Youre probably right on the pricing.. but they ARE going production. Even if
just a limited run, thats been said by the SVT guys at several shows.

Here's what I read last night in the June 2005 Hot Rod:

"The launch of a production GT500 is still too far off to carve
anything in stone, but as we followed the buildup of the Shelby GT500
show car Ford commissioned for a press introduction at the '05 New York
Auto Show, we got every indication that the car you see here is at
least as close to the planned production model as the '05 Mustang
concept was to its eventual factory version, if not closer. The most
important  thing to note about the concept car, which was built by the
show car division of Saleen Special Vehicles in Troy, Michigan, is that
it was designed to mimic a production vehicle as closely as possible. .
. ."

"With its final calibration far from set, SVT will only admit to 'at
least 450 hp' at this point, but we expect that number to creep up
quite a bit as the Shelby's fall '06 launch approaches, and we wouldn't
be surprised if the final tally falls close to the 500 mark (knock,
knock, Z06!) During our behind-the-scenes peak at the concept car
buildup, we heard more than a few comments about this being possibly
the first 500hp production car under $40,000. If Ford can pull that one
off, the Shelby legend will indeed grow beyond epic."

So . . . Fall '06? 500 hp? $39,999 MSRP? Time will tell. I'm guessing a
"'06.5" release, or later, a claimed 450 hp but an actual 500, and a
mid to high $40's MSRP. Ford just won't be able to say no to an extra
$5K profit per car.  5,000 cars, that's $25 million.

One thing the "'06" GT500 will have in common with its '67-'70
predecessors:  "Due to the increased weight of the iron block  5.4L,
Thai-Tang says the new Cobra will gain up to 350 pounds compared to a
base GT and lose some of its  front-to-rear weight  balance. He
estimates that the GT500 will likely see about 56-57 percent of its
static weight on the front wheels compared to 53-54 percent for the
currrent 4.6L GTs."

Yikes. A supercharged 329 ci, 500 lb-ft engine and a 60/40 weight
distribution? 100 yd burnouts will be yours!

180 Out