The 500-horsepower Shelby GT500, a very powerful edition of the new Mustang, will get a starting price of $42,975, Ford announced. While $40,000 may not sound cheap, it’s far less than the $64,890 of Chevrolet’s 505-hp Corvette Z06, the previous least expensive 500-hp sports car. So much power for so little money, plus high demand, will likely lead to some dealers placing a significant markup on the GT500. There are already dozens of new GT500s on eBay, many “starting” at $15,000 over sticker.
It’s unfortunate that Ford doesn’t come out and put a stop to those dealers who practice such unabashed greed, as it is one of those ploys that car buyers frown upon greatly and remember for a long time. Saturn recently said it wouldn’t allow dealers to mark up the hotly anticipated Sky Red Line, a turbocharged version of its new roadster convertible, because it goes against Saturn’s no-haggle philosophy.
We’d love to see Ford do the same with the Shelby GT500 as a matter of principle.
