Wahoo! Yesterday afternoon I put the deposit down on a Bright Red 2001 Lightning. My salesman gave me a copy of the order book info, and here are the changes highlighted by Ford as new for this model year:

380bhp, 450 lb ft
Tailights, Unique Clear lens
Wheels, Unique painted, cast aluminum 18"x9.5"
Headlights and Front Turn Signals, Unique clear Lens
Rear axle - 9 3/4" limited slip diff w/3.73 ratio

Colors appear to be the same as this year.
No picture and no price. But at least I'll have the first one that comes in to this dealership! And according to the short article at blueovalnews.com , they may start shipping by Christmastime. What a great present that would be!!

This may be the longest 6-9 month wait of my entire life!!!

James

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2001 Red Lightning ordered 7/17/00
And now the waiting game begins....

 

Wow,I did not know thAT THERE WAS ANY REAL INFO YET ON THEM TO DEALERS.yOU MUST BE LUCKY.Well what you told us does have some real good info.the fact that they are coming with 3.73 gears is telling me that this should be my next upgrade.If Ford thinks it should be done then it should get done!This brings up a good question.

Does anybody have any HARD evidence that 3.73s lowered their ET???

 

OH YEA<
i heard that svt is claiming 13.9s this year for the Lightnings.I bet the gear change and the 15 hps make it run CONSISTENT 13.9s which means some of the new ones should hit 13.5 or so

 

I was a little surprised when my salesman called, because he was previously thinking October timeframe for ordering. He did tell me yesterday that SVT has done ordering differently every single year.

Anyway, about your 3.73 question.. I have been racing Mustangs on and off for about 11 years, and can say I gained around 2-3/10th's of a second when I put 3.73's in my stang. (This was back in 91) IMHO, it's a very worthwhile investment. The lowend improvement (in the stang, anyway) felt GREAT, besides the actual time diff.

I'm sure I read some of you guys installed 3.73's in your L's. I'd also be very interested in how much that helped.

 

How much of a deposit is required? I'd like to go this route also.It should be interesting to not know what it will look like exactly when you order,but the performance changes are worth it. Thanks for the new info from your dealer!

 

Here we go again!!!

Who cares what it looks like, just get one. You'll love it anyway. Can't change the looks, and you can't order a 2000.

Have fun dreaming and planning. It's a hoot.



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2000 Red Lightning Born 3-8-00 / Delivered 3-22-00
22% Window Tint, Clear Corners, MPulse LoPro Tonneau, AIM 2" Drop Shackles, Bed Rug, PSP Filter Kit, Other Goodies

2000 Red Trans Am Ram Air WS6, 6 Speed - Delivered 2-15-00 - Awesome Looking Car

My Zing.com Album Click Here

 

Sure you can still order a 2000. The last of the 2000 production will be in mid-August and delivered to the dealership mid-September.

If a dealership still has an allocation, you can still get an order in to Ford.

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Jim
jim@jimshaw.cc

Black 00, Swanson Chip, clear corners, super whites
Airaid w/10" Big Mouth filter, chrome wheels,
AIM 2" drop shackles, Mobile1 w/FilterMag, 35% tint
2000 E320, 1993 Cobra R, 1959 Corvette, 1949 Plymouth Coupe

Looking for a better paying job to support my L

 

Cool! Just got a fax of the Order Confirmation from Ford. Still no Price! I'm figuring on about $32K.

I can't wait!!!

BTW, KnightS, The deposit amount varies from dealer to dealer. Some want as little as $100, some want a ton more. You'd really have to check with your local dealer. Good luck!

[This message has been edited by SVT_Wannabe (edited 07-19-2000).]