I was talking to a sales guy at the local Ford dealer where I purchased my 2017. He had sent me a note saying they would like to have my Mustang as a used car for their lot or something like that. Made me curious about what my car would be worth. I think I have 6000 miles on it now.
But that wasn’t the interesting thing. He was just trying to sell me a new car and make a buck. What caught my attentions is the 2019 and the 2020 Mustang GT’s are bigger and badder than my 2017. There are two levels of Performance packages. The Performance Pack II is a step lower than the GT 350’s suspension.
I get two things out of that. First off that is pretty cool. You can order almost the suspension of the GT 350 on a street car. The GT 350 is a street car, right. But then it also isn’t. It is a track car. The Mustang GT is a street car. You can put different tires and rims on the Mustang GT, not true on the GT 350. I read that one thing that is missing on the Mustang GT version is it does NOT have an oil cooler for the transmission. And on the track that is a deal killer. The GT 350 comes with it and will run all day. Not the case with the Mustang GT. I’ve read that the car computer actually will protect the car and prevent you from pushing it anymore until it cools down. OK so the Mustang GT is a street race car not a track car.
The other thing is to ponder, how much is enough. If you read my front page on the 2017 Mustang GT I tell you this is one awesome handling and powered car. It was aimed at the best handling Mustang of 2012, the Boss 302. It has 435 HP. How much more do you need? The 2019 are closer to 500 HP and it has a dual clutch setup. I don’t know. I guess I am tempted at the 460 HP Performance Package II. Wonder what he would give me for my Mustang?
A month ago I had business lunch with a 22 year old gal. Delightful lunch and conversation. It was a very nice day so I happened to be driving my Shelby. Been working on getting some city miles on this clutch. Anyway, I asked her on the way out if she wanted to see my old Mustang. She asked me if she could take a ride in it. Who am I to turn down such a request. We got her buckled into the shoulder harness. I jumped into the car and prepared to start the car. Before I could, she pointed and said “why do you have three pedals?” At first I really wasn’t sure what she was asking me. Three pedals then I realized, three pedals. This car has a clutch. Oh, I told her it was a manual transmission and that this silver thing was a shifter. We took off for a drive around the block. I’m shifting the car. She asked me “how long did it take you to learn to drive this car?” When is the last time someone has asked you that question. I had to think about that question. I suppose I learned to drive a manual on a tractor on the farm when I grew up. There could be some truth to what one of my friends said about my Mustangs, not likely to get stolen. Few people can drive a manual transmission.
The new Shelby GT500 available from Ford has 700 horsepower. Supercharger on a Coyote engine. I’ve never driven a car with more HP than my 2017 Mustang GT at 435. I can only imagine what it would be to drive a 700 HP car. I can tell you that I had to learn to drive my car. When that Ford service manager asked if i was the guy that bought that red race car, he’s right. It is a race car. The new Shelby GT500 is really a race car. It’s in a special class of performance cars. The best performance Mustang ever offered. And there have been some pretty awesome Performance Mustangs. How much is enough? Guess it depends on how deep your pocket book is.