Ford Mustang Commercial with Steve McQueen...COOL!

Here's the latest Ford Mustang TV ad from Ford featuring the late and great Steve McQueen. Isn't it amazing what you can do with computers these days ;-> Over to you Steve....watch out for that barbed wire fence!!! Pete

Is newest Mustang a dying breed?

It may be one of the last 500-horsepower muscle cars. At least 65 percent of the buyers of the 2007 Shelby Mustang GT 500 will be baby boomers, says Hua Thai-Tang of Ford Motor Co. He calls the car "the automotive equivalent of Viagra."

Rushing through torrential rain on Interstate 44, the Shelby Mustang GT 500 splashes smoothly through road pools at speed. This extreme 500-horsepower muscle car – the newest factory hot rod from Detroit – weathered that storm with ease and grace. But the GT 500 and other domestic muscle cars may face tougher tests ahead. Although demand for the GT 500 is so high that it has pushed the car's $42,000 base price to $50,000 or more at many dealerships, some industry observers think it could be the last 500-horsepower muscle car to come out of Detroit.

With gas prices high and baby boomer buyers nearing retirement, the sun may be setting on traditional American muscle cars. The genre was born more than 40 years ago and revived in the early '90s with the Dodge Viper, whose V-10 engine now pumps out 520 horsepower.

Moreover, as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. struggle financially, the money to develop these cars may be limited – particularly if the number of potential buyers is dwindling. "I think there is a built-in demographic for these cars now," said Michael Jordan, chief of Automobile magazine's Los Angeles bureau, who wrote a story on muscle cars for the July issue. "But it's totally correct to say this is not a big boom market. I just don't see more of the ... [500-horsepower cars] coming from Detroit. "Though no one is predicting the imminent demise of all muscle cars, their slow fade could pose a significant challenge for Detroit. Although the cars primarily appeal to over-50 buyers, they are the Big Three's main "halo" vehicles – attention-grabbers for the entire brand.

Without high-profile cars like the GT 500 – which should arrive at dealerships within 60 days – and the Z06 Corvette, the Dodge Viper and Charger SRT-8, "the domestics are left with nothing in the way of halo vehicles," said Wes Brown, an analyst at industry consultant Iceology in Los Angeles. "I don't know if we are at the peak or not," he said. "I guess it will be determined by how well these cars are executed."

"I don't see the Europeans backing away from selling luxury cars with these massive V-8s and huge horsepower," Mr. Brown said. "But that's low volume. "If you want to keep your [sales] volumes high, there could be some resistance to bigger V-8s with high horsepower, particularly if gas stays high."

Appealing to the young Muscle cars may evolve into smaller, lighter, more economical vehicles that appeal to younger buyers, but they won't fade away altogether, predicted Jim Sanfillippo, executive vice president of industry consultant AMCI Inc. in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "Do these cars have a bright future?" Mr. Sanfillippo said. "No. But they were always a niche. What you will see in the future is smaller-displacement V-8s, direct injection for power and efficiency, lighter materials. They may be different from today's muscle cars, but they will still be muscle cars.

"With the arrival of the GT 500, four domestic vehicles now have at least 500 horsepower – including the Corvette ZO6, Dodge Viper, and Dodge Ram SRT-10. Sales of those low-volume, ultra-high-performance vehicles are likely to slow first, industry officials say. Shelby speaks "I don't know whether we'll see more of these [500-horsepower] cars or not," said legendary Texas racer Carroll Shelby, who built the original GT 350 and GT 500 Mustangs for Ford in the 1960s and worked with the company on the current car. "Five hundred is about as much horsepower as you can put on the ground and use. This horsepower race is kind of stupid."

Nonetheless, Mr. Shelby, 83, who is one of the oldest living transplant-organ recipients (heart and kidney), expects to work with Ford on another specialty Mustang. "I'm happy with the GT 500," he said from his ranch in East Texas. "It's a really well-thought-out, balanced car."

All told, ultra-high-performance cars account for less than 100,000 sales – a tiny portion of the overall new-vehicle market of about 17 million annually. But muscle cars are enormously influential. The GT 500, for example, is on the July cover of Car and Driver, Automobile and Motor Trend magazines. Gas prices' effect Angus MacKenzie, editor in chief of Motor Trend, believes that high gas prices will affect every segment of the auto industry. But Mr. MacKenzie, who completed a 3,500-mile coast-to-coast trip in a GT 500 for a cover story on the car, doesn't think they will kill muscle cars – just reshape them.

He and others in the industry expect Chevrolet to build a new Camaro and Dodge to build a new Challenger, providing more opportunities for future muscle cars. In fact, Chrysler Group officials announced Saturday at a NASCAR race in Daytona that the company will build the Challenger. It's expected to arrive at dealerships in about a year.

"Americans don't want small cars," Mr. MacKenzie said. "They want cars that deliver good mileage." Last week, Ford invited The News to drive a new GT 500 from its headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., to Dallas.In 1,300 miles of interstate driving, the 500-horsepower Mustang proved an excellent road car, with good steering and handling, exceptional brakes and great performance when pushed. The car's gas mileage varied from 19.8 to 22.9 miles per gallon.

At least 65 percent of the car's buyers will be baby boomers, said Hau Thai-Tang, director of advanced product creation and special vehicle team engineering. He declined to say what Ford expects in sales of the GT 500 but said similar specialty Mustangs have generated 8,000 to 10,000 sales annually. "The Shelby 500 is the automotive equivalent of Viagra," Mr. Thai-Tang said. "The car resonates with baby boomers." Like the others, he expects muscle-car Mustangs to evolve. "I don't see horsepower going up in the same way it has," Mr. Thai-Tang said. "Customers are telling us they want horsepower and economy."

Mr. Thai-Tang, who also oversaw the development of the current Mustang, hinted that the next specialty Mustang might fill the slot between the $27,000 Mustang GT and the $42,000 GT 500. "I can't comment on future products," he said. "But the Mustang GT is 300 horsepower in the mid-$20,000 range. We have the GT 500 with 500 horsepower at $43,000. There's a lot of room between the two." Area Ford dealer Sam Pack, who has seen future Mustangs and is an astute collector of classic American cars, believes the segment will survive, partly because Ford and other manufacturers have learned to build specialty vehicles in small volumes and still make money on them.

"Even with low volumes, these specialty muscle cars can be important halo vehicles to an entire line," said Mr. Pack, who owns Five Star Ford in North Richland Hills, Sam Pack's Five Star Ford in Carrollton and Ford Country in Lewisville. "Interest in these vehicles may dwindle. But you go through time, and it will resurface."

2007 SHELBY MUSTANG GT 500Base price: $41,950Engine: Supercharged 5.4-liter V-8Horsepower: 500Transmission: 6-speed manualWeight: About 3,900 poundsFuel economy: Not rated; magazines report 11 to 18.4 mpg Performance: 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds; covers a quarter-mile in 12.7 seconds at 116 mphTop speed: 155 mph

SOURCES: Motor Trend; Dallas Morning News research

EVOLUTION OF A BEAST 1964: Pontiac's first GTO is credited with developing and promoting the muscle car formula: Take a midsize car, stuff a big engine and a 4-speed in it, throw on some larger tires and start taking orders. Oldsmobile and Buick follow suit shortly with the 442 and Gran Sport.1966: The Ford Mustang arrived in '64 as little more than a Falcon economy car with a great body. By 1966, though, Texan Carroll Shelby takes the mild-mannered Mustang and converts it into the track-ready Mustang GT 350.1967: Chevrolet fires back with the Camaro, a pony car that seeks to outmuscle the Mustang – and often does. Chevy is in full swing, also offering the big-block Chevelle Super Sport.1968: Plymouth introduces the Road Runner, a stripped-down, big-engined muscle car. An option is the legendary 426 Hemi – which helps build on the Hemi legend.1970: The Chevelle SS454, Buick GSX, Mustang Boss 302, and Hemi 'Cudas and Challengers make this a great year for muscle cars.1985: Mustang and Camaro begin to get some horsepower again, firing up the muscle car sector for the longest run so far.SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research

Classic American Muscle Cars

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