Feb 09 Shelby test

Really? At the end of the article, the last paragraph(one of the first I've read/purchased in 6 months, this article personifies why) states "Mustangs sure have come a long way since the 80's, when $12,500 got you 14's in a 225hp LX. Today, you spend $80,000, but you get..." really? This is a joke, right? How much? The rediculous price makes it totally irrelavent what this car does. A long way is for sure, from when Ford wanted to sell cars, and now has to beg for tax money to keep pumping us with cars nobody can afford to buy, much less actually use. The last Mustang I would've spent the money I go to work to make was an 04 Cobra, and I would also be able to add mods, and the new F250 4X4, and an enclosed trailer to tow it with, for this pathetic sticker. If Ford smelled what they shoveled, they could see 10,000 $12,000 cars that cost $2,000 to build, makes more for them, and us, than 200 $80,000 cars they can't sell. My new 5.0 LX in 87 cost me $11,080, out the door, and with the usual bolt ons, I went 11's. Lee's original idea, in 64, included the word "affordable". $80K gets me a Porsche. You report on this Shelby like its great, but its exactly whats wrong with your magazine, the hobby, and the country, today.  

Keep in mind that while GM and Chrysler did ask for money, Ford did not ask for cash. They asked for a line of credit that would only be used IF they needed it. Their projections for the future indicate that they will make it through this period without borrowing the money.

As to the rest of the your comments Ford put the MSRP in the mid-40s for the Shelby. The dealers tried, albeit successfully in most cases, to take advantage of the economy and the demand by tacking on the markup.