2017 GT350 - To be, or not to be... That is the ?

[Myshelby3425]

Here is what Shelby brand manager Jim Owens said when he was asked about production numbers, of course this was from March of this year so a lot can change.....skip to 15:45 in the video.

Yea def no need to be paying ADMs unless it's 2015 models


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[DrumReaper]

So he basically correlated exactly what was said above... R will mirror LS302 #s and 350 between B302 & GT500 numbers. That's pretty exclusive.

 

[DrumReaper]

This.

There were two Boss 302's that set on my local lot for a bit and then one set for a few months before it was sold and both were below MSRP (I don't remember how much).

I will say there isn't a huge market for the GT350, but it is definitely larger than for the Boss. Don't get me wrong, I wanted one pretty bad in 2012, but they killed the looks in 2013 and now the GT350, IMHO, looks much better than the 2012 Boss and is miles ahead of it in ability. I would love if they had a $8k or so option for the GT that gave you Boss like motor upgrades, with GT350 TP like supension with the ability to tuck some meat up front. I think that could sell really well.

The GTPP already beats the LS302 around a track and giving a GT a suspension exclusive to the 350 is ludicrous. The whole geometry of the car is different than that of a GT, hence he $47K entry fee.

The 350 will be purchased by people who really enjoy the ability of the car to lap a course... The GT is mostly enjoyed by those wanting to enjoy a hot 1/8th mile on Saturday nights.

The segments are totally different.

 

[Tony Alonso]

If I remember correctly the 2003 Mach 1 was supposed to be limited to 5k units, but it was such a large success initially that they ramped up production midway through 2003 and were producing a bunch in 2004 before they realized they had cooled off. I think they ended up producing something close to 17k. But it was practically a parts bin car. It sold on name alone, not because it was a great drag car or track car (it got beat by the Cobra at both).

It was planned to be a 2-year run, despite the early speculation and supposed Ford announcement that it would not be. It sold because it has a SHAKER SCOOP

While I have no doubt we will see a 2017 GT350, I do wonder about a further run of them, based on what happens with sales in these 2 model years and the market segment to which this track-focused car will appeal. I'd love to see it continue ahead for more than 2 model years because of the technology and performance it brings to the Mustang line.

 

[_M_]

I'm pretty sure the GT500 production numbers comment is in regards to annual production, not total production.

Plus the fact that this car can sell like hot cakes doesn't really matter if it's cost prohibitive to Ford to produce. If there are really things going on in the background related to production that we don't know about, it may very well limit the overall production of the car versus early estimates from Ford.

We will see what happens, but it's clear that they are already behind on production. If they all of the sudden catch up then maybe we will see more cars than expected; if things still lag behind into the 1Q16 then we may see the run limited.

 

[stanglife]

It was planned to be a 2-year run, despite the early speculation and supposed Ford announcement that it would not be. It sold because it has a SHAKER SCOOP

While I have no doubt we will see a 2017 GT350, I do wonder about a further run of them, based on what happens with sales in these 2 model years and the market segment to which this track-focused car will appeal. I'd love to see it continue ahead for more than 2 model years because of the technology and performance it brings to the Mustang line.

ALmost OT but.. I liked 03-04 when you could get a supercharged IRS Cobra or a DOHC N/A solid axle Mach 1. Cool to have those options back then.

 

[Bagman]

ALmost OT but.. I liked 03-04 when you could get a supercharged IRS Cobra or a DOHC N/A solid axle Mach 1. Cool to have those options back then.

Had them both and looking back I actually enjoyed the Mach1 more than the '03 Cobra.

 

[Tony Alonso]

I liked 03-04 when you could get a supercharged IRS Cobra or a DOHC N/A solid axle Mach 1. Cool to have those options back then.

Yes, indeed. The good old days :-)

 

[PP0001]

Here is what Shelby brand manager Jim Owens said when he was asked about production numbers, of course this was from March of this year so a lot can change.....skip to 15:45 in the video.

Great detective work and when speaking with Jim a month or so ago he conveyed the same information to me except he did not mention the GT500 production numbers as in the video but either way it all looks pretty much the same.

Having said that the production numbers for the 2012 and 2013 Boss 302 and GT500's for the same MY were not really that far apart.

'12/'13 Boss 302 - 2 year average of ~4200 cars.

'12/'13 GT500 - 2 year average of ~4850 cars which includes all convertible production numbers.

Take out the convertible numbers and you will come up with an average of ~4000 GT500 coupes for 2012/2013 MY which as you can see is less than the Boss 302 production numbers for the same MY's.

I don't have the 2014 GT500 production numbers but suggest ~5000 in total with the convertibles counting for 18% to 19% which again comes in at ~4000 coupes for that MY assuming my guess is somewhat accurate.

Laguna Seca production numbers averaged ~775 over the 2 year production run so we can expect those numbers or less for the GT350R model for the 2016/2017 MY.

The way production is going for the GT350R I suggest less than 775 for the 2016 MY but then again production my ramp up as we go forward?

Thanks for posting the video.

:cheers:

 

[dwalker]

[MENTION=16421]PP0001[/MENTION] :cheers:

 

[Derk]

It was planned to be a 2-year run, despite the early speculation and supposed Ford announcement that it would not be. It sold because it has a SHAKER SCOOP

While I have no doubt we will see a 2017 GT350, I do wonder about a further run of them, based on what happens with sales in these 2 model years and the market segment to which this track-focused car will appeal. I'd love to see it continue ahead for more than 2 model years because of the technology and performance it brings to the Mustang line.

I agree it was always a planned two year run...of a total of about 10k units combined. But they ended up making quite a few more than that because they were so popular to begin with.

The GTPP already beats the LS302 around a track and giving a GT a suspension exclusive to the 350 is ludicrous. The whole geometry of the car is different than that of a GT, hence he $47K entry fee.

The 350 will be purchased by people who really enjoy the ability of the car to lap a course... The GT is mostly enjoyed by those wanting to enjoy a hot 1/8th mile on Saturday nights.

The segments are totally different.

The segments are totally different. But if Ford decided to kill the GT350, they won't have a car in that segment. The 2015 GTPP is already slower than a 5th gen 1LE, so I can only assume it will be a lot slower than the 6th gen version. I just want a Mustang that kicks tail in the cornering department when I'm ready purchase...which might be a few years because I just got a new F150. lol

 

[DrumReaper]

You can't argue Ford's intent to keep it low volume just because you can't buy right now... That's absurd.

If you can't get a MY15/16 or perhaps 17, then you'll likely be looking for a used one.

 

[Tony Alonso]

I agree it was always a planned two year run...of a total of about 10k units combined. But they ended up making quite a few more than that because they were so popular to begin with.

According to the Ford folks I've talked to over the years, the total was planned to be closer to what we got from the start, which was about 14000. It just wasn't publicly communicated that way. The Mach 1 had competition from the 2005 model, in my opinion, along with the Terminator Cobra.

 

[Derk]

You can't argue Ford's intent to keep it low volume just because you can't buy right now... That's absurd.

If you can't get a MY15/16 or perhaps 17, then you'll likely be looking for a used one.

I think my original statement was that if they don't keep making them, that they have something to replace it with be it another Boss or just a better GTPP.

Outside of that, I've just stated that the GT350R is the best handling and fastest lap timing Mustang Ford has made and that Ford does have a tendency to up production when a product sells well.

I'll add to that last bit, that I find it hard to believe Ford would spend the R&D time on the suspension upgrades, tuning, motor, and body to only make 8k ish units over two years. Not to mention tooling for the blocks, heads, etc. Particularly when the price of the car didn't triple or quadruple...unless they are taking a loss on these.

 

[Derk]

According to the Ford folks I've talked to over the years, the total was planned to be closer to what we got from the start, which was about 14000. It just wasn't publicly communicated that way. The Mach 1 had competition from the 2005 model, in my opinion, along with the Terminator Cobra.

Hmm, I'll have to dig around on that, I thought it was always "about 5k (units)" that was the goal. Like I said earlier, the Mach was a parts bin car, so it was probably easier to up production.

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