Ok, so I wrote Mr. Frank, he replied very quickly so I have to give him props for that. I may not agree with his assesment, but like he said in his reply, he gets paid to do what we only dream about. Driving and reviewing hundreds of cars a year. Here is his reply.
"I just sent this note (below this graph) off to another Bullitt owner.
I'm sure you don't care, but give it a read. The best thing about this
country is you can say what you think (as you just have). The point is,
I'm paid to say what I think compared to the hundreds of different cars
I drive each year. I'm not paid to be right--there's no such thing. The
right car for you isn't the right car for your neighbor, and there's no
such thing as the perfect barometer of every car made; nobody can be
that unopinionated. One thing--I'm happy you're not crazy about what I
wrote. My job isn't to make everyone happy. For that you can read the
propaganda from the carmakers. And by the way, Forbes.com is hardly
alone in pointing out what's wrong with the Bullitt. The Cobra is just a
better deal. Again, that's an opinion. Here's the note I sent to another
Bullitt owner.
Oh, I most certainly have been to your fan site. I believe that's why
when this story originally debuted I got slammed.... No sweat though.
Part of the job is saying what I think and I still think the Cobra is a
fairer shake for the buyer. But it doesn't really matter. I know that
there probably isn't a single unhappy Bullitt owner in America and
that's great. I had a muscle car in high school too and loved it (not
telling what it is; have to have some integrity!). It's not about the
genre, it's about so many other factors including build quality bang for
the buck, and on and on. I know car cos hate it when we auto scribes
drone on about cars like the Audi TT, but the interior of that car
really shows what can be done in production. The Bullitt, again in my
opinion, only takes the retro-ness halfway. Bring everything you can
about the original and then, wow, you have something amazing. But then
there's a backlash against New Beetles because some people say they took
it too far and others think it shouldn't have the engine in front. God
bless capitalism.
Michael Frank
Forbes.com"
