2008 Ford Cobra Jet Factory Race Car #27 FR500CJ

[Jim Foley]

Originally Posted by Evan Smith

Casey,

I too wish more of the factory CJ cars were raced, but on the the other hand it is a free country and Ford can't hand-hold its customers. I really don't mean to seem rude or to stir up the pot with you personally, but these negative, inaccurate posts just eat me up. First, there were only 50 CJs built, not 100. Second, why do you assume every dealer is out to screw someone? I know many who got their CJs at sticker. Seriously, dude, do you plan to buy one? Why the grave concern for how Ford does business? How, in any way, does it affect you and your racing program? Ford happens to sell cars at dealerships, and this one, albeit a rare one, was sold just as other Mustangs were. If you got in line quick enough you had the chance to be a CJ owner. And there have been plenty to hit the track so far.

For the record, in 1995 Ford did require a NHRA or similar road racing license to purchase a 1995 Cobra R (there were 250 built). Unfortunately, even this did not guarantee that all the cars made it to a track as many went into the hands of collectors. While unique, these cars are not worth much more, if any, than the original purchase price. Ford did not want to go through this trouble again (which actually amounts to mounds of paperwork and more dollars wasted on crap) since it didn't mean anything in the end anyway.

David Lindsay runs a '95 Cobra R in D2 (not sure if it is a real car) and that is the only one I've seen in NHRA. A bunch were raced and wrecked in SCCA or similar competition.


Evan

Well said.

[BOB KIRKBRIDE]

I stopped by the Ford dealer I worked for today, TEAM FORD in Las Vegas. And yes they HAVE built l00 units. 50 last year and 50 this year. There are 30 still available as of this morning at 65K a pop.
This is according to my friend Chris, who is General Sales Manager. I still race after starting 49 years ago with and old 427 64 Thunderbolt! Bob

[Smitty]

No one is going to pay $100k for that car when/if they are still available. Even if they aren't I don't see that car bringing that kind of money so soon after production. My gut feeling is he will sit on that egg for a while before it matures any.

Evan, why didn't you come out to our first Southern Stock/Super Stock Association race Memorial Day weekend? You missed a good race, there was actually some Fords in the field, even a GT 500 running in pure stock. Where are you located in Tampa, would love to meet you in person.

Smitty

[Casey Miles]

Evan: Just a look at what is been going on with doing business, that in the past wouldn't fly. Every dealership that I gone to down here in Florida has an ad dement sticker on all their cars no matter if it's just a plain jane. I know that the Ford dealerships were taking BIDS on the GT40's when they came out, so why not the Cobra's cars be sold the same way just like the GT40's, it's a dealerships way of doing business. Why do you think that it's a positive thing that someone purchases a Cobra from a dealership who is a dealer and has no intention of racing it, then marks it up $30K from sticker? If Ford did the selling of the Cobra's the way that Mopar did it, we would be seeing all the Cobra's at the tracks. Where is that a negative post?

Casey Miles
248H

[lstanford]

Let's clear the air on the number built. There were 50 2008 Mustang Cobra Jets built. They have all been sold and delivered to the end users. The end users are racers, collectors or entrepreneurs who are trying to make a fast buck. I always thought making money was what built this country. I guess its all right with certain people if they make money but not the other guy. The retail price on the 2008 car was $69,995 plus local sales tax. I know Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor, Michigan delivered 15 of the cars and everybody paid the same price $69,995 plus 6% sales tax unless you were from out of state and then it was up to you to pay your local sales tax. I know at least 3 of their customers are trying to resell the cars for more profit than the dealer made and I think this is ok. The market will dictate the value of the car and the dealer didn't "gouge" anybody. I will bet most, if not all of the dealers sold their cars the same way. Back to the numbers. Ford racing has taken orders on 50 2010 Mustang Cobra Jets and will build them sometime this fall or winter. the package will change and the pricing will be higher but there will be more content to the car. There is a lot of speculation but the final package has not been announced. Ford Motor is still not on solid ground and I would not call this a done deal untl the cars are built. There will only be 50 2008 factory built Cobra Jet Mustangs until the end of time and 50 factory built 2010 Cobra Jet Mustangs until the end of time. The buyer will dictate the price after the initial sale and 50 of each number is a very small number. The Cobra Jet on E-Bay has been listed 3 or 4 times and has been a no sale. If you want one of the 50 and can afford it, then bid, if not, move on in life. Now go and try to buy a ZR1 Corvette. LOL.

[Evan Smith]

Bob,

You are wrong. There were 50 built and Ford is "going" to build 50 more using the 2010 body, but these haven't been built yet. This was confirmed by Jesse Kershaw of Ford Racing.

Smitty, I moved into my new house, but have been traveling a bit. I live in Valrico. I'm sure once I'm all settled I will make it to some Southern S/SS races. My car is still in NJ, because I'm racing a little more up there.

Thanks,

Evan

[Evan Smith]

Casey,

Re-read my post. I stated that I would love for all the 50 cars to be raced, but that just isn't going to happen. Ford tried to ensure that all cars got raced in 1995 and IT DIDN'T WORK! It takes a lot more paperwork (read: money and manpower) to sell cars exclusively to NHRA-licensed racers and in the end what would stop a racer from reselling the car to a collector? Ford wanted anyone who wanted a CJ to have a fair chance to buy one.

I also hate when dealers mark up cars, but that too is reality of life, however, not all dealers are "screwing people" and marking cars up. All of the CJ owners I know, save for the first one sold at Barrett Jackson, went for sticker (or actually below). Many Ford dealers have marked up (at the begining of each run, almost every new hot rod Mustang (Mach 1, Cobra, Shelby, etc.), along with the Ford GT (which is the proper name, not GT-40). All these cars came down to sticker or below over time.

BTW, Chrysler and GM have done the same thing with the Challenger and the Camaro SS. I don't like it, but no one is forced to go buy a car either. Anyone can wait a bit and the price will come down.

Evan

[lstanford]

How much did people pay for I Phones when they first came out? Price markups come about when there is more demand than supply. In other words, people do this to themselves. College professors cal it "price elasticity". 2008 and 2009 Shelby KR's are begging to be sold on Ford dealers lots and the early customers paid an addendum price. I know a Ford dealer who paid another Ford dealer a $25,000.00 markup just to get a KR because he didn't win at Fords KR lottery. I wonder how stupid he feels today. Let's look at this another way. In January Ford stock was at one dollar ($1.00) and today it is six twenty ($6.20). Instead of buying a 2008 Cobra Jet, you bought $70,000.00 of Ford stock and now have $430,000.00. Who was smarter, the collector or the investor. People buying these late model cars as investments are only fooling themselves. These cars were made to race and hopefully most of them make it to the track. Truthfully, I have been disappointed in the few that have competed. There will always be people who want to say " I have one of the original 50 Cobra Jets in my car museum". I have a good friend who did the investment in Ford stock and made the money. He sold the stock yesterday and today he's trying to buy a 2009 ZR1 Corvette with a $15,000.00 addendum. His reasoning is that he just made all this money in the stock market and Government Motors will find a reason to not build the ZR1. This does not seem right. Reasons are like noses, we all have one.

[stefan callender]

Its just the way it is, I work for a Nissan dealership. Our dealership has sold 5 GT-R's. Everyone over $10,000 above sticker price. Its supply and demand.

[91trunk]

Originally Posted by Casey Miles

Ford made a huge mistake selling them from the showroom. This was so that the dealer could first screw someone who wants to buy one by putting on their ad dement sticker of street value. Next is the person willing to pay that amount so that they can add their amount speculating knowing that there is only 100 of the Cobra's being built. The ad on ebay is showing how bad it is. I hope the seller has to sit on his investment and looses what ever profits he thought he would get from this vehicle and then some. Mopar at least did it the right way with getting people with resume's in racing before selling them. I hope that they doget out into the racing network in full force.
Casey Miles
248H

Casey it's too bad you know NOTHING about how these cars were sold.

My family owns Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor MI. We had 15....yes 15 of these cars grace our dealership. They were all sold at STICKER! Not thousands over to make a quick buck.

Of those 15, 13 were for our customers. We picked up the extra two from a dealer that couldn't afford to keep them in inventory. We could have made a killing on those cars, but once again sold them at sticker.

My entire family has supported drag racing since my Grandfather and Great Uncle owned Stanford Bros. Dodge in the 60's. They sponsored cars back then.

Louis Stanford the President of Varsity is a drag racer. He has a beautiful 68 R Code Cobra Jet car that was raced by Carl Holbrook in the 70's. He also sponsors other racers from Milan dragway.

I was lucky enough to get one of these cars. I will be racing this car. It's not going to sit a garage collecting dust. I have already had it out testing. I won't be running in NHRA, as I don't have the time, budget or skill for that matter. I'm going to run it at our local tracks and some NMRA events.

My Uncle Lou also has a 2008. He is planning on racing his also.

The owner of #27 on E-bay purchased his car from us. While we don't like seeing the car not being used for the purpose it was built, we can't tell someone what do to.

BTW Casey this is my CJ #21 being raced. Maybe not in NHRA, but it's still on the 1320 and not a garage!

Originally Posted by Evan Smith

Casey,

I too wish more of the factory CJ cars were raced, but on the the other hand it is a free country and Ford can't hand-hold its customers. I really don't mean to seem rude or to stir up the pot with you personally, but these negative, inaccurate posts just eat me up. First, there were only 50 CJs built, not 100. Second, why do you assume every dealer is out to screw someone? I know many who got their CJs at sticker. Seriously, dude, do you plan to buy one? Why the grave concern for how Ford does business? How, in any way, does it affect you and your racing program? Ford happens to sell cars at dealerships, and this one, albeit a rare one, was sold just as other Mustangs were. If you got in line quick enough you had the chance to be a CJ owner. And there have been plenty to hit the track so far.

For the record, in 1995 Ford did require a NHRA or similar road racing license to purchase a 1995 Cobra R (there were 250 built). Unfortunately, even this did not guarantee that all the cars made it to a track as many went into the hands of collectors. While unique, these cars are not worth much more, if any, than the original purchase price. Ford did not want to go through this trouble again (which actually amounts to mounds of paperwork and more dollars wasted on crap) since it didn't mean anything in the end anyway.

David Lindsay runs a '95 Cobra R in D2 (not sure if it is a real car) and that is the only one I've seen in NHRA. A bunch were raced and wrecked in SCCA or similar competition.


Evan

Well put Evan. Thanks for being on the "dealers side". I know most times dealers are the "Bad Guys", but this was not the case.

Originally Posted by Craig Couris

I paid sticker for mine at Varsity Ford and it was one of the smoothest transactions I have ever made in my life.

Thanks again for you business.

Originally Posted by BOB KIRKBRIDE

I stopped by the Ford dealer I worked for today, TEAM FORD in Las Vegas. And yes they HAVE built l00 units. 50 last year and 50 this year. There are 30 still available as of this morning at 65K a pop.
This is according to my friend Chris, who is General Sales Manager. I still race after starting 49 years ago with and old 427 64 Thunderbolt! Bob

I'm so fired up to see Ford jumping into Super Stock drag racing again. Brian Wolfe is the Director of North American Motorsports. Brian is the PERFECT man to fill this seat. I grew up watching him make history with the 5.0 Mustangs. He is kind my idol LOL!!! I know Brian will fight tooth and nail to keep drag racing part of Ford's future.