Hi everyone, this is a post that I've been waiting quite a long time to write. My story with the GT is a little different than the others I have read about, and I'd like to share it with the rest of you. Needless to say, it has a very happy ending.
First off let me say I did not see the original GT40's when they were in development, nor did I see them win lemans four times in a row, nor do I remember seeing them in a dealership because I simply was not around at the time
I wish I could have seen the golden age of racing and through my business associates, friends and family I was able to get a really good picture of how things were in that time of the automotive landscape. My father was a huge fan of all things Motorsport and I was exposed to a lot of great things early in my life that I had just missed, including Formula 1, Can Am, SCCA, NASCAR, Drag Racing, and all of the great cars that were out there in the world. I was hooked at an early age, and knew I wanted cars to be in my life.
One of my earliest memories as a child was sitting in the basement of our family's home on this long, green, shag throw rug (it was in a workshop, hah!) and it was near my father's workbench. I remember playing with his car models that he would build on a regular basis, but the one that I would remember the most was of the 1966 winner, #2 amon/mclaren car. I thought it looked so neat, and from then on I always had some pictures, models and toys of the GT40. As I grew older the story that I would piece together was fascinating, and it was always in high hopes when we would travel to a vintage race that I'd see a car that even LOOKED like a GT40. I was even lucky enough to visit Chassis #1075 while it was in Dearborn earlier this year, and actually seeing that car in person was something I had hoped to do my entire life and was glad to have done so.
For as long as I remember, I had wanted to become an engineer just like my father. He was immensely smart and his attention to detail was amazing, and his passion was planes as well as cars. I made a decision at a young age to pursue that as my career, but as life goes it doesn't always work out as planned. While I kept cars in my life and began to pursue my degree in Mechanical Engineering, a friend introduced me to some different programming languages and how they would be potentially used in this new 'internet' thing that was happening. The rest was history, and after graduation I was lucky enough to meet my wife at our first job. She's the love of my life and has had to tolerate me and my "enthusiasm" for cars throughout our relationship, and I am so thankful to be with her and that she puts up with my crazy ass.
When the Ford GT was announced, I was overwhelmed at the fact that there was a chance to own a real, streetable car with bloodlines coming from the original (I always favored the MKI looks) I was thrilled that Ford would be making it. At that point in my life, it would have been difficult to pull the trigger on them when they were new based on the market. Years later, when the market started to dip and a lot of GTs hit the market we missed the window to get in at a lower price, and have watched the value continue to rise.
Over the last few years, my wife and I made the decision to take a run at purchasing the car. From joining this forum, watching the market, contacting owner, it's been a long process that finally came to a head a few weeks ago. I went to visit the GT Guys gathering in Maryland a few weeks ago and was overwhelmed. Everyone was so welcoming into the group, for someone who was hoping to get INTO a car and not a current owner. That spoke volumes to me about the community and how great you all are. Each of the owners spent time with me explaining their time with the car, what it was like to own them, and a whole lot of advice. The GT Guys took a lot of their time as well in explaining to me some of the nuances of the car, explaining some of the different options and modifications that owners perform, and what to look for / what NOT to do with respect to the car. I was fortunate enough to meet the seller of my car, and I believe that fate put the both of us there at that gathering. He spent a considerable amount of time answering questions, telling me stories, and showing me around the different parts of his car as well as giving me a ride towards the end of the day after the maintenance had been performed. The day wrapped up with me learning more about the development of the car and getting more advice, and I drove home on cloud 9 thinking of putting an offer in on the car. As things came together, I ended up taking the plunge and after working out a deal I can proudly say that within a few weeks once I'm back from vacation I'll have in possession the car that represents a lifetime of work. I could not be happier with how things turned out, and would like to send a few shout-outs to several of you.
The "thank you" list could go on for a while, but here are some that I'd like to mention:
To you all here on the forums, thank you all for your information, stories, and personalities. never change
To the owners I met down at the gathering, thank you for the stories, the background, and the perspective of owning cars like these in this area.
To Rich and Denis, thank you for your insight into the car, the advice, and all that you do for this community. I wish I lived within driving distance of the shop just to help out in any way I could.
To John, your hospitality goes unmatched and I thank you for having me over during the last visit. I hope my collection of cars and memorabilia comes close to yours someday.
To Gary, without your guidance and advice I don't think that this could have happened. You saw the gleam in my eye when we first met, and I appreciate all of your help and support.
To Glenn, I could write a book of thank you notes to you. You are a consummate gentleman and a wonderful person and I promise that if I ever sell the car, you are the first call. Thank you, thank you, thank you
To my friends, who have had to put up with my hyperactive pursuit of collecting all things around this car and the chase that finally is at a close.
To my father, who I am tremendously proud of and am thankful for introducing me to things in this world that I could really put my heart and soul behind. The fire and passion for this car would not be here if not for him, thanks dad.
Finally to my wife Christine, who I have been fortunate enough to have gone through so much in life with. Without her, I have no idea where I would be and the support she has given me throughout our time together is something you can't even describe. With respect to this car, she's been supportive from day 1 in the quest to get one, and I cannot thank her enough for that let alone everything she does in this world. I love you baby.
I've been fortunate to have been blessed with wonderful people in my life and the opportunities to make this world a better place, and am thankful for all that have helped me get to this point. Thanks for the long read everyone, and it's glad to finally be a member of the club.
- Chris
First off let me say I did not see the original GT40's when they were in development, nor did I see them win lemans four times in a row, nor do I remember seeing them in a dealership because I simply was not around at the time
I wish I could have seen the golden age of racing and through my business associates, friends and family I was able to get a really good picture of how things were in that time of the automotive landscape. My father was a huge fan of all things Motorsport and I was exposed to a lot of great things early in my life that I had just missed, including Formula 1, Can Am, SCCA, NASCAR, Drag Racing, and all of the great cars that were out there in the world. I was hooked at an early age, and knew I wanted cars to be in my life. One of my earliest memories as a child was sitting in the basement of our family's home on this long, green, shag throw rug (it was in a workshop, hah!) and it was near my father's workbench. I remember playing with his car models that he would build on a regular basis, but the one that I would remember the most was of the 1966 winner, #2 amon/mclaren car. I thought it looked so neat, and from then on I always had some pictures, models and toys of the GT40. As I grew older the story that I would piece together was fascinating, and it was always in high hopes when we would travel to a vintage race that I'd see a car that even LOOKED like a GT40. I was even lucky enough to visit Chassis #1075 while it was in Dearborn earlier this year, and actually seeing that car in person was something I had hoped to do my entire life and was glad to have done so.
For as long as I remember, I had wanted to become an engineer just like my father. He was immensely smart and his attention to detail was amazing, and his passion was planes as well as cars. I made a decision at a young age to pursue that as my career, but as life goes it doesn't always work out as planned. While I kept cars in my life and began to pursue my degree in Mechanical Engineering, a friend introduced me to some different programming languages and how they would be potentially used in this new 'internet' thing that was happening. The rest was history, and after graduation I was lucky enough to meet my wife at our first job. She's the love of my life and has had to tolerate me and my "enthusiasm" for cars throughout our relationship, and I am so thankful to be with her and that she puts up with my crazy ass.
When the Ford GT was announced, I was overwhelmed at the fact that there was a chance to own a real, streetable car with bloodlines coming from the original (I always favored the MKI looks) I was thrilled that Ford would be making it. At that point in my life, it would have been difficult to pull the trigger on them when they were new based on the market. Years later, when the market started to dip and a lot of GTs hit the market we missed the window to get in at a lower price, and have watched the value continue to rise.
Over the last few years, my wife and I made the decision to take a run at purchasing the car. From joining this forum, watching the market, contacting owner, it's been a long process that finally came to a head a few weeks ago. I went to visit the GT Guys gathering in Maryland a few weeks ago and was overwhelmed. Everyone was so welcoming into the group, for someone who was hoping to get INTO a car and not a current owner. That spoke volumes to me about the community and how great you all are. Each of the owners spent time with me explaining their time with the car, what it was like to own them, and a whole lot of advice. The GT Guys took a lot of their time as well in explaining to me some of the nuances of the car, explaining some of the different options and modifications that owners perform, and what to look for / what NOT to do with respect to the car. I was fortunate enough to meet the seller of my car, and I believe that fate put the both of us there at that gathering. He spent a considerable amount of time answering questions, telling me stories, and showing me around the different parts of his car as well as giving me a ride towards the end of the day after the maintenance had been performed. The day wrapped up with me learning more about the development of the car and getting more advice, and I drove home on cloud 9 thinking of putting an offer in on the car. As things came together, I ended up taking the plunge and after working out a deal I can proudly say that within a few weeks once I'm back from vacation I'll have in possession the car that represents a lifetime of work. I could not be happier with how things turned out, and would like to send a few shout-outs to several of you.
The "thank you" list could go on for a while, but here are some that I'd like to mention:
To you all here on the forums, thank you all for your information, stories, and personalities. never change
To the owners I met down at the gathering, thank you for the stories, the background, and the perspective of owning cars like these in this area.
To Rich and Denis, thank you for your insight into the car, the advice, and all that you do for this community. I wish I lived within driving distance of the shop just to help out in any way I could.
To John, your hospitality goes unmatched and I thank you for having me over during the last visit. I hope my collection of cars and memorabilia comes close to yours someday.
To Gary, without your guidance and advice I don't think that this could have happened. You saw the gleam in my eye when we first met, and I appreciate all of your help and support.
To Glenn, I could write a book of thank you notes to you. You are a consummate gentleman and a wonderful person and I promise that if I ever sell the car, you are the first call. Thank you, thank you, thank you
To my friends, who have had to put up with my hyperactive pursuit of collecting all things around this car and the chase that finally is at a close.
To my father, who I am tremendously proud of and am thankful for introducing me to things in this world that I could really put my heart and soul behind. The fire and passion for this car would not be here if not for him, thanks dad.
Finally to my wife Christine, who I have been fortunate enough to have gone through so much in life with. Without her, I have no idea where I would be and the support she has given me throughout our time together is something you can't even describe. With respect to this car, she's been supportive from day 1 in the quest to get one, and I cannot thank her enough for that let alone everything she does in this world. I love you baby.
I've been fortunate to have been blessed with wonderful people in my life and the opportunities to make this world a better place, and am thankful for all that have helped me get to this point. Thanks for the long read everyone, and it's glad to finally be a member of the club.
- Chris
