the other model is an all black "Ford 100th" model. They are making a special edition of everything they make, all in black.

Tape and stripe models are not my cup of tea. I'd rather have some substance, even if it costs a little more.

 

guionM, Do you mean 300N? I thought that was the name they were using for the next 300 car.


as far as the people that bitch about the anniversary car being just an apperance package, who ever said that these cars had to be "Cobra R" or some other limited hotrod type car. We should be happy they are giving us something new at all. The Camaro is the perfect example. 35th???? that is not important at all. I'm just glad we got something out of it.

THe only anniversary car that should have been more was the 50th Vette, They should have at least made a LS6 convertable or something.

 

The companies just don't wanna make some really cool/special stuff for the Anniversaries and use ad-ons or change the appearance slightly instead. And you know what, it usually works. All 92 Camaros got a 25th Anniversary emblem on the dash. But if you wanted a "real" Anniversary car, it was an option and came with Z28 stripes, body colored grill, (I think RS's got black headlight pockets as the 1st Third Gen RS's in 87 and 88 had) and another emblem on the spoiler (RS's) or hatch lid on the Z28's.

About that special 92 that Guion mentioned, that was gonna be a FAST car!! There was gonna be 602 (same as the number of 67 Z28's made) produced. While only 2 prototypes were made 1 was kept and is still shown at car shows by GM. It was a B4C/1LE with the Corvette L98 5.7L aluminum head engine, special intake runners, tubular headers, and some other stuff. It made 270HP and was also equipped with a ZF 6-Speed and GTA rims. Theres some information on it somewhere. I wonder how much TQ it made and what exact numbers it ran were.

 

So, it's OK for Ford to do a stripe and sticker job for the 40th Mustang, but doing something similar on the 35th Camaro is a joke?

I don't get it.



So, it's OK for Ford to bring back the T-Bird as a underpowered, overpriced retro-thing, but bringing back the GTO as a 'Grand Am look-alike', even though it can perform, is a joke?

I don't get it.



So, it's OK for Ford bring out the Mercury Marauder... as competitor to the 7-year defunct Impala SS, that can get out run by a V6 Accord, let alone the Impala SS itself, but the SSR is a 'bad-*** mini-van slaying' joke?

I don't get it.



Now, I'm not a big SSR fan, and I am not a huge fan of the GTO styling, but I respect the car... but you need to take a look at your own house before throwing some of the stones out there...

 

I'm disappointed with the packaging myself. But i can see why people went nuts over the 35th SS. The Mustang isn't going on a hiatus like the f-bod. It doesn't need a spectacular farewell nor does it need to go out on a bang. That's why people had high expectation for the 35th anniversary SS and the Firebird collectors edition. That and the 2005 will debut in the middle of 2004 which marks the real 40th anniversary of the Mustang. That in itself is far better then any sticker or stiching package.

Sounds like a limited number of 2004 Cobra's will have Mystichrome paint. Sweet.

 

I'm actually glad to see that the aniversary Mustang is tasteful. Sure, the color combo is pure 50th aniversary Corvette, but I liked that car as well.

When I think back about that purple Corvette pace car, the one with yellow wheels, I shudder. Similarly, the plaid check upholstery in the 30th aniversary Camaro was, um... controversial.

If the current generation Mustang is going out with a cosmetic whimper, rather than a gaudy bang, so be it. I'd like it if FOMOCO saved some drama for the upcoming 2005. If the new Mustang GT comes close to the performance of the current Cobra, Ford will have a good reason to spice up the visual effects.

 

Ok here we go. No one should've expected more out the 35th anniversary F-body. GM has historically done nothing but simple paint/stripe/wheel/badging packages for their anniversary cars. Would I have liked to see LS6 35th Camaro SS's? You betcha! As far as I understand all the engineering and testing was DONE for an LS6 SS but the beancounters quickly put the brakes on that, "since the car was dead anyway why are we spending the money to do this?" You must always remember that GM, yes like Ford, is a business.

Second of all I was not making my point out to be one of "bashing" the Mustang's package like apparently you thought I did. I honestly am curious why the same people who bemoaned the 35th SS as an unexciting, nothing special-type package think it's ok, nay, think it's cool, that Mustang is doing the same for its 40th. I KNOW Ford has put a lot more money into Mustang lately. I DON'T disagree with Ford doing the stripes/wheels thing for its anniversary car. It's cheap to do yet differentiates the car just enough. Such was the point of the 35th SS.

So again:

WHY do you think it wasn't enough for GM to just do the stripe thing for their anniversary car but it's ok for Ford to do the same thing with their icon? It is totally illogical to bash one and not the other.

 

Ok. So why is the 50th Corvette a joke, with the line continuing and the C6 coming late next year? I know there are even more people saying the 50th Vette was a joke than the 35th Camaro.

 

I think the entire view of this is that more effort needs to be put into Anniversary cars or special editions. The 35th Camaro and Anniversary Corvette were both unimpressive, and every1 has had enough with unimpressive.

 

a tape and stripe job on the last year of the current body style mustang doesn't bother me because ford already offers great mustang models like the upcoming mystic cobra or the mach 1 or even the V-6 pony package,and to be honest,we don't know if it's just stripes and a fancy paint job,it could be more,if so,great,if not,so what,they've got a brand-new mustang coming,that's enough of a 40th anniv. present for me.i didn't like the 35th f-body,because,IMO,i felt GM owed the car more of a send-off than stripes and screaming chicken decals,but that would make sense,so of course,GM didn't do it.maybe i loved the f-body too much,sue me,the car deserved better.the fans of the f-body deserved better than to be left hanging by GM until they finally admited to the worst-kept secret in detroit.it's a freakin miracle the corvette is as good as it under GM rule,the bean-counters must not even know the Z06 exists.
as for the marauder,sure,it's a flop,i'll give you that one.but to compare the t-bird to the fake GTO is alittle off.the T-bird always had a identity problem,is it a 2-seater,is it a 4-seater,is it a 4-door or a luxo-barge,whatever.i loved the sports coupes of the '80s and '90s and would have preferred it stay that way,but i like the current bird,it's pricey,but it is what it is,it's not a sports car,but a stylish cruiser,like the first one,i'd love to have one.the phoney goat is just a import with a legendary name,i don't care if it is the fastest GTO ever made,that doesn't make it the greatest by default.it is a rush job.you would think GM would think to take greater care to reintroduce a legend,gee,should take our time and make the best possible goat we can or should we just slap a split-grill on a lame looking import and be done with it.sure,GM owns holden,they're a global company,whatever.would you buy a saab if they re-badged it and called it a impala,what if they made it the fastest impala ever?does that make it an impala?NO.we wouldn't stand for it if it was a vette,mustang,or camaro,what makes the goat different?of course,i'm just ranting and got the topic off-course,but it is my opinion and opinions are like mustangs,everyone has one.

 

It probably is a bit mean spirited for GM diehards to knock this aniversary Mustang. Ford has made some mistakes in the performance arena, but the blunders are often the result of errors in planning that occured long ago. The Marauder was a dud because the Panther platform couldn't accept a more powerful engine. The T-bird is a slug because the LS-platform was designed around the weak V8 shared with the Jaguar S-type. Sure, it would have been nice if both cars had been real road-burners, like the '03 Cobra. It just wasn't going to happen, at least not at a reasonable price.

A hotted up farewell to the old bodystyle would have been nifty, but the Cobra is finally holding its end up pretty well. Moreover, its commendable that Ford had the audacity to actually invest in a new Mustang. They probably could have spent the money on another Jaguar - like the Explorer-based SUV that was planned before the Land Rover purchase.

As