Mommy (http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=2&article_id=3086)
475 hp for $40k.
Buy one now and it'll be a race to see what puts it in the garage first: Mustangs' notorious maintenance issues, or rising gas prices. Peak Oil, Peak Oil!
How much would your pick for best 475hp production machine cost? The maintenance issues you're referring to are probably the low hp problem with the 2001(?) Cobras, which was resolved after a while. That was an intake problem iirc, could be wrong.
Aside from that, though, Cobras are a world apart from the regular mustangs you see on the street. They're certainly a lot more maintainable and rugged than a BMW or Porsche.
I don't trust Fords ever since my Bronco II started falling apart at about 50k miles.
My brother-in-law is a drift racer and Mustang "collector" - he buys a mustang, pimps it out, and sells it and buys a new one to start the process over again. All told, he's owned 4 or 5 mustangs in the last 10 years. Now, I can't tell you what particular make/models he's had, but I can tell you that even he's stopped apologizing for the Mustang's need for constant maintenance and repair.
Personally, I doubt I'll ever be in the market for a muscle car. I'm perfectly happy driving my 200hp 25mpg RSX - I can beat just about anything except a gas-guzzling muscle car off the line, and the trade-off for the extra hp just isn't worth it to me.
JJ once described my Cobra as "your bright yellow penis extension."
somehow that's disturbing
Didn't he mean bright 'orange' penis extension?
*clear visuals....clear visuals!!! AHHHHH