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2007+ 2008 High Country Special

Kipster

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2009
Messages
5
Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Right before Thanksgiving I found my newest passion. A 2008 GT High Country Special, in Grabber Orange. I fell in love with her and plan on a long and fun relationship, but I have a problem. I've been unable to find out anything about her background. No mention of any High Country Specials of the late model years, no websites, etc. I do know that this was a dealer installed option from the Colorado Springs Ford dealership, but little else. I'd appreciate any help you all could provide me. Once the snow storm blows out and the roads clear, I'll post some photos.
 

admin

Staff member
Administrator
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
2,049
Kipster, welcome to the site.

This is the first I've heard of this promotion. Do you have any documentation or pictures? Was this Phil Long Ford? Perhaps one of their sales guys got creative and put a few decals together.
 
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Kipster

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2009
Messages
5
Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Jon - Thanks for the welcome. I have to imagine that this is more than just a bored salesman looking to enhance a sale. I have the dealer's sticker that shows under "added equipment - High County Special" with an additional cost of $6,995. That's an awful lot of decals. You are correct in that it is the Phil Long Ford dealership. As soon as the weather clears enough to take her on the road, I'll snap some photos and post them. I suppose my first trip should be to Phil Long Ford to see if anyone there can help out. Additional features that I can identify would be the obvious stripping and decals which state "Special HC", located aft of the doors. Side scoops have been added, as well as a cool looking chin. The rear may also have replaced but I'm not that familiar with stock rears. A duck spoiler instead of stock spoiler. Definately not stock wheels and tires. I know pictures will help tremendously and as soon as possible, I'll take 'em. She's a looker and a head turner. Maybe it's my ego, but when people point and stare, it's really cool. It supports my philosophy "Life is too short to drive boring cars". I look forward to participating on this site. Again, thanks for any help you can provide.
 

BroadwayBlue

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 26, 2005
Messages
2,900
Location
Hudson Valley Area, NY
Hi, Welcome to the site!
Is the sticker that states " "added equipment - High County Special" with an additional cost of $6,995. " a dealer sticker or a factory sticker from Ford?

If it's a dealer sticker I would assume, without knowing anything else, that the dealer added some parts similar to the California Special on the car and had the decals added as well.

Where did you purchase the car from? Can they offer any assistance?

Cool idea if that's what they did.
I like the idea that they used the ducktail spoiler too, a lot more like the 68's.

Looking forward to some pictures.
 

admin

Staff member
Administrator
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
2,049
Jon - Thanks for the welcome. I have to imagine that this is more than just a bored salesman looking to enhance a sale. I have the dealer's sticker that shows under "added equipment - High County Special" with an additional cost of $6,995. That's an awful lot of decals.
Didn't mean to sound flip with my comment. It's just that usually these turn out to be minor conversions done by a single dealer or individual salesman. But I would agree that for the cost it sounds like they did more.

We'd love to see pics and a scan of that window sticker. There was some discussion back in 2007 about doing some HCS cars, but it never materialized as far as I know.
 

hicountrybob

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 16, 2003
Messages
579
Location
Arvada, CO
Jon - Thanks for the welcome. I have to imagine that this is more than just a bored salesman looking to enhance a sale. I have the dealer's sticker that shows under "added equipment - High County Special" with an additional cost of $6,995. That's an awful lot of decals. You are correct in that it is the Phil Long Ford dealership. As soon as the weather clears enough to take her on the road, I'll snap some photos and post them. I suppose my first trip should be to Phil Long Ford to see if anyone there can help out. Additional features that I can identify would be the obvious stripping and decals which state "Special HC", located aft of the doors. Side scoops have been added, as well as a cool looking chin. The rear may also have replaced but I'm not that familiar with stock rears. A duck spoiler instead of stock spoiler. Definately not stock wheels and tires. I know pictures will help tremendously and as soon as possible, I'll take 'em. She's a looker and a head turner. Maybe it's my ego, but when people point and stare, it's really cool. It supports my philosophy "Life is too short to drive boring cars". I look forward to participating on this site. Again, thanks for any help you can provide.

You state that you have the "dealer sticker". Do you have the "factory sticker" or commonly called the " factory window sticker"? And why don't you post the VIN # and I can have it checked out by a source here in Denver. I called this source last night and he asked for this, if you are REALLY interested in any original background and/or what you may have bought. I'm surprised that he hasn't posted yet today (3:00 now in Denver). Bob Teets here
 

di81977

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 15, 2006
Messages
438
Welcome to the site. Interesting find, can't wait to see pictures. Really sounds like a one off dealer program, though.

I know that both Bob and myself have had HCS decals made up. I had some done in different colors just for the fun of it (black and silver on my car right now). It would be pretty cool if they used the 68 HCS decals.
 
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Kipster

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2009
Messages
5
Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Thanks for all the feedback to date. I've been attemting to post the "dealer sticker" and hope that this scan works for you all.

Hicountrybob = if your Denver friend can track down from the VIN#, here it is: 1ZVHT82H785107084.

Once I brought her home and started searching the net for any info on recent High Country editions, years 2007 and later, and found nothing, I quickly figured out that it must be a dealer action and not a production run by Ford. The factory sticker is one for a new GT Premium, with a few additional features, but no mention of the High Country add on's. Once I started my search, I would have to hazard a guess that they took a stock GT and added the California Special options, with stripping to note the difference between Colorado and California

I would agree with all of you that it is an interesting find and for no other reason that it can start a conversation with anyone who appreciates a fine automobile.

I'm hoping that the roads clear enough to get her washed and shined up a bit for her pictures. I don't want to post any that would reflect poorly on my part, i.e. a little road dirt and in my garage. I made the mistake of taking her on a spin this weekend and while the major roads are clear, the road to my house is snow and ice packed. I quickly found out that she has NO traction on this stuff. I'm not going any where, nor is she, so the pictures will be posted asap.

Again, thanks for the welcome and input.
 

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BroadwayBlue

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 26, 2005
Messages
2,900
Location
Hudson Valley Area, NY
Thanks for posting the sticker - interesting find!

We don't mind you posting pics if the car or your garage is a little dirty :cool:

We're not like that here - any pictures would be great - we'd all love to see some asap.

You can always follow them up with the clean shots later!
 

hicountrybob

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 16, 2003
Messages
579
Location
Arvada, CO
The saga continues.....
If you follow this link;http://services.forddirect.fordvehicles.com/inventory/WindowSticker.pdf?vin=1Zvht82h785107084
you may notice that this car was never a CS to begin with. If the dealer added the package, possibly they bought the front & rear bumpers(available as Ford accessories) and side scoops, painted them and installed them, that could account for the higher price tag! I would love to know if this car has ANY of the GT/CS features
:
Shelby GT/GT-H style front/rear bumpers and side scoops
two-tone upholstery (front and rear)
bright-rolled exhaust tips, 275"
18-inch"funnel-spoke" polished wheels
SVT-style stainless pedal covers

If Phil Long added ALL of these parts to the car, then they sold this car at a LOSS! I suspect that this may not be a new car. If you suspect the same, go to thes ervice department, and ask them to perform an OASIS report, from your VIN. This report will provide you with a build date, warranty start date, major warrnaty repairs/recalls, and originating dealer, and the original owner's name! I hope this will shed some light here.

Pat Chambers (5280gtcs)
hacking Bob Teets' computer!
 
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Kipster

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2009
Messages
5
Location
Colorado Springs, CO
I've added some pictures

Hello again. While to pictures are not the best and the steed is not as clean as I'd like and the background should be in the mountains, here are some photos of the 2008 High Country Special. Just to make sure that there is no confusion, I purchased her from a lot, with 2000 miles on her. I am the second owner, but I do have the original paperwork. I think we've all come to the conclusion that it is a dealer prepared car and not a Ford production run, but honestly, that's not important to me. I hope that these pic's convey how striking she is, regardless of her heritage. Any feedback, again, would be appreciated.

I will be posting some more photo's in the future, but they will be the true glamor shots, after a bath, makeup and the like. I hope you like her.

Kip
 

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Scott

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
126
Location
Coogee Beach, Sydney, Australia
Yeah Kip!

If only more car dealers were game to try such things. Impressed how good the car looks for "just" a dealer prepared package.

Love your mantra and there is certainly nothing boring about your beauty! Certainly rare and definitely more desirable than stock.

Pat, are those bits you mentioned installed on the car? Don't know a thing about these new motors. Normally don't even read the posts about the new stuff but this is fascinating.
 
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Kipster

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2009
Messages
5
Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Thanks for the interest in her. I'll be going to the dealer to see what records they have on all of what was done. As soon as I know, I'll post my findings. I would hope this type of interest would spark more dealers to create quality "specials". I feel like the adopted child here, and appreciate your welcome.

Pat - to answer your query, it has none of those items you asked about, so any GT500 features aren't there.

Kip
 
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