North Carolina GTs? Hoping to connect... Following since '05!

[stephenmutz]

Hey GT Forum - Thread says new member introduction as well, so will share what I am looking for and some context on my story...apologies in advance for the novel!

My name is Stephen and I live in Durham, NC with my wife and daughter, +1 on the way. I shared a bit of my story with DBK and he was kind enough to let me into the forum. Have been following GTs since '05, this forum for last 5+ years, and spent hours upon hours reading post and observing, but recently joined and this is my first formal interaction. I am hoping to get my GT soon but would love to connect with some of the folks up here in North Carolina to understand more about the costs, maintenance load, etc - just to make sure I time things right.

For some more context, I grew up loving Ford. My Dad was a Ford dealer since before I was born, and as the second youngest of 12 children, I was quickly indoctrinated - built tough. One of my greatest joys as a kid was getting to go to the dealership with my Dad and spend hours roaming the lot, helping washing cars, and playing around the Mustangs - wild beasts. They were a great dealer (back then: Lakeland Automall in Lakeland, FL) and often had Shelby + Roush on the lot, but in '05 - I was awestruck when my Dad got to sell not 1, but 2 Ford GTs (one may have been in '06). Memorably, my Dad got to drive the '05 at the insistence of the purchaser - I still live vicariously through my Dad's drive that day! I was instantly addicted to all things FGT and would beg to go see it "just one more time before it sells"! I wonder too, anyone on the forum know if their GT was from central FL? Small world...

Since then, I have been following and patiently watching the cost of GTs rise YoY, which is made it a challenge to keep up! Have a goal to own and frequently drive each generation one day (though probably a SuperPerfomance replica for my MkII, and who knows how much a '17+ will cost by the time I get around to it). '05-'06 is my favorite for obvious reasons and planning to start there. My wife and I just purchased a house in the area after renting for a few years since selling our house in FL and with that done she has opened up a bit more to the GT dream.

I would love to connect with some folks, especially any locals here in the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, NC) to learn a bit more about what it actually looks like to own one of these spectacular machines. I have seen a red MkI (I think replica, but who knows!) drive by on two occasions in the last year, and this last weekend I actually got some pictures as it drove past (opposite directions both times), so I know there is at least one owner nearby!

Again, have loved being a passive part of this community and hope to take a more active roll - any help or connections to the right folks would be greatly appreciated! Anyone in the area I could connect with?

Appreciatively,
Stephen

 

[extrap]

Welcome! I've only had mine for 8 months, and I'm actually in central FL (Gainesville), but if I can answer any questions about how my purchase or first 8 months of ownership have gone, just ask

 

[Tomcat]

Welcome aboard! I am originally from Jacksonville, Fl. and now split my time between Perdido Key (Pensacola) and Madison, NC (Greensboro). My 06 Tungsten GT is in NC and I would be happy to talk with you and/or visit with the GT. For me, the GT is a resto-mod GT40...so it ticks all the blocks as a driver/showcar/performer! I have 44,000 miles on mine now.

 

[stephenmutz]

Welcome aboard! I am originally from Jacksonville, Fl. and now split my time between Perdido Key (Pensacola) and Madison, NC (Greensboro). My 06 Tungsten GT is in NC and I would be happy to talk with you and/or visit with the GT. For me, the GT is a resto-mod GT40...so it ticks all the blocks as a driver/showcar/performer! I have 44,000 miles on mine now.

Thank you both! For me, it would be really helpful to talk through in person - I much prefer it to forums but will make do either way. Tomcat, it would be amazing to actually meet up and get to see your GT - other than the MkI replica I saw in Durham last weekend and an '06 I stumbled across at a dealership in Indianapolis last Christmas, haven't seen one in years.

Is there a way to find more folks who are up here in NC? I imagine there have got to be a few owners in the Raleigh area... Given this is my first post, I am not sure if I even posted this in the right place or in the right way for it to get visibility, but fortunately, the two of you have at least come across it!

 

[Shark01]

Welcome, and hope you can fulfill your ownership dream. The only thing I can offer is there is one for sale in Hickory (?) NC at Cosmos motors if it is close enough to go take a look.

To give you an indication where the market is, they had that car for several months in late 2019, early 2020 with a $235k ask. It has an accident of unknown severity, so I offered $218k, which was refused, but they kept sending me e-mails every week to see if I was still interested and how could they get me to buy it.....this went on for awhile.

Now they have the car for sale again, 13k miles (added about 500) with a $299k ask.

 

[MAD IN NC]

Welcome. Need to get together. I’m in N Raleigh

.... bring beer

 

[stephenmutz]

Welcome. Need to get together. I’m in N Raleigh

.... bring beer

Thank you, will ping you direct!

 

[stephenmutz]

Welcome, and hope you can fulfill your ownership dream. The only thing I can offer is there is one for sale in Hickory (?) NC at Cosmos motors if it is close enough to go take a look.

To give you an indication where the market is, they had that car for several months in late 2019, early 2020 with a $235k ask. It has an accident of unknown severity, so I offered $218k, which was refused, but they kept sending me e-mails every week to see if I was still interested and how could they get me to buy it.....this went on for awhile.

Now they have the car for sale again, 13k miles (added about 500) with a $299k ask.

Gorgeous! Thank you for sharing, I checked it out - not sure what the take is on Whipple here or what the increased long-term maintenance burden is given the extra HP, but I love that aspect. That said, generally looking for a clean title. Part of what's lighting a fire under me now is the fact costs are going up so much... From what you guys have seen, cyclical or steady?

 

[extrap]

Here's Bring a Trailer's chart of GT sales since Feb 2017 https://bringatrailer.com/ford/gt/

If the three 2018 NGT's were removed from the chart I think you'd see an upward trend of maybe $50k to as much as $100k over that time period.

 

[Shark01]

Steady appreciation but with jumps here and there. You may find accepting a story that is verifiable the best way to get the FGT experience for the least money. My car is like that, wasn’t in a collision but did bump into a concrete bumper in a parking lot, so it has a CarFax blemish that says damage (like a insurance claim against comprehensive). It also had a replacement odometer display, but true mileage can be read from the ECU so there was no funny business.

So for accepting a couple of stories, I paid $182k for a 28k mile car with a bunch of great mods 15 months ago. I don’t feel cheated at all for not buying a super low mile pristine car, no mileage guilt....just go drive hard at every opportunity.

 

[extrap]

Steady appreciation but with jumps here and there. You may find accepting a story that is verifiable the best way to get the FGT experience for the least money. My car is like that, wasn’t in a collision but did bump into a concrete bumper in a parking lot, so it has a CarFax blemish that says damage (like a insurance claim against comprehensive). It also had a replacement odometer display, but true mileage can be read from the ECU so there was no funny business.

So for accepting a couple of stories, I paid $182k for a 28k mile car with a bunch of great mods 15 months ago. I don’t feel cheated at all for not buying a super low mile pristine car, no mileage guilt....just go drive hard at every opportunity.

Sometimes I wish I'd bought that way But I'm a picky SOB!

 

[Shark01]

Sometimes I wish I'd bought that way But I'm a picky SOB!

But I was picky in a lot of respects.....thought about buying a salvage car, about a car with two undocumented accidents, a couple of 80k+ mile cars, but none of those felt right.....there was too much I just didn’t know to make a comfortable decision.

I learned from buying a 9k mile Lamborghini Diablo that mileage guilt is a real thing for me.....7 years later, it has 13k miles and I fret over all of them.

 

[extrap]

.

 

[Tomcat]

Thank you both! For me, it would be really helpful to talk through in person - I much prefer it to forums but will make do either way. Tomcat, it would be amazing to actually meet up and get to see your GT - other than the MkI replica I saw in Durham last weekend and an '06 I stumbled across at a dealership in Indianapolis last Christmas, haven't seen one in years.

Is there a way to find more folks who are up here in NC? I imagine there have got to be a few owners in the Raleigh area... Given this is my first post, I am not sure if I even posted this in the right place or in the right way for it to get visibility, but fortunately, the two of you have at least come across it!

I have two close Friends with GTs, one in NC. We have brought them over to Cars and Coffee. 6-8 years ago, I had only seen one in person (in the wild) at a C&C in Raleigh before I bought mine. We will endeavor to get together.

 

[Tomcat]

So for accepting a couple of stories, I paid $182k for a 28k mile car with a bunch of great mods 15 months ago. I don’t feel cheated at all for not buying a super low mile pristine car, no mileage guilt....just go drive hard at every opportunity.

That seems like a GREAT deal!

 

[roketman]

I think you got a screaming deal!

 

[Brian GTS]

Hi Stephen,

Small world, I am in Wake Forest just down the road from you. I have an 06 blue / white GT. Be happy to answer any questions.

Brian

 

[stephenmutz]

Hi Stephen,

Small world, I am in Wake Forest just down the road from you. I have an 06 blue / white GT. Be happy to answer any questions.

Brian

Thank you, Brian!

 

[stephenmutz]

Hey all! Thanks again to everyone on this post for sharing. Two things:

1) I moved to Hillsborough, NC just north of Chapel Hill. Have seen the red MkI here again - anyone know who that is? I’d love to get together with anyone in the area (I can drive to you) just to learn more about your experience owning and hopefully get to ride along

2) Have many dream cars, a realistic shortlist of 5, but two I view as certain - ‘05 GT, ‘67 Shelby GT500 (maaaaaaaybe GT350). Recently though, given my life stage and not wanting to finance anything, I have been thinking that a more realistic short term goal is to get a something that soothes the blue oval sport itch on the lines of what I can responsibly afford ~$30k. I’d love to get into something that is actually fun to drive with some real power but also a good daily driver. First instinct is a classic Mustang variant 65-early 70s but not sure how realistic. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?