[Mayhem]

Not sure if this has been posted before but if not I wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to read it. An actual automotive journalists account of how he came to buy a Bullitt, and our combined contribution to the death of the F bodies.

http://www.edmunds.com/news/column/carmudgeon/46556/article.html

 

[Y2K16T8]

What a great article. But what I think he missed is the reason I think people still buy more Mustangs. I beleive it's because the Mustang is STILL a pony car. It's not trying to be a "super car" along the stying lines of a Ferrari or Lotus. And sadly now, the Corvette. Firebirds and Camaros have lost touch with their roots (which I think began with the 1970. Great looking car, but an obvious deviation from what it started out as)while the Mustang continues to remain ever faithful those of us that love the idea and feeling of.....the pony car. And God bless America! *music fades into the distance.......*

 

[mystang99]

i for one had NOT seen that article!!!!
what an awsome piece! i'm obviously biased but great comments and insight!!!
"A MUST READ" (leonard maltin)

 

[chilli bullitt]

Very good article! I wonder if her knows about our little site here?
Cam

 

[Jimmy Ray]

Man can you believe how p--sed off LS1 guys are if they read that.... On their site, They'll be saying, "It's not fair!!!! My Ls1 is better.... Bullitts suck".
I liked it!

 

[Mayhem]

True....

 

[DHG 2766]

Jimmy Ray you are absolutely right, but get this. I was on the SLP site (camaro ss forum), and i even agreed that the ss would beat a bullitt. But, i guess that wasn't enough and the guy replied back and still trashed the bullitt..go figure!!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: DHG 2766 on 2001-08-31 03:10 ]</font>

 

[BULLITT#2764]

That was a great article..... I owned a '99 LS1 convertible Z-28 before owning this awesome vehicle. I can truly say I enjoy driving this car much more. I also owned a '99 Trans Am before the Z (I was rear ended and the car was totaled). Those cars were fast but I really like being behind the wheel of the BULLITT. I love my car. Even my wife is worried about it when we park or not using it (and she hates cars). She never said anything about either LS1's I drove.

 

[Mid Life Crisis #388]

Thanks mustangwi,
I added that one to my "review Links" page. Also emailed the editor and invited Karl Brauer, over to Bullitclub.com

 

[xfactor1]

Dudes, thanks for the kind words. And yes, I'm already a member of this excellent forum (joined a few months ago).

I was somewhat worried about the title of that article, but I really thought it best described what happened. After years of wishing the Mustang could be faster and a bit more cohesive looking, I simply couldn't resist the Bullitt, even though a comparable F-body is faster and cheaper.

At the same time, I can't believe GM keeps pushing its poorly designed, poorly built crap out the door (and loosing market share all the time).

We just finished driving a bunch of sport coupes at Edmunds.com (look for the comparison test soon) and after driving a Bullitt and a Z28 back-to-back, I was truly astonished at how primitive and uncomfortable the car was. Those F-body seats are like cloth-covered lawn chairs! As I wrote in my notes, unless you spend more time driving down a dragstrip than driving on the public roads, the Mustang is just so blatantly superior, especially if it has the suspension and styling mods (and exhaust sound) of a Bullitt.

Anyway, the Bullitt kicks butt, the upcoming version of the Mustang sounds to be truly awesome, and if GM wants to play in this field, they better realize that high horsepower doesn't absolve them of all design sins.

Thanks againg for the good words.

Karl Brauer
Editor-in-Chief
Edmunds.com

 

[mustang 1]

I too had an F-Body,a 1996 Trans Am Convertible.It was an automatic with optioncode GU3.It had a nifty button on the console for performance mode on the transmission.It was definitely fast and would catch a killer second.It was honestly slightly faster than my stock 1994 Cobra Coupe,but the Cobra was a much better overall balance machine and far more comfortable.My wife always complained of the hump in the passenger side floorboard due to the location of the converter;and also the heat that it produced.As for the early seventies cars,I have had several Formulas and Trans Ams.My 1973 Formula 455 with Ram Air had no trouble running 13.20s with street tires and minor mods.I also had a 1978 Trans Am that at what was then Eastex Dragstrip ran low 14s on street tires with a 3.23 gear.Back then a 1978 Mustang just could not compare.

 

[Bullitt1718]

I'll tell you why the F-body is doomed.

The people selling the cars are idiots!

I WAS MAYBE going to but a Camaro. E-mailed the sales-man and told him I was interested in a black one they had listed becuse I was looking for a sports car and the 2000 F-150 I had just wasn't cutting it. He was nice to me and e-mailed me back a price and asked when I might like to come view the car. I said saturday would be good and talked to him on the phone twice and e-mailed him a couple more times before the day. Well my girlfriend and I show up on saturday about 30 min early for our appointment and he was busy. Fine. He gave me the keys and said check it out. Cool. Checked it out but what I wanted to do was drive it to feel the power difference over a Mustang. We waited for him for 1.5 hrs while he sold a car to another guy. After he was done he came over to see me. He asked me how I liked it and I said it was nice. But I said I would really like to drive it. I said I had never driven one and wanted to know what they were like.

Get this! "No" he said. "We don't allow test drives on our Camaro's without a deposit on the car first". He wanted me to buy it before I could drive it! "Well" I said "if I can't drive the car I'm not going to buy the car". I cave him back the keys and started to leave. "Thats it" he asked " after waiting all this time". "Yes" I said and left.

Might have had something to do with me being only 23. I don't buy it...

So I went to the Ford dealership and they were more than happy to let me drive a GT convertable. The cost on the GT was $7000 CDN more than the Camaro. Bought the Bullitt the same day. :-B It was in the showroom and they didn't want to take it out for me to drive.

So I mail this chev guy back about a month later to tell him that his dealerships test drive policy cost him a sale and that I thought that he was discriminating against me. He replyed to say that he was sorry about my decision to down-grade to the Ford and that I was shallow by writing him and thinking he was discriminating. He also added that he was a top-selling sales person. :wink:

Have other stories about GM not letting people drive their cars.

I think that this might have somthing to do with their lack of sales. What do you think?

 

[enzo]

That was a long article ,my eyes watererd reading it!

 

[BULLITT00208]

I enjoyed the artcile and I'm sure you will find alot of compelling stories for buying an F-body. For me personally it came down to the overall package of the Mustang being far superior. For the few times I would miss the extra speed of th F-body I was not willing to put up with the daily sacrifices!! With that said, I personally am sad to see the F-body go away. It is the competition between the F-bodies and Mustang that have made are cars so much better each year. Why do you think Ford gave the Mustang the big power boost in '99. Without the F-bodies we would all still be driving 215HP Mustangs or worse V6's.
My hope is that the F-body will take a year or two hiatus to get in touch with its roots and come back as a formidable challenger to the Mustang once again!


Eric

 

[Big Man]

I drove both the Z-28 and the Bullitt before deciding which to buy. I totally agree with Xfactor. The seats are like lawn chairs in the Z28. I'm not a small man at 6'5" and after 5 minutes, my back was killing me. No support at all, and the cloth looked like it would rip within a few years from lack of quality. The t-top panels already weren't lining up. Had to fight with the hurst shifter the whole test drive, and basically felt uncomfortable driving it. It was fast, however.
The bullitt was comfortable, easy to drive, and close to the same speed. Quality was way above it. With my 45 minute commute one way, the choice was easy. GM lost my sale based solely on the little details.

 

[Los]

You guys are my heroes!!! Before I got my first mustang, in the wee days of 94-95, I wanted a Firebird or Camaro. Although I had no true idea on how cars go fast or the advance concepts of torque and speeding in a residential zone, I thought they looked better. I mean, who can deny that around that time, the aerodynamic look was in? I was in assumption that the mustangs still had the boxy Fox shape. Then I saw a Ms. Universe pagent and saw a commercial for a 94 Mustang convertable. WOW. I began to study the Mustang, with the help of my best friends, and after riding in a 80 Capri with a turbo four and watching it hang with a 95 Z-28 after dropping a beat up 5.0 motor, I knew there was something special about Mustangs. This was when my racing interest grew. By 98, I had made up my mind to buy a stang and bought one. I got the opportunity to drive a Camaro and Firebird and I didn't like the whole feel of it, being all reclined and so far from the steering wheel. When I pulled myself closer to the wheel, I felt extremely uncomfortable. Ick.
Now that I have a Bullitt, I've had my glory as I raced a 97 Trans Am down Westhiemer in Houston. Although it was pulling like a bat out of hell, I'm glad that the Bullitt held through for me and solidified my win. Go me! GO BULLITTS!!!!

XFactor, great article man. I loved how you went off. I hate GM. :smile:

 

[GreggVH]

DEATH OF THE F-BODY....
If the f-body dies what does the mustang have to compete agianst? Do you think ford is going to go after the Vet? They cant go after the f-bodys all the way. As a Bullitt owner I am afriad the death of the f-body will mean ford will turn the mustang into a rice racer instead of going for the vet. I would also like to point out to Xfactor that if you are going to compare HP you should have the right numbers You give Fords rating of 260-275hp and GMs 305-320. The problem with that is ford is Flywheel and GM is Rearwheel. You should mention that. SO it should be Ford 230-240 to GM 305-320 for flywheel or Ford 260-275 to GM 340-350(I am just doing quick math here). But I guess that makes the Bullitt and ford not look so well :sad:. Also I dont understand people not fiting into the F-bodys that are tall. I am 6'6" 290 and I find the seats for room in my 98 formula and getting in and out much easier. But the seats in the Bullitt are just heaven when I am in but I dont have head and leg room. But I would say that as mustang people you should want the f-bodys to stay as they are the only true compition from the old days for the Stangs.

 

[DHG-1934]

That's the first time I've heard flywheel/rear wheel as far as ford vs chevy power ratings. Is this really true?

In either case, if the camaro had 400 hp on the flywheel, I'd still like my Bullitt better. That's not because I'm so dyed-in-the-wool Ford, or because I hate GM. There's just nothing about sitting in an F-body that excites me...

Joe

 

[Mayhem]

Dude calm down, if you read the whole artical that was written you will see that he is not putting down the horsepower of the F-bodies, more so the quality of the build of the overall car. Also if you have read Septembers Motor trend you will see that while the F-body may die, it will also be revived in 2004. The reason, I am sure, is that GM is well aware of the build problems and how far they have drifted from the cars heritage. So while the camaro and the firebird will be back it should be a better car from both quality standpoint and styling. The competition will go on.

 

[mystang99]

thanks again Karl! glad you are a member too!
1718, what a perfect story about bonehead salesmen. who in their right mind puts a deposit down on a chevy( or ford or dodge for that matter) without driving it 1st???? you did ALL the right things, the salesman was a complete jerkoff!