I snapped this at a local cruise spot today.



Mild case of sticker shock.

 

I've been seeing about ten a day for the past 8 mos.

 

I hate Ford for producing such an awesome looking car. I'm not exceptionally happy with the lack of communication about the I/C issue. Then they go and produce this beautiful car. That is a very good looking car...........

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...item=594123724
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...item=594049974
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...item=593937326

Three for sale on eBay, don't seem to be attracting much interest. I am surprised that the Nieman-Marcus car is not attracting bids; I guess its the slow economy. I don't like the car myself, boulevard cruiser, all show and no go, but I have a deposit on one for MSRP that I was going to buy on spec. Think I will just retract my deposit, onless some other So. Cal. L. owner wants to make it worth my while to buy me out.

 

guess its just me , but the new one doesnt look as good as the first ones. the front lights are just wrong somehow

 

Checked again tonight, and the Nieman-Marcus car has been bid up to $57K, but the bids on the others are laughably low. I am getting out of the car business RIGHT NOW. I think the dealers who think they are going to command a $10- $15K surcharge on these puppies are in for a rude awakening, which is great by me, I love to see the price gougers get their comeuppance. I think the car is targeted at us aging folk who couldn't afford one the first time around, but I never wanted one in the first place, I lusted after a Cisitalia or a 550 Spyder, and now that I can afford a performance vehicle I would much rather have my Lightning short of anything but an F60. Eat s**t and die, price gougers. I will never buy another Honda because of the way they tried to gouge me on an S2000. Boy, I'm in fine fettle tonight, aren't I. Somebody grab the soapbox before I get laryngitis.

 

It's a chic's car. And probably 53 year old "chics", at that.

As to gouging - the hardest lesson was learned by Mazda when the Miata first came out. They watched happily as the $14,000 cars were jacked up to $21,000 sales prices. They quickly learned the idiocy of allowing this to happen -

When a consumer PAYS $21,000 he expects a $21,000 product. This was only a $14,000 product. The ensuing backlash taught the industry the danger of going over MSRP...

Nonetheless, greed still prevails.

 

I sat inside of one that was getting PDI'ed today at work. I believe the MSRP was 37K plus what ever extra our dealership was asking. The interior was pretty neat. I believe it has the smaller lincoln motor the smaller DOHC. It has almost no trunk space and looks to be a pain to work on. When you open the doors the windows drop down a 1/4 inch which caught me by suprize to clear the hard top. I would guess that it would run pretty good for as little of a car as it is. I believe the fenders, ect are fiberglass and would guess that it's pretty light. The I/P cluster is pretty neat. It's different.

Bill

 

Trabuco-

You are insinuating that Mazda has some control over the price gouching..which they don't...anymore than Ford could control it when it happened on the Lightnings in 99 and 00. Dealers are independently owned and operated and control their prices.

The car makers have no control over the price gouching that goes on at scummy dealers.

 

Saw a black rag-top T-Bird in a Dealer showroom yesterday. I was not impressed. I think the sticker was around $39K.

And, it looks like the little hood-scoop on the T-Bird is phoney. Is it?

They also had the detachable hard-top standing on end with what appeared to be its own stand. I might be mistaken, but I recall reading someplace that the detachable hard-top was quite heavy.

Anyway, for the money I would expect a lot more than Ford produced. I would at least expect Corvette or better performance. The T-Bird looks to be little more than a fancy grocery-getter.

 

Redlite-

You seem to be missing the point of the new T-bird....it is not meant as a Corvette competitor(much less OUTPERFORM it for 10 grand less!!!)...it is a boulevard cruiser...and at that...it succeeds grandly. I think it is a beautiful car. No it will not do well at the dragstrip...nor was that EVER the cars intention.

BTW- Yes the hood scoop is fake...and yeah that is kinda cheesy.

 

I've run across a few of the new birds; and one thing is sure, you don't mistake it for anything else. Hats off to Ford. The only other new car I see that is unmistakeable when you run across it is that damnably odd Pontiac Asstech. I think the new bird is what it has always been since they came out, stylish cruisers; they didn't end up competing with the Vette way back and will not today. That teal colored version is simply beautious! If I were to have one, I would wait another model year to see what they do about the engine. Ford has so much over GM lately that it's really getting silly. With all the crap that Ford's been going through, they still have so many models that just kick GM's bung all over the place.

 

BadBolt-

Good call...that teal is my fave color too...with the nice matching interior. Yellow is nice also.

 

Saleen, I got the point months ago when I read the press releases and reviews.

However, for a car that costs very near $40K, I would think better performance is called for. What will they do? Something like 0-60MPH in seven seconds?

Considering all the other two seat automotive choices out there (excluding Corvettes and Vipers), I think Ford could have given the T-Bird a little more grunt.

And, you are right about the hood scope. It definitly is phoney. So are the silly little fender louvers. Boy racer stuff.

They should have had SVT design the T-Bird.