Tom, I will agree completely with ou last statement, believe it or not! But how can you best compare ANY CAR lets forget about Mustangs and M3's. The way to compare the car is in stock form. Now thats a true comparison for any car. This new Mustang certainly deserves alot of credit. Fortunately Ford knew enough that in order to build a Mustang that could actually perform they had to build a new factory from the ground up. The 05 is light years ahead of the FOX platforms and I personally LOVE the car. Having said that I know enough to realize that I will NEVER compare my car to cars like the M3, Boxster, 911 etc. These car are light years ahead of the 05 just like the 05 is light year ahead of the Fox platform. As its totally unfair to compare the old Mustang with the new, likewise it is also unfair to compare a Ford Mustang with high end performance vehicles. They just ain't in the same league! Generally speaking I really dislike US built cars but I LOVE my car! One thing Ford did very well was design and build an AFFORDABLE 300HP Convertible that handles fairly well and appears to be fairly well built considering its a US built car. If they spent another 5K on the interior this car would draw customers from the Audi S4 market. I personally would have paid just under 40K for this car with a German Quality interior. Now for me to tell you that this car with a German Quality Interior has the capabilities to give an S4 Cabriolet a run for its money speaks volumes for what I think of the car!