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Old 10-20-2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 Mineral Grey S281 View Post
Come on Dave, I'll give you an example: Did you ever hear of a Boss 302? It appealed to the masses, WAS realitively cheap and a very SPECIAL automobile.
The Boss 302 did not appeal to the masses. Different era of vehicles when the automotive culture of this country was still leaning heavy toward domestic brands. In terms of '69-'70 Mustangs, the MACH 1 styling package appealed to the masses.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 Mineral Grey S281 View Post
As far as the employees of Saleen go... Did they receive the same profits and dividends that the hierarchy exponged? I think not. So fair credit for failure has to be doled out accordingly. The old addage may apply here: "the fish rots from the head down".
Depending on the employee, they'd steal off the production line or parts department. What's the difference. Theft is theft. Most employees in any given company are replaceable. Most think they're special, few actually are. Cogs in a wheel that's part of a machine. Cogs are frequently replaced.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 Mineral Grey S281 View Post
Fantasyland is a good term, but do you really think there are enough customers out there to buy into Fantasyland? Remains to be seen....
Hyundai's would still look like Hyundai's if people wanted boring cars styled as toasters. People who spend $15,000.00 on custom paint... want Fantasyland even more. Spoils of success... or to live with a full-size HotWheels car.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 Mineral Grey S281 View Post
Also, Do you really consider the MJ/Saleen A CHEAP PRODUCT?
No. When the 2010 S281 debuts, those comments can be made if need be. If the detail items are not present, if the car does not feature interesting intricacies, and if MS doesn't give a speech as to why anyone should care about this new product... I will consider it cheap.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 Mineral Grey S281 View Post
From what I know, the guys at SPV deserve better than just being browbeat, they are a great bunch of guys attempting to renew something with some very good automobiles. We are not giving them credit for what they are doing, remember this IS their first year.
Their rocky start was their own doing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 Mineral Grey S281 View Post
As far as Mr. Shelby/ Mr. Saleen goes.... they both have built great cars over the years. I would have to think Mr. Shelby's first foray into building cars far overshadowed anything Mr. Saleen has done, or will do. His Cobra's, Mustang's and GT40's are not in the same conversation as what Mr. Saleen built ( although I think Mr. Saleen did build some very good cars. His cars just don't stack up).
Bias, or you bought into the Shelby marketing. Ford Motor Company was a too important factor in CS 1960s party.

The GTs were their (FMC) cars. Firms like Holman Moody and Bill Stroppe can take the re-engineered, winning, Ford GT credit and success as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 Mineral Grey S281 View Post
Mr. Shelby is an automotive icon and deserves the accolades he receives.
Not really. He was a ruthless business man, who had a brief racing career, and was in the right place, in the right time, with the right idea at the dawn of the 1960s.

He didn't race his creations and he didn't build his creations. The Mustangs were forced upon him and the revamped GT was Ford's billion dollar out-sourced project.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 Mineral Grey S281 View Post
And hopefully, someone will bring up the S-7 ( a great car) but how many times did it win at LeMans?
Ford won LeMans with the GT. Ford's money, Ford's car, with an outsource of teams and crews.

And again... different eras. Bringing a vehicle to market like the S7 in 2000 was a much daunting task then building a Cobra in 1962.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 Mineral Grey S281 View Post
I am not trying to beat up on Mr. Saleen. I think he was quite a good auto builder in his day, but if you are about to put Mr. Shelby in a box, Is Mr. Saleen far behind??? Hmmmm.....
The SMS 570 and 460 indicate to me... that Phil Frank & SS are thinking outside the box... with these limited edition, cohesive, imaginative, performance vehicles. Fantasyland is rockin'.
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