Hey scotty, what can you tell us about the quality of the special edition mustangs and camaros compared to the 6th gen 5.0 and 6th and 7th gen SS. Special models such as the 2012 Camaro Zl1, 2015 Z/28, Shelby gt350,
Are they better made?
As far as quality goes, there's not a whole lot of difference.
Just take a Shelby Mustang as an example. You have to remember that Ford sends them an already built Mustang. It gets built at the same facility as all the other Mustangs. Then Shelby adds their parts and pieces to make it their own. Same with Roush, Saleen, etc. It works the same for Camaro.
The other thing a lot of people seem to forget is these cars can be a real headache when something goes wrong. Ford will often say it's a Shelby problem, and vice versa. And because most of these cars are producing power levels well above stock, problems do happen quite frequently.
Also realize that reselling these cars can be a massive headache. If you look at NADA values, you'll find that you can look up separate values for a Ford Mustang and a Saleen Mustang. But companies like Roush have no book value. This creates a multitude of issues: banks won't loan more than they would on a regular GT as that's what the VIN shows, and buyers will hit you with the "Its just a GT with a body kit" line. Just something to keep in mind.
But to answer directly your question, no: the special edition cars do not have any superior quality to their mass produced counter parts.
I think OP was talking about special editions produced by the automaker themselves like Mach1, GT500, ZL1 (currently) and (past) GT350, Bullitt, Z/28 etc.
Ah. Well then the answer would still be, in most cases, no real difference. Nicer materials yes, better interiors, etc. but overall reliability isn't changed much.
Not to mention more gravy and profit (since they can charge a lot more) for the automaker working off an existing platform.
Absolutely correct.
Short answer is: within the current generation (6th generation for Camaro and 6th Gen for Mustang), the special editions, overall, are not better made than their ‘more common’ versions. Also, avoid 5th Gen Camaros; however, 5th Gen Mustangs (and with special editions) are OK (especially the GT500s). See below:
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/muscle-reliability/
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/best-modern-automatic-american-muscle-v6-vs-v8/
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/which-mustang/
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/scotty-kilmer/#post-49298
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/used-car-decision/#post-60001
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/mustang-purchase-question/#post-86557
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/ford-5-0lv8-reliability-engine/#post-26016
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/wanted-to-order-abrand-new-2ss-1le-camaro/#post-89182
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/chevy-camaro-2/#post-108165
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/2012-camaro-ss/#post-100528
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/2019-camaro-zl1-or-2019-c7-corvette/#post-42077
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/postid/23436/
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/2011-chevrolet-camaro/#post-21541
They are no better made than the standard editions.
