"The Three" Spotted in Oshkosh, WI

[Waldo]

Ford has a rather large display/"hangar" at this year's EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show. Despite a large portion of the display being dedicated to the 2015 Mustang and other current offerings, the first three "production" GTs are being prominently displayed in front of the exhibit. 4Y4000001, 4Y4000002, and 4Y4000003 are still attracting quite a bit of attention. (These marginal iPhone pictures were taken in the morning before the crowds arrived.)

 

[Ed Sims]

That's way cool Waldo!

Thanks,
Ed

 

[Not 4N]

Great pix. I need a gig like that for my transporter, more than happy to display at as many events as possible.:biggrin:thumbsup

 

[twobjshelbys]

You mean these are out where it might, er, rain on them?

 

[ChipBeck]

Waldo,

Thanks for posting. Don't forget to say hi to Janna who is there with Ray's Lockheed Electra!!

Chip

 

[bonehead]

Very cool trio!
But I just read about a fatality at the show yesterday. RIP to the pilot and best wishes to the passenger.

 

[roketman]

I drove the Red one .The Heritage was a Blue Stripe car originally .
Very cool! Hope retirement is going well for you!

 

[Indy GT]

If these three cars are in fact Jobs "1", "2" and "3" which appeared in front of Ford World HQ for the Ford's Centenial Celebration, Ron is correct. The three Centenial cars were red, white and blue with the white car being Bill Ford's car.

I had Kip (he "owned" these cars during that period) start up the red one to all the crowd's delight.

 

[RALPHIE]

Hmmm - Does that mean that, in Ford's eyes, that all the cars are the same, independent of color? Or does it mean that Heritage cars (and their value) come about from blue/striped cars, and, as such, blue/stripe cars are their equal (of higher) in value? Did the white/stripe car (Bill's) always have the forged BBS wheels, even at the 2003 rollout? Lots of questions here - - - :cheers

People want to know! - :facepalm: :lol

 

[roketman]

Blue stripe cars should be of the highest value!
All the fast guys have them!

 

[Mooney56]

Wish I was there -- Oshkosh is a lot of fun

 

[Cobraguy]

Ralph.....never ask Ron for an honest opinion when it comes to blue striped gt's. ;-)

 

[Mark McGowan]

The VIN numbers are correct for the Job 1, 2 and 3 cars. Did the first drives of these cars at our Michigan Proving Grounds in Romeo Michigan (with 5 mph speed clips). Guess they did not trust us:frown All started out with base wheels as the option wheels did not exist at that time. The Job 2 car (blue with white strips) has been painted twice if memory serves me correctly. It went from blue to tungsten to heritage. Got to drive these cars again at Rally 2 and what is really neat is these cars are still in initial CP build settings. Meaning they have never been updated and represent the starting point of the CP development. One drive in these cars and you soon find out how far we move these cars from the starting point. These cars have things like symmetrical outside mirrors with makes the passenger mirror pretty much useless. Then there is the shifter and cable routing which was terrible. The seats have silver inserts and the gas cap has Ford GT embossed on the outside cover. The list goes on and on. Love driving these cars as it is very rewarding to remember far and how nice the final product came out

 

[RALPHIE]

Mark - I take then that the white car is not Bill Ford's GT, it being a CP car.

 

[GT Tech]

Mark, I assume Bill's car (0001) is the same one we flogged around MPG while doing my "training". I remember taking the last corner on the "loop" road (hard right hand sweeper) well over the speed limit. Chris reminded me that if I wrecked this car, they would not only fire us, but hunt us down and kill us.

 

[dbk]

Mark - I take then that the white car is not Bill Ford's GT, it being a CP car.

Not anymore. Bill's is 5Y400001.

 

[Waldo]

I'll post pics of the VIN plates and the "Ford GT" gas cap this evening. The silver seat inserts are gone. They all have seats with the standard black inserts.

If anybody has any requests for pictures of specific things, let me know.

 

[Mark McGowan]

When your name is on the building you get two Ford GT to drive both with VIN numbers 001. The Job 1 car (really the first CP built has a 2004 model year 001 VIN). Bill Ford drove this car quite a bit and if you look on the driver door sill there should be an engraving stating that, “This car was built for Bill Ford”. The second car (Photo provided by Rich) is Bill Ford’s productions 2005 VIN 001 car. Photo was taken at the Michigan Proving Grounds in Romeo Michigan. The first 50 cars off the Wixom assembly line were shipped to MPG for my team to inspect and drive. Car would then be delivered to the owner with paper work stating that it was tested at MPG and signed by my team.

 

[RALPHIE]

Rich/Mark - Thanks for clearing that up! It's so good to have the original team members on the Forum. Future historians will marvel at the accurate information regarding all of our cars! Thanks again. :thumbsup

 

[GT Tech]

I've got pictures I took when I first went to Saleen for training in July of 03. Bill's first #1 was there and I got a few (bad) pictures of it on the alignment rack. Note the painted under hood, base wheels, and although hard to see, the one piece door sill plate. The early cars did not have the crash plates.