Number of third gens

[patrick hubbard]

Does any one know how many gen 3s are left and is there a gen 3 registry

 

[luigisho]

no and no

 

[E1]

Few and far in between here in the Chicago area. I can't tell you the last time I seen one around here that wasn't one of mine.

Used to be plentiful . . . . 20 years ago...

 

[patrick hubbard]

That's were mine came from originally

 

[Funmart6]

I have only seen a few in my area and that was many years ago. I don’t think there are any in my area now. Mine is sitting beside my house awaiting a transmission installation, long wait list at the shop I am using, should be a couple more weeks and she will be in the shop, and once again will be on the road again!!!!

 

[gamefanatic]

There is a registry, but that info is kept close hold. Its difficult to say how many are left as that changes regularly. In my area I see about two a year pop up in the local junk yards. Maybe 3 or 4 of the earlier Gen 1-2's.

 

[stephen newberg]

Only about 20,000 were made originally over the four year production cycle. Considering the cam sprocket problem, its very like that a majority, likely a vast majority, died some time ago. To my knowledge there is no existing accurate count of survivors, but its going to be a low number, between attrition due to the cam problem and just outright time passing, with the newest of them now 20+ years old (the last would have been made about 20 years ago last month).

There was a voluntary registry, but I do not think it is actively maintained any more, and has not been for some time, I suspect.

pax, smn

 

[patrick hubbard]

I was told about 7 thousand but that seems high to me

 

[NoSlo]

There's a registry of 1000+ engine failures... and considering only a small percentage would find their way to the site, probably the vast majority are off the road.

Some states allow one to get car model and plate data, but this would be a poor basis for an estimate, as SHO might have been more popular in some states or more likely to fail inspection or rust off the road in others.

 

[stephen newberg]

Yes, I would think 7000 to be a good deal too high, Patrick. A study I saw indicated that at 20 years old, 75% of cars are no longer on the road, overall, in North America. When you consider that the Gen III SHO has a pretty much fatal engine flaw that will always happen eventually, I would guess its loss rate would be considerably higher than the average. But just at average, we are down to 5000 survivors at 20 years. And that would be for the youngest of the Gen IIIs. I would be very surprised if even half that number are still in use.

pax, smn

 

[SHOCH]

I was told about 7 thousand but that seems high to me

700 sounds closer.
The red Canadian wagon rules them all. lol

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Yes, I would think 7000 to be a good deal too high, Patrick. A study I saw indicated that at 20 years old, 75% of cars are no longer on the road, overall, in North America. When you consider that the Gen III SHO has a pretty much fatal engine flaw that will always happen eventually, I would guess its loss rate would be considerably higher than the average. But just at average, we are down to 5000 survivors at 20 years. And that would be for the youngest of the Gen IIIs. I would be very surprised if even half that number are still in use.

pax, smn

Interesting discussion...

I have a list of all 1996 VIN I was able to find but I don't have their state.

However, when we did the rose mist registry (me and Josh), I was surprised how many stills alive. Josh was able by some way the know the state (plated/scrapped/not plated for a long time or unknown). On 86 RM, 29 stills active today (2017). The first 9 were prototypes according to Josh (then it must be 29 on 77 cars = 38%). Just an estimation : 0,376 x 23 500 cars = 8836 cars.

Don't forget that many owners even with a cam failure, did the repair to maintain their car. We just have to read the olds posts of cam failure reports.

 

[patrick hubbard]

I started a list on vin wiki

 

[stephen newberg]

I strongly doubt there is anything near that number left ( ~9000). By example, just the other day someone posting here lost theirs to the cam sprocket and it will not be rebuild. I suspect most were not when it happened, as it seems to have taken a decent number of initial miles and by that time most of the vehicles were a number of years old and just not, except to an enthusiast, worth the funds to repair.

I would point again to a study I saw that indicated at 20 years old, 75% of cars are no longer on the road, overall, in North America. And that is without there being the additional problem of a fatal engine flaw. A bit less than 2500 still on the road would be, I suspect, a generous estimate. And, as indicated by the poster scrapping theirs the other day, that number would at this point be in steady decline.

pax, smn

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Imust admit that all repertoriated cam failure is dating back to the early years of the V8. So now, people aren't willing to repair such an old car.

What I was saying is number of cam failures isn't the same number of scrapped SHO for that reason.

I also think that 8000 is a very positive number because I based my calculation on RM numbers which is an abnormal animal in comparison of other SHO sleepers.

 

[gamefanatic]

I see mustangs on the side of the road all the time. Owner missing... Abandoned...


I never see a SHO like that...

Just sayin'...

 

[stephen newberg]

Actually, over the years I have seen 2 Gen III SHOs on the side of the road abandoned and dead. A black one and a white one. Which is sort of funny, in a sad way, I guess. So, if you think of the number of Mustangs build compared to the number of Gen III SHOs built...

Just sayin'

pax, smn

 

[gamefanatic]

They never owned their SHO....

 

[NoSlo]

I see mustangs on the side of the road all the time. Owner missing... Abandoned...

I never see a SHO like that...

Just sayin'...

I never see a G3 SHO at all. The last one was a neighbor around 15 years ago that had one. Although all the "SHO wave" buddies seen around town seem to have dried up, it's only been a month since I saw another on a road trip.

 

[stephen newberg]

I have not seen another one here on Vancouver Island in a couple of years now, and the last one I saw here, a red one, was DOA at a local mechanic's shop. He told me me bought it dead with the idea of maybe fixing it in his spare time, but after it sat for a year or two, he sent it off to recycling.

There are not a lot of these left out on the roads. Time and a fatal motor flaw eventually take over.

pax, smn