I waited for the call ..... the car has arrived ... come and get it!
Since seeing the advert for the GT during the Superbowl a couple of years ago - I had to have it. I'd always promised myself a Ferrari and when I saw the F430 I thought that's the car. But when I learnt about the heritage of the 60s triumph and the stunning recreation that is the Ford GT I changed my view.
I arrived at the dealer today and saw the car - Tungsten grey with the stripes, grey calipers- stunning first impressions the color really showing off the volumptious curves of the car. It was a real sense of occasion at the dealer as customers looked on slack jawed as the car was fired up and backed out of the show room. I gingerly joined the highway traffic a little nervous about finding the right gears. After a few minutes it was all very comfortable. My daily drive is a 911 Targa and the revs are always kept at 3000+ where the power is. The GT is remarkably quite around 2000 rpm. There must be a few more decibels than the Porsche once above 2200 because I tend to change up on engine sound and found myself changing up in the GT and never getting to 3000+. In any case there was amazing torque. Once I was confident I squeezed the trigger a little more and boom - Oh........my........God. Incredible!
I intended to drive it home and garage it - maybe bring it out again next weekend. No way, I was back out in it within 10 minutes and drove around for a couple of hours. There was an amazing reaction of people, a kind of outpouring of goodwill - thumbs up from passing cars - a man cameout of a restaurant and started bowing down - amazing.
The build quality seems very good - no big gaps in the panels everything appears tight. The gear shifts very smoothly with no notchiness at all. Once you get used to the gears self centering between 3rd and 4th change ups from 2nd to 3rd is simply a matter of pushing the stick forward and letting it click into center and then forward - 3rd to 4th is straight back no need to guide the changes. There was only one concern a very slight burnt smell - hopefully just some fluid evaporating somewhere. Overall incredible first impression - not a good car - a great car.
By coincidence my DVD order for Discovery Channel's Rebuilding a race car legend arrived today - after finally and reluctantly getting out of the car for the this evening I watched the DVD. A perfect end to a memorable day.
Since seeing the advert for the GT during the Superbowl a couple of years ago - I had to have it. I'd always promised myself a Ferrari and when I saw the F430 I thought that's the car. But when I learnt about the heritage of the 60s triumph and the stunning recreation that is the Ford GT I changed my view.
I arrived at the dealer today and saw the car - Tungsten grey with the stripes, grey calipers- stunning first impressions the color really showing off the volumptious curves of the car. It was a real sense of occasion at the dealer as customers looked on slack jawed as the car was fired up and backed out of the show room. I gingerly joined the highway traffic a little nervous about finding the right gears. After a few minutes it was all very comfortable. My daily drive is a 911 Targa and the revs are always kept at 3000+ where the power is. The GT is remarkably quite around 2000 rpm. There must be a few more decibels than the Porsche once above 2200 because I tend to change up on engine sound and found myself changing up in the GT and never getting to 3000+. In any case there was amazing torque. Once I was confident I squeezed the trigger a little more and boom - Oh........my........God. Incredible!
I intended to drive it home and garage it - maybe bring it out again next weekend. No way, I was back out in it within 10 minutes and drove around for a couple of hours. There was an amazing reaction of people, a kind of outpouring of goodwill - thumbs up from passing cars - a man cameout of a restaurant and started bowing down - amazing.
The build quality seems very good - no big gaps in the panels everything appears tight. The gear shifts very smoothly with no notchiness at all. Once you get used to the gears self centering between 3rd and 4th change ups from 2nd to 3rd is simply a matter of pushing the stick forward and letting it click into center and then forward - 3rd to 4th is straight back no need to guide the changes. There was only one concern a very slight burnt smell - hopefully just some fluid evaporating somewhere. Overall incredible first impression - not a good car - a great car.
By coincidence my DVD order for Discovery Channel's Rebuilding a race car legend arrived today - after finally and reluctantly getting out of the car for the this evening I watched the DVD. A perfect end to a memorable day.
