From what I've read, apparently the reflective parts of the 1996 paint called Mystic, could actually be used to help counterfeit the $100 bill. So there were a lot of restrictions on how Ford could handle the paint. Because of the pain in the butt factor, they decided to make a different version for the 2004. The 2004 version was made for Ford and didn't have the restrictions that they had around the 1996 paint- they also had 8 more years of development in improving the reflective properties of the paint. The 2004 paint seems to be more vibrant with less green, more teal, and less black and more vibrant blue. At least to my eyes- in any case, the 2004 was a much preferred version for me. They changed the name to Mystichrome in 2004 after the color chrome headers change to when they get hot. Allan Eggly at Ford named the paint and he coincidentally now runs finishes for Multimattic. A lot of people at the Ford GT program are familiar with the paint and they were excited when I made the request.
So it seems the main driver was the counterfeit aspect but not cause they couldn't do it but because of the restrictions around it.
It took 2+ months to approve the paint and it certainly wasn't straight forward. The head of the program told me he kept the paint sample on this desk- and personally texted me updates on along the way and told me about the internal excitement for it. It made the entire process super special.
Looking forward to meeting more of you. I'll be in Monterey for part of Car Week with the car.
