Well with the Shelby just recently having passed 10k km on the clock, figured it was time for a bit of a review on how it's been so far. As a quick recap, I picked the car up in Feb. of this year and it went on the road in early April as my daily driver.
So it's now seen five months of use in the daily grind averaging 2k km a month. I've used it for everything for heading to/from work, shopping, weekend getaways, cruise nights, and on a (frequent) whim to just get out and drive and blow the cob webs out. And the car has performed great and never missed a beat in whatever was asked of it. My wife also drives it from time to time and has found it to be an easy and pleasant car to put around in. The Shelby is a very capable car in most respects and painlessly fulfills the requirements of a daily driver IMO. It's comfortable, decent on gas (well most times
), can carry a fair load of stuff when you need it too, and can carry you for miles in air conditioned ease without beating you to death or making you wish for your uncle's Buick *L*.
I've had just one scheduled (oil change) and one unscheduled stop at the dealer, the latter to have a new driver side door speaker replaced. So no reliability "issues" there with the car at all. Even the clutch (mine is an early '09 build so it didn't get the upgraded parts) is still performing flawlessly - no slipping/grinding or fighting to go into any gear. That may still be a ticking time bomb, but so far so good. The car is still nice and solid with no annoying squeaks or rattles, even the more amazing there with it being a 'vert and on a lowered suspension. There is some cowl shake over really broken surfaces, but this car is really solidly built - noticeably more so than what I remember with my old '97 GT.
The Shelby's performance still takes my breath away, and although I've (mostly) gotten used to it's gobs of power, it has not yet reached the point where I'm left wanting more. It's a big, heavy car and you can certainly feel that at times, but when you put the hammer down, all that heft just seems to instantly melt away, leaving you with this huge $hit-eating ear to ear grin plastered across your face! The car is severely traction limited in first and second gear, but I hope the new DR's I have ordered will help convert some more of that tail-wagging fun into straight line thrust. Other than that, I can't ask no more from the car for now. I've got a few more plans for next year, but they'll be evolutionary not revolutionary.
Looks? The car never fails to turn heads, even with Shelby's having now been on the road for a few years, and I still get people just walk up out of the blue to ask questions and talk about it, to no end sometimes it seems *L*.
To sum up, I admit I had some reservations about the car before I first picked it up - mostly surrounding it's ability to work as a DD what with all the talk on various boards about it's clutch/transmission issues, and what some described as a fairly brutal ride. But the last few months of pretty well constant use have laid all that to rest, for myself anyway, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the car to anyone looking for a performance ride that can also be used as a "real car" for everyday use.
My Shelby GT500...I think I'll keep her!
