We know that there has been a 2005 San Diego Special (SDS) built on the Sport package but it is not clear if this was offered only to San Diego or to a larger market area.
In 2006 three regional specials were released - the California Limited Edition (CE), the Southern California Special (SCS) and the Stampede Edition (Stampede). All three are essential the same vehicle; all were built on the new Pony Package with the same key items (colors, stripes, features, etc.) although they carry different badging and, depending on the special, were created in different unit amounts.
The CE was limited to 400 units, the Stampede to 500 and the SCS did not have a X of X badge. The Stampede Edition was announced by Ford during its "Expanding The Breed" press release which also announced the return of the California Special (GT/CS) in 2007. The SDS, I believe, was advertised in its local area via print and television advertisements. The CE and SCS Mustangs had brochures. The Stampede did not have either. A 'hero card', or dealer info card, was issued to the participating 300 dealerships in the Oklahoma and Texas market. These have been nearly impossible to locate and only by chance has one fallen into my hands. It gives us the same basic info we already had as well as additional info we were unaware of such as the exact colors and the available options (manual vs. auto, cloth vs. leather, etc.) that were available.
All the Stampedes were created in March of 2006, delivered in April, announced in May and sold in the summer of 2006. My Stampede was built 3/30/2006, delivered to my dealership by 4/17/2006 (date of registration) and sold to me on 6/19/2006. There is still a lot of things we don't know about the Stampede which is why we've started a registry for them. So far we have located two of them in Torch Red... a color that, according to the Hero Card, was not part of the Stampede Edition program... I have also spoken with other Stampede owners who agree with me that there is something else different about these cars. The rake is sharper, the feel while driving it is tighter, it sits lower, and it just sticks to the road better than a standard Pony Package Mustang, which has the same wheels and same sway bars. (We have a 2007 Pony Package and a Stampede and they are night and day.) The Stampede does have Traction Control and ABS but it is more than that... My 2002 GT with TCS and ABS didn't stick like this... I just haven't figured it out yet and no one at Ford is talking.
UPDATE: I got out the measuring tape and it is official... the front end of the Stampede is 1 inch lower than that of the normal Pony Package. The rear is maybe .25 to .50 if that. That explains the difference in the handling and the ride.
