CNC'd Control Arm Values

[Hotwheels]

Has there been any recent talk about the rarity of CNC machined control arms in the context of GT values? Last time I checked, there didn't seem to anything relating to higher values because a car came with the rare interim CNC machined control arms that were put on GTs to keep production going while Ford was tooling up for the forged units as the earlier cast units were recalled.
Any opinions on if the lore of their rarity could effect values in the future?
I'm open to facts, opinions, stories, or discussions, as I find it an interesting, albeit, niche topic.
Thanks!

 

[jaxgt]

Most likely irrelevant

 

[MTV8]

I like the machined arms, but they are not exactly rare considering they came on nearly half the cars.

 

[shelbyelite]

They are not rare. Infact, almost half of the cars produced received them (5/6th of the total 05 production has billet A Arms). They are cool to look at and a nice conversation piece, but don't hold your breath on them making a GT more "valuable".....

 

[BlackICE]

They are not rare. Infact, almost half of the cars produced received them (5/6th of the total 05 production has billet A Arms). They are cool to look at and a nice conversation piece, but don't hold your breath on them making a GT more "valuable".....

Maybe in 50 year from now they will be a little rarer, since replacements are not billet and they must be replaced if the bushings or ball joints wear or fail. The number of cars with all 8 billet arms are only going to go down.

Would the value decrease because a car had 7 billet and one non-matching forged arm?

 

[usmcfred]

Billet a arms

Most likely irrelevant

Couldn't agree more. In addition to being irrelevant, this topic is silly.

usmcfred

 

[DanielJ]

Had a group of car enthusiasts over to see my collection of cars yesterday. Since I had the front and rear belly pans off for service, the guys wanted to see the underside of the car. Each thought the control arms were works of art. And, other FGT owners that have seen my car comment on the control arms: "Hey, you have the cool ones....."

DJ

 

[Wwabbit]

I like'm, they have a story

 

[Hotwheels]

I like'm, they have a story

That's kind of where I was going with this. There are a lot of things with Musclecars that nobody paid any attention to until years later and the cars weren't thought of as throw away gas guzzlers any more. All of a sudden, the stories came out at auctions about production differences during the course of a production year. I'm sure it makes absolutely no difference now, but in 30-50 years, who knows? The past gets told a little differently and with fonder memories. Old musclecars are terrible to drive by today's standards, but now they are historic and a fountain of youth to many who remember them as better than they actually were back in the day.

 

[Black GT]

That's kind of where I was going with this. There are a lot of things with Musclecars that nobody paid any attention to until years later and the cars weren't thought of as throw away gas guzzlers any more. All of a sudden, the stories came out at auctions about production differences during the course of a production year. I'm sure it makes absolutely no difference now, but in 30-50 years, who knows? The past gets told a little differently and with fonder memories. Old musclecars are terrible to drive by today's standards, but now they are historic and a fountain of youth to many who remember them as better than they actually were back in the day.

See you have a 96 GTS. Man I miss mine! Love the blue white GTS's. congrats.

 

[dshears]

That's kind of where I was going with this. There are a lot of things with Musclecars that nobody paid any attention to until years later and the cars weren't thought of as throw away gas guzzlers any more. All of a sudden, the stories came out at auctions about production differences during the course of a production year. I'm sure it makes absolutely no difference now, but in 30-50 years, who knows? The past gets told a little differently and with fonder memories. Old musclecars are terrible to drive by today's standards, but now they are historic and a fountain of youth to many who remember them as better than they actually were back in the day.

In 1969 Honda came out with the CB750. It came with sand cast engine cases and other smaller items that the 1970-1976 years did not have. The 1969 is highly collectable and worth way more the the following years. In 30 to 50 years from now I won't be around to see if the control arms made a difference.

 

[Wwabbit]

In 1969 Honda came out with the CB750. It came with sand cast engine cases and other smaller items that the 1970-1976 years did not have. The 1969 is highly collectable and worth way more the the following years. In 30 to 50 years from now I won't be around to see if the control arms made a difference.

Among rare or desirable items, uniqueness is a driver of interest. It's hard to dispute that the CNC'd CA's are unique in the population of GT's. My guess is that sometime down the road for two similar, non-modified, GT's, the one with CNC'd CA's would be the more interesting and perhaps more appealing.

 

[Hotwheels]

See you have a 96 GTS. Man I miss mine! Love the blue white GTS's. congrats.

Yeah, I always thought that the blue with white stripe 96/97 Vipers were going to some day be highly collectable. They are very iconic and every boy that had a toy version of it will want one when they have the means. Problem is these days, those kids are now out of college and can't even find a job! The values have been langishing around $40K for years.
As an aside, the 1969 Mustang I own is the "Anvil" Mustang that is in the new Fast and Furious 6 movie. It also won Ford's best of show award at SEMA 2010 and has been featured in numerous magazines including Hot Rod.