I can’t repeat the word that came to mind when I saw the official price tag for the 2008 Shelby GT500KR. With many people expecting the price to fall in the high $50,000 to low $60,000 range, which to me is still way too much to pay for a 4,000 pound front end heavy Mustang, the official price from Ford was actually $79,995 which doesn’t include the $1,300 gas guzzling tax. With gas prices closing in on $4 a gallon for premium and in some places have already passed that mark, one has to wonder what Ford was thinking when they designed this car.

Car & Driver has called the new 2008 Shelby GT500KR the most overpriced Mustang ever produced and highlighted many luxury performance cars that fall far below the $80,000 dollar price tag for the GT500KR. The list of cars one might find that better suites the money they are spending are as follows:

• BMW M3 ($55,875)
• Lexus IS F ($56,675)
• Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG ($57,225)
• Nissan GT-R ($70,475)
• Chevrolet Corvette Z06 ($72,125)
• Porsche 911 Carrera ($74,360)
• Lotus Elise Supercharged plus a Mazda MX-5 ($77,710)

Now as a Ford fan I couldn’t see myself buying any of the above over a Mustang. However, I wouldn’t be caught dead buying an $80,000 dollar tank either. Ford has to reach out to new customers and that’s not something the Shelby GT500KR is going to do. There is way too much competition in the price range that the Shelby GT500KR is in for Ford to wow any new customers. The whole point of the GT500KR was for it to be Fords “Corvette”. It fails miserably at trying to be that though.

I hope the 2010 Mustang redesign takes all the short comings of the S197 Mustang into consideration, specifically the weight issue, so that Ford can target these new customers and increase it’s base in the performance market. The top of the line Mustang was never meant to be $80,000. The 2003 Mustang Cobra was exactly what Ford needed. A very affordable, very fast Ford Mustang and they need to get back to that type of car.