Count me in as a multiple Mustang owner (1st gen, 3rd gen and 4th gen), and a lifelong Porsche enthusiast. When I was in highschool I was the hottest ticket in town for car detailing. I got all the business from the local Porsche/Mercedes repair shop, and even at 16-17 years old, they trusted me to pick up and drop off the cars (was it my pristine '69 GT350 that I would leave behind in a corner of their shop that gave them confidence? Uh, YEP!). So, as a kid, my favorite cars to drive, by a LONG shot, were Porsche 911's and 930 Turbos. The fun-factor was off the chart compared to anything built in the U.S., and the handling/steering/brakes....made my poor Shelby feel like a pickup truck. I also loved the styling. The same holds true today. Since those days, I kept driving Mustangs, the Shelby got sold when I went to college, after college an '88 GT convert was my gift to myself, and I went on from there. All along I always had in mind treating myself to a Porsche, so last year I bought a super-clean used '96 Carrera 2 as a sunny-day backup to my Lightning. What a blast, what a car, what a marvel of engineering and pure function. When you're driving a 911 through traffic, you feel like a ninja sword amongst a sea of dull butter knives. Everybody else is driving their cars, and you ARE the car when you're in the Porsche. But of course, we're comparing cars that are world's apart in price and in engineering. It's ignorant to call a Porsche a "rip-off" just by looking at specs and price. If you haven't driven it, you don't know your a$$ from a hole in the ground with regard to what the Porsche's really about, and where the value exists. Don't bother rambling on about 1/4 mile times and horsepower, you may as well drop a big block crate motor in a used Chevette if that's all you care about. Everybody likes to talk about speed and power, but EVERYBODY also cares about all of the other intangibles, otherwise, we'd all be driving gutted 79-93 fox bodies with blown stroked crate motors. I think that this also applies to the whole "03-04 Cobra or 05 GT" question. How much are you willing to sacrifice in quality and driving dynamics and engineering, just to go faster stock? And exclusivity?? Buy a car for what it is, not what it represents, try to leave your ego at the door of the dealership. Exclusivity and image are fairly invisible and hollow when you're barnstorming down a back road by yourself, the times where you REALLY get a chance to enjoy your purchase. Limited production is a definite plus, a GREAT plus, but it's a secondary reason to buy, not a primary. I buy the high-end Mustangs because of the hardware, not because of the SVT certificate I get in the mail, or the snakes on the fenders. Admittedly, that's all cool, but it's just icing on what was a substantial cake for the money.