question for 'ford GT' owners
Discussion
Hi to all the Ford GT owners (you lucky LUCKY people!)
my favourite car is the GT, ever since seeing it on Top gear, laughing at Clarkson for buying one and then getting rid of it, (apparently it was the non standard tracker that caused so many problems, so really he should have kept it)
if money was no object the GT would be my car of choice so i ask this of you lucky GT owners out there.....what are they like to own?
do you have any regrets about buying one?
is it in your mind 'the dogs bo**ocks' or do you often wish you'd spent it on a ferrari?
is it true that if you take it for a 'play' that you'll have to refuel after 75 miles?
come on guys, i know your answers will probably shatter my dreams and make me prefer something else but i need to know.
my favourite car is the GT, ever since seeing it on Top gear, laughing at Clarkson for buying one and then getting rid of it, (apparently it was the non standard tracker that caused so many problems, so really he should have kept it)
if money was no object the GT would be my car of choice so i ask this of you lucky GT owners out there.....what are they like to own?
do you have any regrets about buying one?
is it in your mind 'the dogs bo**ocks' or do you often wish you'd spent it on a ferrari?
is it true that if you take it for a 'play' that you'll have to refuel after 75 miles?
come on guys, i know your answers will probably shatter my dreams and make me prefer something else but i need to know.
slartibartfast said:
my favourite car is the GT, ever since seeing it on Top gear, laughing at Clarkson for buying one and then getting rid of it, (apparently it was the non standard tracker that caused so many problems, so really he should have kept it)
Well the new owner is on here so you could ask him!!I think you will find most GT owners would spend their time in the Ferrari section, as the GT has more in common with a 430 than a Fiesta.
Mattt said:
i'm sure he wouldn't mind showing you round the car.
erm....i've just wet myself!i've only just seen my first one in the flesh and only saw it for a second as it passed by last week on the way out of nottingham heading towards the A46, dark blue one...i nearly hair-trigged !
slartibartfast said:
Mattt said:
i'm sure he wouldn't mind showing you round the car.
erm....i've just wet myself!i've only just seen my first one in the flesh and only saw it for a second as it passed by last week on the way out of nottingham heading towards the A46, dark blue one...i nearly hair-trigged !
tigger1 said:
slartibartfast said:
Mattt said:
i'm sure he wouldn't mind showing you round the car.
erm....i've just wet myself!i've only just seen my first one in the flesh and only saw it for a second as it passed by last week on the way out of nottingham heading towards the A46, dark blue one...i nearly hair-trigged !
actually i might know who that one belongs to (not personally know the owner), the chairman of sandicliffe ford has a red one and he lets someone at sandicare branch of sandicliffe borrow it sometimes, sandiacre is right next to the M1 J26.
i will keep a look out for it.
we should start a Ford GT spotters thread LOL.
Ok, some answers so I can point people at this thread in the future!
1) The alarm. As far as I know, there has never been anything wrong with it. It's still the same one JC had and, touch wood, it's never played up with me. There are some operational things about it that, if you were a 'I'm not reading the manual and I can't remember simple instructions' kind of guy
would make it ring you up all the time.
2) Electrical fault. A charging system that was fitted went wrong and caused some nasty side effects. Just a one off it seems as I have the same system now, as do quite a few other GT owners, and it's fine.
3) Driving. Very easy in fact. The clutch is light and is progressive, brakes are monster good and for a car of it's size, it changes direction very well. It is a road car, not a track car however, and it does seem soft and a bit vague on most circuits. Any place with a long straight you totally murder most cars though.
4) Left hand drive. Ok in fact, just plan ahead. If you arrive at a toll by yourself you best get out and do the money. You sit very far to the left in the car (the central tunnel is massive, and the sills nice and small), so reaching across just isn't an option.
5) Visibility. Out the front it's fine, but as with most modern super-cars you can't see the front corners of the car. View through the rear view mirror is ok. Slightly better than a Diablo I'd say. The wind mirrors generally look at the rear wings! Ok for seeing traffic when joining the motorway, but you can't angle them to see the rear wheels to help parking. Parking is generally a pain because of this.
6) Getting in and out. One thing that JC TopGear was right about. You need a BIG space. You might be able to get in through a window, but unlikely as to get the window down you'd have to open the open almost as much as the amount needed to get in! The doors are long and thick.
7) Fuel. I drove all the way from London to Liverpool REALLY pressing on, over to the Isle of Man (see this months TopGear mag). Thrashed around there for 3 days then back to London. Average was just over 20mpg. I recon taking it easy (lets say in Germany cruising @ 100-110mph) you'd get 300miles+ to a tank. That said, on a track day in Denmark my average was 5mpg.... but that was flat out showing up a CGT and a 599 (who did lack in the car control deptartment it must be said).
The best thing about it though is everyone seems to like it and respect it. The shape will never go out of fashion so it'll never date. Ferrari's and most Lambo's are as common as muck compared to the GT, and do seem to (generally) attract a certain kind of owner
.
It's fun to be in. My Noble is probably faster to 100mph and much better around the lanes, but I wouldn't want to spend more than a couple of hours in it on any one day. The GT you can spend hours in and still feel fine afterwards. On hot days the aircon is brilliant. If you let it run flat out it'll freeze you to death on the hottest day of the year.
So, I'll be keeping mine. There's nothing at even double the price that matches it as a whole car, for me at least. I'm sure I'll buy other cars, but the GT will always be around.
1) The alarm. As far as I know, there has never been anything wrong with it. It's still the same one JC had and, touch wood, it's never played up with me. There are some operational things about it that, if you were a 'I'm not reading the manual and I can't remember simple instructions' kind of guy
would make it ring you up all the time.2) Electrical fault. A charging system that was fitted went wrong and caused some nasty side effects. Just a one off it seems as I have the same system now, as do quite a few other GT owners, and it's fine.
3) Driving. Very easy in fact. The clutch is light and is progressive, brakes are monster good and for a car of it's size, it changes direction very well. It is a road car, not a track car however, and it does seem soft and a bit vague on most circuits. Any place with a long straight you totally murder most cars though.
4) Left hand drive. Ok in fact, just plan ahead. If you arrive at a toll by yourself you best get out and do the money. You sit very far to the left in the car (the central tunnel is massive, and the sills nice and small), so reaching across just isn't an option.
5) Visibility. Out the front it's fine, but as with most modern super-cars you can't see the front corners of the car. View through the rear view mirror is ok. Slightly better than a Diablo I'd say. The wind mirrors generally look at the rear wings! Ok for seeing traffic when joining the motorway, but you can't angle them to see the rear wheels to help parking. Parking is generally a pain because of this.
6) Getting in and out. One thing that JC TopGear was right about. You need a BIG space. You might be able to get in through a window, but unlikely as to get the window down you'd have to open the open almost as much as the amount needed to get in! The doors are long and thick.
7) Fuel. I drove all the way from London to Liverpool REALLY pressing on, over to the Isle of Man (see this months TopGear mag). Thrashed around there for 3 days then back to London. Average was just over 20mpg. I recon taking it easy (lets say in Germany cruising @ 100-110mph) you'd get 300miles+ to a tank. That said, on a track day in Denmark my average was 5mpg.... but that was flat out showing up a CGT and a 599 (who did lack in the car control deptartment it must be said).
The best thing about it though is everyone seems to like it and respect it. The shape will never go out of fashion so it'll never date. Ferrari's and most Lambo's are as common as muck compared to the GT, and do seem to (generally) attract a certain kind of owner
.It's fun to be in. My Noble is probably faster to 100mph and much better around the lanes, but I wouldn't want to spend more than a couple of hours in it on any one day. The GT you can spend hours in and still feel fine afterwards. On hot days the aircon is brilliant. If you let it run flat out it'll freeze you to death on the hottest day of the year.
So, I'll be keeping mine. There's nothing at even double the price that matches it as a whole car, for me at least. I'm sure I'll buy other cars, but the GT will always be around.
Edited by ThatPhilBrettGuy on Thursday 13th September 18:08
Phill, thanks a million for that, i now love the GT even more!
would you take it to Le mans? i would if i owned one.
if you are going to le mans i'll see you there and share some beer's with you, it'd be great to meet you.
i know exactly what you mean about the ferrari owners, i've heard that in some dealerships you can't buy one unless 'invited' even if money is no object, whether this is a myth or not i don't know but if it's real then it shows true about the particular kind of person...having said that i'd still have one.
Paul
would you take it to Le mans? i would if i owned one.
if you are going to le mans i'll see you there and share some beer's with you, it'd be great to meet you.
i know exactly what you mean about the ferrari owners, i've heard that in some dealerships you can't buy one unless 'invited' even if money is no object, whether this is a myth or not i don't know but if it's real then it shows true about the particular kind of person...having said that i'd still have one.
Paul
slartibartfast said:
would you take it to Le mans?
No. I don't do tents and if I want to get pissed I can walk across the road to the pub. I can then be sick in my own toilet.slartibartfast said:
i know exactly what you mean about the ferrari owners, i've heard that in some dealerships you can't buy one unless 'invited' even if money is no object
Er, no you don't know then, sorry. The 'invited' tag could we apply to me as my car wasn't exactly put on Auto Trader. I was alluding to the fact that a fair few of them buy the car because of the badge. I my book that's not a good reason to pick a car.slartibartfast said:
actually i might know who that one belongs to (not personally know the owner), the chairman of sandicliffe ford has a red one and he lets someone at sandicare branch of sandicliffe borrow it sometimes, sandiacre is right next to the M1 J26.
i will keep a look out for it.
Yeah, that one was in Sandicliffe Ford in Leicester for a while a month or so back. Went and had a quick look through the windows, the salesman says apparently none of them were even allowed to open the doors!i will keep a look out for it.
thegill said:
slartibartfast said:
actually i might know who that one belongs to (not personally know the owner), the chairman of sandicliffe ford has a red one and he lets someone at sandicare branch of sandicliffe borrow it sometimes, sandiacre is right next to the M1 J26.
i will keep a look out for it.
Yeah, that one was in Sandicliffe Ford in Leicester for a while a month or so back. Went and had a quick look through the windows, the salesman says apparently none of them were even allowed to open the doors!i will keep a look out for it.
slartibartfast said:
what are they like to own?
Awesome ! I'm on my 2nd !slartibartfast said:
do you have any regrets about buying one?
Nope. slartibartfast said:
is it in your mind 'the dogs bo**ocks' or do you often wish you'd spent it on a ferrari?
I've owned a Ferrari F355, 360 and 550. They're different beasts, but I'd say 50% of people who see you in a Ferrari hate you, 50% love you. In a GT, it's morelike 95% love you.slartibartfast said:
is it true that if you take it for a 'play' that you'll have to refuel after 75 miles?
No. As alluded to above, Clarkson has alot to answer for.If he hadn't been so impatient for his, it would have been prepared like everyone elses, in a timely fashion and wouldn't have had the problems he did. (+ user error)
so according to what you both (the owners) have put on here i can conclude that Clarkson is a Tw*t?
ok, i joke (because i think he's funny), but i guess he does certainly have a lot to answer for regarding false data on the Ford GT, although having said that i notice this is what we see with other cars shown on Top gear, so i've come to the conclusion:-
A: don't believe all you see on top gear
B: if you DO win the lottery, the ford GT is what car to buy!
ok, i joke (because i think he's funny), but i guess he does certainly have a lot to answer for regarding false data on the Ford GT, although having said that i notice this is what we see with other cars shown on Top gear, so i've come to the conclusion:-
A: don't believe all you see on top gear
B: if you DO win the lottery, the ford GT is what car to buy!
slartibartfast said:
i've only just seen my first one in the flesh and only saw it for a second as it passed by last week on the way out of nottingham heading towards the A46, dark blue one...i nearly hair-trigged !
I saw my first one in the flesh a couple of weeks ago at Croft racing circuit, it was hidden behind a trailer. It was a new one on an 07 plate, I found the owner and got to sit inside it 
Dam nice interior!Jeremy Clarkson suffered issues with his (non-Ford) immobilisor on too many occasions.
Considering the GT40 was his dream car from his childhood, I'm suprised he parted company with the GT so quickly. If you saw his TG film when he went to Detroit to do a first drive of the GT, his boyish enthusiasm was there for all to see.
I think they are fabulous looking cars, having seen a few close up. In fact, one pulled up in a Burger King car park in Newbury a few weeks back and the kid were around it like bees to a honey pot. The owner was very cool, opening the rear hatch so they could ogle the engine. Top man. Hopefully he fuelled some car related passion into them.
Considering the GT40 was his dream car from his childhood, I'm suprised he parted company with the GT so quickly. If you saw his TG film when he went to Detroit to do a first drive of the GT, his boyish enthusiasm was there for all to see.
I think they are fabulous looking cars, having seen a few close up. In fact, one pulled up in a Burger King car park in Newbury a few weeks back and the kid were around it like bees to a honey pot. The owner was very cool, opening the rear hatch so they could ogle the engine. Top man. Hopefully he fuelled some car related passion into them.
Gassing Station | Ford | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff