Posting this here and in "Unleashed". First and foremost, my thanks to SuperModerator and Grand Poobah '07 Shelby and OldImp for the tremendous support through this process. Now....on with the show:
Got the call from the dealer yesterday morning. There was a transport in his lot with a driver that had been there since 4am. He said he wasn't leaving THIS one on the doorstep and stayed with the car til they opened!
Great dealership, great people: Quality Ford in Princeton KY. Allyn Moore and Todd Bradford (Allyn is the owner, Todd the Sales Mgr). They have been just awesome through the entire process. So, they have no Saturday service and it could get a PDI. I bribed the service manager to come in and do it (with a wad of dough and he took his wife out for a great dinner last night). Here's the sequence:
11:00am Call from dealer
11:00:30am I wipe up after myself
11:02am I break into uncontrollable tears when I hear it can get PDI'd
11:02:01am I start coming up with an answer to this problem
11:05am Return call from dealer saying the bribe worked...come get it
11:06am Pack some crap in a bag and head to O'Hare
1:50pm Wheels up via American Airlines
3:00pm Land at Nashville
3:10pm Already in rental car, and have left airport (Thanks Hertz #1 Gold!!!)
4:51pm Arrive dealer in Princeton, KY (Try Mapquest and YOU do the math. I beat the BeJesus out of a Hyundai
at an incredible rate of speed that I'll never get to duplicate in the Shelby 'cause it's Arrest-Me Red.
4:53pm Pick lower jaw off floor after seeing it. Hear muted laughter and talking from bystanders
5:21pm Deal done, BEL RX 65 Pro and Magellan 800 in window, "let's hit it".
5:22pm Cross street to AutoZone for a little wax for the front to help remove bugs later.
5:23pm AutoZone employee carrying battery to lady's car stops in his tracks, puts down battery and goes
back into store. 5 seconds later every person in the store has surrounded my car. I buy wax,
head to shady spot, apply coat and boogie.
6:30pm (see photo) Got to see my grandkids in southern IL on the way through!!!!
10:00pm Stop in Effingham Illinois to see new friends at another dealership. About 10 people there to see it.
They chipped bugs off front air dam and windshield so the could take pix.
10:45pm Back on I-57 north
3:15am The Eagle Had Landed. My wife and daughter absolutely freaked when they saw it.
9:30am Washed, re-waxed front. Let's ride!!!!!!
Observations:
MUCH smoother, quieter and "planted" than I could ever imagine. Fit, finish, detail was outstanding. Stripes absolutely suck. Certainly not worth my 1.5 month wait (car was produced 6/27/06) Overlaps, bubbles, just horrendous, but that why I have a warranty. BTW, Mr "I'm not leavin' it here" did manage to nick the front air dam getting it off the truck, but no biggie.
Power is just plain linear. I drove 450 miles last night and varied it 60/70/80/70/60 all night. After 250, I ran it about 1/2 trottle to 4,000 on the on ramps. By the time I got home, I kicked it in tha ass just a touch. THIS is gonna be a hoot! (The wife says, no golf today big boy, we're cruising all day)
Interior upgrade is a no-brainer. MUCH nicer. Only Helen Keller would need a Shaker 1000. I work in radio, have the music of a 14 year old daughter and I'm a drummer and the 500 can hurt my ears and do it cleanly. IF you buy the 1000, you're only doing it for the weight distribution or some sort of bizarre thought that it'll be worth more when you sell it as a collectable (not likely).
I've had these same tires on a C5, and these are soooo much quieter becaue of the lack of the big open hatch on a Vette.
Service Mgr says, you're not going to want to drive this in the rain! I asked whynot. He said "see those two manholes on the hood? I washed the car and the motor was absolutely soaked!" So...that's something we never discussed on here!! I'll put a couple of squares of trash bag over the holes when I wash it to minimized the engine bay detailing necessary, but he's right about rain....not that I care, but he's right. It's my daily driver. I can have rain, snow, locusts, whatever. I can always clean it.
Everything about the car looks SO much more dramatic than it does in pix and print. I'm telling you, everyone that saw it was stunned.
More driving details later....here's one pic of the granddaughter and yours truly.
Gotta drive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Got the call from the dealer yesterday morning. There was a transport in his lot with a driver that had been there since 4am. He said he wasn't leaving THIS one on the doorstep and stayed with the car til they opened!
Great dealership, great people: Quality Ford in Princeton KY. Allyn Moore and Todd Bradford (Allyn is the owner, Todd the Sales Mgr). They have been just awesome through the entire process. So, they have no Saturday service and it could get a PDI. I bribed the service manager to come in and do it (with a wad of dough and he took his wife out for a great dinner last night). Here's the sequence:
11:00am Call from dealer
11:00:30am I wipe up after myself
11:02am I break into uncontrollable tears when I hear it can get PDI'd
11:02:01am I start coming up with an answer to this problem
11:05am Return call from dealer saying the bribe worked...come get it
11:06am Pack some crap in a bag and head to O'Hare
1:50pm Wheels up via American Airlines
3:00pm Land at Nashville
3:10pm Already in rental car, and have left airport (Thanks Hertz #1 Gold!!!)
4:51pm Arrive dealer in Princeton, KY (Try Mapquest and YOU do the math. I beat the BeJesus out of a Hyundai
at an incredible rate of speed that I'll never get to duplicate in the Shelby 'cause it's Arrest-Me Red.
4:53pm Pick lower jaw off floor after seeing it. Hear muted laughter and talking from bystanders
5:21pm Deal done, BEL RX 65 Pro and Magellan 800 in window, "let's hit it".
5:22pm Cross street to AutoZone for a little wax for the front to help remove bugs later.
5:23pm AutoZone employee carrying battery to lady's car stops in his tracks, puts down battery and goes
back into store. 5 seconds later every person in the store has surrounded my car. I buy wax,
head to shady spot, apply coat and boogie.
6:30pm (see photo) Got to see my grandkids in southern IL on the way through!!!!
10:00pm Stop in Effingham Illinois to see new friends at another dealership. About 10 people there to see it.
They chipped bugs off front air dam and windshield so the could take pix.
10:45pm Back on I-57 north
3:15am The Eagle Had Landed. My wife and daughter absolutely freaked when they saw it.
9:30am Washed, re-waxed front. Let's ride!!!!!!
Observations:
MUCH smoother, quieter and "planted" than I could ever imagine. Fit, finish, detail was outstanding. Stripes absolutely suck. Certainly not worth my 1.5 month wait (car was produced 6/27/06) Overlaps, bubbles, just horrendous, but that why I have a warranty. BTW, Mr "I'm not leavin' it here" did manage to nick the front air dam getting it off the truck, but no biggie.
Power is just plain linear. I drove 450 miles last night and varied it 60/70/80/70/60 all night. After 250, I ran it about 1/2 trottle to 4,000 on the on ramps. By the time I got home, I kicked it in tha ass just a touch. THIS is gonna be a hoot! (The wife says, no golf today big boy, we're cruising all day)
Interior upgrade is a no-brainer. MUCH nicer. Only Helen Keller would need a Shaker 1000. I work in radio, have the music of a 14 year old daughter and I'm a drummer and the 500 can hurt my ears and do it cleanly. IF you buy the 1000, you're only doing it for the weight distribution or some sort of bizarre thought that it'll be worth more when you sell it as a collectable (not likely).
I've had these same tires on a C5, and these are soooo much quieter becaue of the lack of the big open hatch on a Vette.
Service Mgr says, you're not going to want to drive this in the rain! I asked whynot. He said "see those two manholes on the hood? I washed the car and the motor was absolutely soaked!" So...that's something we never discussed on here!! I'll put a couple of squares of trash bag over the holes when I wash it to minimized the engine bay detailing necessary, but he's right about rain....not that I care, but he's right. It's my daily driver. I can have rain, snow, locusts, whatever. I can always clean it.
Everything about the car looks SO much more dramatic than it does in pix and print. I'm telling you, everyone that saw it was stunned.
More driving details later....here's one pic of the granddaughter and yours truly.
Gotta drive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!