Say Goodbye to the GT350 and GT350R,
The Last Stick-Shift Shelby Mustangs
Inside Hook,
by
Alex Lauer
Original Article
Posted By: StormCnter,
10/2/2020 2:38:13 PM
If you want a new Mustang, there are plenty of options. But only one of them made Car and Driver’s annual 10 Best list in 2016 and 2017, only one of them was called “the best new sports car that I’ve ever driven when evaluated on a per-dollar basis” by Jalopnik, and only one of them has the honor of being a Shelby Mustang with a stick shift.
That Mustang is the GT350. Unfortunately for fans of economical American muscle, it was revealed yesterday that Ford is taking the axe to the GT350 as well as its track-tuned GT350R sibling. Meaning? After the current 2020 year, you’ll no longer be able
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Jiobaobubai 10/2/2020 2:55:57 PM (No. 559838)
While I do miss the manual transmission of my 2012 GT500, my 2020 is so damn fast I completely forgot about it. The 350 is a cool car but, well, I'll smoke it! :D
All in good fun.
3 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Hazymac 10/2/2020 3:02:14 PM (No. 559846)
As long as capitalism is legal, products will be improved. I own and drive a 2003 Honda S2000 with manual transmission. If the same car, extinct since 2010, were to be reintroduced, stick shift probably wouldn't be available. That's fine with me. Considering how long I keep my transportation, my next car will probably be a hearse.
10 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 10/2/2020 3:20:55 PM (No. 559866)
A sad day for the Mustang. I should have hung onto the 1967 GTO. You could squeal the wheels in every gear.
3 people like this.
Bought my wife a Miata Speed with a 6 speed. Would never consider a sports car with an automatic! Heel and Toe is excellent...but today’s youth will never know the joy of having total control of your car!
5 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
DVC 10/2/2020 3:31:44 PM (No. 559877)
Too few folks these days have any clue what a clutch is or how to shift a manual transmission.
I road tested the double-clutch self-shifting computer controlled Porsche PDK equipped Cayman. If the purpose is racing, that transmission can shift in something like 0.20 second, when a fast driver can shift a manual in perhaps half a second or a touch faster. If you save 0.25 seconds per shift (compared to a REALLY fast racing driver manual shift) with 7 gears and maybe 40 shifts per racing lap, you can save 40 x 0.25 = 10 seconds per lap not spent with the power off between shifts. That is huge in a race.
But, I bought the six speed manual. I love to shift when accelerating hard and the Cayman gearshift is fabulous....amazing considering that it has to go past the mid engine, all the way back to the rear of the car to reach the transmission. There must be some complex linkages. However Porsche does it, the gearshift is great, precise and fast.
Manuals are doomed, sadly. I always get a manual, so does my wife. It's getting harder and harder to do.
4 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
SkeezerMcGee 10/2/2020 3:32:32 PM (No. 559879)
These will some day be worth a not so small fortune.
1 person likes this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
DVC 10/2/2020 3:37:15 PM (No. 559887)
#2, that Honda engine is one of the greatest technical achievements EVER. Only the 1969 Porsche 911S made 100 hp per liter of displacement. A 2.0 L engine with 200 hp. Nobody touched that power output for a street car before or after....until the S2000.
Honda exceeded that with 234 hp, IIRC, from the S2000 2 liter motor. I drove one in a test drive...what an impressive car with an amazing engine. No drama, drive like an Accord up until about 4,500 and then boom....comes the horsepower and it revs forever (at least seemed like it). A fine automobile!
3 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
WhamDBambam 10/2/2020 3:44:56 PM (No. 559901)
I’ve never had the opportunity to own an American muscle car. I drove a ‘91 M-5 for over fifteen years.
1 person likes this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Stencil 10/2/2020 3:52:03 PM (No. 559911)
On a tangent, you all should see Ford versus Ferrari if you haven’t already. Fantastic movie; best since Indian with Anthony Hopkins.
5 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
DVC 10/2/2020 4:01:20 PM (No. 559926)
#4, a good friend had Flyin' Miata put a 430 hp Corvette engine, 6 speed Camaro trans and a Caddy high end sports model IRS/limited slip rear suspenension into it. That was impressive. He let me drive it. Amazing car, docile, kept pretty much all the good Miata parts and just added tons of well behaved horsepower.
Like a Miata with it's hair on fire.
2 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Hazymac 10/2/2020 4:09:04 PM (No. 559929)
Re: 7: That 2.0 liter atmospheric--that is to say, non-turbo or non-supercharged--engine revved to 9000 and put out 120 bhp per liter, 240 total, true top speed of 163 miles per hour. That was pretty amazing at the time.
3 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Videodrone 10/2/2020 4:31:56 PM (No. 559965)
My daily driver is a 21 year old 4wd pickup with a (dual range) manual transmission and other than when I have to drive in the bay area traffic - or drive through 19th Street in San Francisco after the first rain (engage 4wd or I'm spinning the rears at every stoplight!)
my fun car is a convertible 2012 640Hp Shelby GT500 (it's been tweaked a bit) - amazing car - drive it normally and its "just" a street car - however there lurks another 3" of OMG-GO! under the right foot!
The spec on the 2020 GT500 is 0-100-0 in10.8 seconds and a bit over 800' - not doing that with a manual!
2 people like this.
#s 1and 12, I had an opportunity to drive one of those Shelby 500's back in the '70's. The accelerator would make me see the sky. I had an S2000, but didn't give me as much fun as my '65 Jag XKE. Doing 160 over South Colorado flatlands is a bucket list check off.
2 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
JHHolliday 10/2/2020 5:54:19 PM (No. 560040)
As a former sports car racer, I still love a stick but getting old now and appreciate the comfort of an automatic. A friend had a Shelby Mustang. 60s model but don’t remember the year. I do remember disengaging the clutch was like prizing open a a bear trap with my left foot. A little tiring in stop and go traffic. Fun car though.
4 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
udanja99 10/2/2020 6:49:37 PM (No. 560095)
I’ve never owned a car with an automatic transmission. I just bought a 2021 Mini Cooper to replace my 2013 and had to order it to get a stick shift. None were made at all in the 2020 series. I’m almost 68 and I hope to keep driving manuals until my knees give out.
7 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 10/2/2020 7:10:13 PM (No. 560110)
Can't wait for Formula One to move to automatics for the ladies.
s/o
0 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Videodrone 10/2/2020 7:18:42 PM (No. 560120)
I've noticed some places that should know better I've had valets and tire places have to wait "..for the guy who knows how to drive a stick"
3 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
GO3 10/2/2020 7:59:06 PM (No. 560154)
These days a manual transmission is one of the best anti theft devices you can get.
3 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Mauigirl 10/2/2020 9:05:27 PM (No. 560187)
I used to drive a 1978 Ford Country Squire.
Used it to drive my kids to school.
And it was pretty good for transporting groceries.
I know I should brag about how fast it would go.
And how skilled my driving skills were.
And still are, of course.
But. modesty forbids.
1 person likes this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Enoch Powell 10/3/2020 8:19:12 AM (No. 560450)
I have an annoying habit of peeking into the cockpits of supposed high performance cars to see if they have a manual. I am frequently and increasingly disappointed. In my neck of the woods (city actually) GTIs are the only newish car almost always with a manual transmission...
0 people like this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "StormCnter"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)