My theory about the early retirment of the F-bods

[Friendchicken]

I was on LS1.com and it kinda hit me... Why do we assume that Ford waited for the demise of the F-bods before releasing the 2003 cobra?

My take on it is that they cancelled the F-bods early when they found out that the Terminator will be unleashed for 2003 knowing that they would be overthrown and a clear victor would emerge. Then people would state that chevy cancelled the F-bods cause Ford was better car, not for them halting production for sales market numbers.

Better they go down cause they couldn't sell enough- than to go out cause they couldn't beat a Mustang :beer:

 

[rpurdy3523]

Just glad they went down. Not a fan...:xpl:

 

[ArizonaSnake]

Originally posted by 98kobra


Better they go down cause they couldn't sell enough- than to go out cause they couldn't beat a Mustang :beer:

I think that you theory is possible tho they had spoken of cancelling the F body 2 years prior to doing so. I don't think the '03 Cobra was that clear a vision then. Also the loyal GM crowd had plenty of time to vote with their wallets and change the sales numbers.

It is a good thing for GM that they did cancel the F-body tho. That or they had a MAJOR horsepower war starting up. If the '03 Cobra can run with the C-5 Corvette.. GM could hardly have bumped the F-body line to run with the Cobra and eclipsed their flagship.. the Corvette. In a marketing sense.. GM was between a rock and a hard place.

So.. sales did in the F-body.... but it was a lucky thing for GM....

 

[bassin247]

It makes sense.

 

[08snake]

I heard someone mention the other day that Chevy was going to release a new version of the Chevelle. Anyone hear anything like that?

 

[MongoCobra]

chevy (pontiac) will be coming out with the new GTO based on the Monaro from Australia. It will have a version of the LS1, some talk about a "Judge" with the LS6.

 

[TTAFB_SVT]

The F-Body was dead long before the supercharged cobra ideas were floating around. Fords sales determined this,not fords perfromance goals.

 

[32ValveSymphony]

Re: Re: My theory about the early retirment of the F-bods

Originally posted by ArizonaSnake
I think that you theory is possible tho they had spoken of cancelling the F body 2 years prior to doing so. I don't think the '03 Cobra was that clear a vision then. Also the loyal GM crowd had plenty of time to vote with their wallets and change the sales numbers.

It is a good thing for GM that they did cancel the F-body tho. That or they had a MAJOR horsepower war starting up. If the '03 Cobra can run with the C-5 Corvette.. GM could hardly have bumped the F-body line to run with the Cobra and eclipsed their flagship.. the Corvette. In a marketing sense.. GM was between a rock and a hard place.

So.. sales did in the F-body.... but it was a lucky thing for GM....

For what it's worth, an LS1 F-Body can be (and often is) faster than a C5 in terms of 1/4 mile performance. I have owned both a 2000 SS and a 2002 C5 and, even though the C5 is superior in almost every sense, the SS was just as fast, if not faster in a straight line.

The Z06 is another story....that's where the Cobra comes into play :lol:

 

[stricky]

Perfomance had nothing to do with it.

Just sales. The F-body didn't sell. Pure and simple. And if a product doesn't sell, it doesn't make money.

It died for no other reason other than financial.

 

[Dragnut]

F Body death

:bored: Looked at several new Z 28's yesterday- they stickered at $28k to 30K. The almost same car in 1995 stickered at $19k I think that had a lot to do with lack of sales. Just the same old same old- look at the changes in the Mustang during that period and the lower sticker. i think people did vote with their wallets.
My 99 Stang was a nicer car to drive than my Z28 or my wifes Formula.
Of course the L blows everything else away IMHO

:coolman:

 

[CobraTone]

I think they just let them die out so they can come up with something new in a few years that will be fast as hell and lots of people will want them. Read somewhere that next-gen camaros would be pushing 350 horse, and the corvette around 450. Oh well, there will always be something bigger and better and faster and more expensive. Life goes on. :beer:

 

[ntechnic]

I'm hoping the F-bodys come back.

A) It'll be more fun kicking their butts than rice cars.

B) Competition is good. I'm afraid that if the F-body stays dead, the Mustang will decline. Most of the Mustang sales are 6 cylinders after all, from the factory, it's been a long time since the Mustang was the performace King. I want the threat of fast F-bodys driving Ford on to more and faster!!!

 

[Leadhead]

I think that chassis design killed the f-body. In my opinion, chevy designed the f-body with nothing but performance at cost in mind. Ford desided to cut a little out of performance to try to get the mustang to appeal to a wider market. The reason I think this is that the fbody had that swept back design and if you look at things like the guage cluster, it has a guage for everything. These things are great for the person that primarily wants to race it. Ford chose the retro design chassis and an interior that was easier to use and less cluttered. These things apealed more to people that wanted a sharp looking car that goes fast but has a better driveing position for cruiseing around. The chassis design apealed alot more to women who wanted a sharp lookin car but (I realise that this is not always the case)didn't mind a v6.

I will probably get flamed for this post but I have a mustang bias but I think it's a damn shame that the f-bodies are gone! You cannot deny that it was one hell of a car.

 

[CobraTone]

Anyone who appreciates cars wouldn't flame you. I'm sure most people on this board would agree with you that the f-bods were very good performers. I purchased the mustang simply because in my opinion they are better built than the camaros and trans ams. I also like the look a lot better, and I HATE the cat coming up through the floor of the passenger side in the f-bodies!