Ford executives custom GTs?

[bitzman]

Back in the day of the Mangusta, Eugene Bordinat, head of Ford Styling, bought a Mangusta and modified it to his own taste

I was wondering if any Ford execs hav ebought a new Ford GT and personalized it with some item that didn't make production.

I guess only your guys close to Dearborn would know....

 

[dbk]

Back in the day of the Mangusta, Eugene Bordinat, head of Ford Styling, bought a Mangusta and modified it to his own taste

I was wondering if any Ford execs have bought a new Ford GT and personalized it with some item that didn't make production.

I guess only your guys close to Dearborn would know....

Bill Ford's car has sill plates saying it was built specifically for him. Nobody else has anything custom that I know of...

 

[ENZO BTR]

Dan Gurney's new Ford GT has a "Gurney Bubble" in it...even though he fit without one.

 

[Awsum GT]

That GT was on the showroom floor when I visited the plant a few weeks back.

 

[bitzman]

Sonic Blue--what did it go for?

On the Sonic Blue one, which I think is pictured on the factory tour shots on this website--rear 3/4, rear deck lid up--I heard it sold at the auction at the Cattleman's Ball but does anybody know what the high bid was, and who won it (would have been embarassing for someone from another automaker)
Also Camilo Pardo and Billy Ford signed it but where--on a metal plate?
Is that color offered on any other Ford?
For those of you who have the Portfolio book, is the dark blue one rear 3/4
two page foldout of the Sonic Blue car?

When someone mentioned cars stripes having to be repainted, does Ford then raise the price of the car because it costs them more to make or does the supplier, in this case Saleen, eat the cost of having to repaint a car over ?

 

[dbk]

The Sonic Blue car was sold at the Cattleman's Ball, I do not know for how much, but I'm told it was sold to a dealer out of Georgia. I can't recall his name, but I'll find out. It'd be interesting to see what it sold for. Camilo and Ford signed it on the passenger side bar that runs over top of the engine underneath the clam shall. The color was very popular on the Mustang the past few years, you'll see lots of Cobras with it, as well as others such as the Lightning, which is why I'm sure it wasn't a staple of the Ford GT color selection.

On the Sonic Blue one, which I think is pictured on the factory tour shots on this website--rear 3/4, rear deck lid up--I heard it sold at the auction at the Cattleman's Ball but does anybody know what the high bid was, and who won it (would have been embarassing for someone from another automaker)
Also Camilo Pardo and Billy Ford signed it but where--on a metal plate?
Is that color offered on any other Ford?

 

[RaceDeck]

custom seat

I redid my seat to have me site 2" lower in the car...looks OEM
FR exhaust and spare set of rims powder coated black satin too

 

[bonehead]

Dan Gurney's new Ford GT has a "Gurney Bubble" in it...even though he fit without one.

Yeeesh. Apologies in advance, but I'm resurrecting this thread from the dead.

Did any Gurney Bubbles come from the factory and make it into production cars or were they all done 'after the fact' at Saleen or GT Guys?

 

[fjpikul]

After the fact. Originally they were about $9K, but I don't think you can touch that price now. They had doors that were already made with the bubble. Now I think they have to graft a bubble onto the door.

 

[bonehead]

After the fact. Originally they were about $9K, but I don't think you can touch that price now. They had doors that were already made with the bubble. Now I think they have to graft a bubble onto the door.

Doc, if they were after the fact, then who is 'they' that had doors made with the bubble?

 

[SteveA]

Ford had Gurneys bubble done before it was delivered to him for his birthday. I don't know if it showed up as an option on the build sheet.

 

[bonehead]

Ford had Gurneys bubble done before it was delivered to him for his birthday. I don't know if it showed up as an option on the build sheet.

Thanks Steve. Were there any other 'factory' bubbles that made it into production cars?

 

[fjpikul]

"They" is Saleen. They paraded them at Rally I and II. At the time all you had to do was paint them and re-install the hardware and interior. You couild even swap out your door for the new one. There weren't many people who did this, but talk to Ralphie and I think Awsum GT.

 

[bonehead]

"They" is Saleen. They paraded them at Rally I and II. At the time all you had to do was paint them and re-install the hardware and interior. You couild even swap out your door for the new one. There weren't many people who did this, but talk to Ralphie and I think Awsum GT.

Got it. Thanks Frank. That's what I though. But I wasn't aware of the 'factory' bubble that was given to Gurney. So, does anyone know if there were any others directly from Ford that made it into production cars?

 

[GT Tech]

The number we heard at Wixom was in the 350K range for Sonic Blue. Not sure if there were buyers - sellers fees involved. Personally, I think Sonic Blue was the best looking GT to ever see the light of day. I took some neat pictures of it pre and post Wixom build.

To my knowledge, no cars with a "Gurney bubble" ever came through Wixom as a production car. It would have been a hot topic around the shop if there had been. Strictly a Saleen deal post retail sale.

 

[NorthwoodGT]

GT Tech is correct. strictly a Saleen deal. I contacted them about a year and half ago (at least thru their faux counterpart who was still in the original building) and they quoted me $6000.00 to install a bubble. I felt that was a little high but maybe not. it would have been an actual aluminum bubble which included painting the door. I opted for a fiberglas unit that we cut the hole and used a flanging tool to sit the bubble in to. then finished. looks great.

 

[Neil Ressler]

At the time the Sonic Blue car was attracting all of the attention I slipped my Midnight Blue 05 GT through with a factory applied silver stripe and lower bodyside graphics instead of the specified white. I have always thought that this was an attractive color combination which, unfortunately, never made into production for the GT but later made it on one of the Shelby Mustang's.

 

[GT Tech]

Thanks for the info Mr. Ressler. It's pretty much common knowledge of the 2 "one of one" cars (sonic blue and Willie G's silver/w orange strip highlights) but your car is a new revelation to GT history for most of us.

In the 3 years I was on the program, I only took 2 weeks vacation (not consecutive) the whole time. I tried to keep up on unusual cars, but as you said, your car slipped through. Hope you still have it.

 

[bret a ewing]

 

[Indy GT]

At the time the Sonic Blue car was attracting all of the attention I slipped my Midnight Blue 05 GT through with a factory applied silver stripe and lower bodyside graphics instead of the specified white. I have always thought that this was an attractive color combination which, unfortunately, never made into production for the GT but later made it on one of the Shelby Mustang's.

Neil, thanks as always for your comments on our Forum! We appreciate the stories.:thumbsup

I do remember a previous discussion on the Forum some time ago that you did have a one-off color/stripe combo. Thanks for chiming in.

As to the discussion of “the sonic blue” car, yes it was auctioned off as a charity car but there is some history as to how this GT actually came to be. Chris Theodore who was at one time within the Ford organization, tried to have a one-off FGT built exclusively for him. He selected the non-GT color, sonic blue, to be applied to the GT. As word leaked out from the production ranks of this unique color car being assembled, Ford management put a stop to the title transfer to Mr. Theodore. Since this was a unique car with a non-standard color, Ford chose to auction the car off for charity instead of “disposing” of it in another way.