At Home Mechanic

In 1960, dad brought home a new Ford Falcon. In early 1964 he bought a Ford Galaxy and in the middle of that same year the original Ford Mustang came to market. On the racetrack, Carroll Shelby was stuffing Ford V8's into small English roadsters and making the fancy European manufacturers look stupid. In that same era Ford had also decided to make a major effort on the Stock Car and Indy circuits and was reaping major rewards.

Henry Ford II (the old man's grandson and who was known around Dearborn as The Deuce) thought that buying the failing Ferrari factory would add some prestige to the company. He and old man Enzo got into some serious discussions about the sale of Ferrari to Ford and it looked like a "done deal." But Enzo balked at the thought of a Ford nameplate on any of his cars (you notice that the FIAT name never appears on today's Ferraris) and told The Deuce to go take a hike.

Not one to take an insult lightly, The Deuce told his underlings to beat Ferrari at their own game, regardless of the cost... and do it RIGHT NOW. Rather than start from scratch, the Ford racing guys out-sourced the car to England where Lola was operating a nice little cottage industry making racecars for customers. Ford dropped a 289 into the rear of a Lola coupe and renamed it the Ford GT 40.
The first Ford GT 40s were terrible and The Deuce was not amused. Shelby and his group of former rat racers was given the GT40 project and told to get it winning. They did and it did, culminating with the historic 1,2,3 finish at Le Mans in 1966. The rest is racing history.

I was ten years old when I got to watch the grainy satellite TV photos of the Ford GT 40's humiliating the Ferrari team with the staged crossing of the finish line in France. Today we take satellite video feeds from around the world for granted, but at that time it was a rare a memorable event when the hook-up was "coast to coast" or " live from across the Atlantic." The only other event of my childhood that was nearly as impressionable upon me was watching the first steps on the moon a couple of years later. Maybe it is a case of arrested development, but the Ford GT40 never has left my consciousness. I am nearly 50 years old but when you say "race car" the first image that comes to my mind is a MKII Ford GT40 in Gulf livery.

The modern automobile sedan has become homogenized to the point that it is difficult to tell one maker's product from another. Partially this is due to the fact that the rules of physics, packaging and aerodynamics apply equally to all cars. Partially it is due to caution about making a car that is "too different" for mass consumer appeal. Anxious to make their cars stand out without challenging the sensibilities of their customers, the major manufacturers looked backward to their legacy products to inspire the design new products. The Retro Look of the New Beetle, the New Thunderbird and the New Mustang came to market looking a whole lot like their old selves. Chrysler's PT Cruiser was loosely based upon a 1940's panel truck and the Chevrolet SSR is a modern interpretation of what a 1950's Studebaker pick-up truck would look like if it had its top cut off and a Corvette's running gear shoved underneath.

Nostalgia seemed to be working and so Ford ordered up a run of less than 2,000 modern Ford GTs to be built, not by Ford but out-sourced to Saleen, and powered by their newest truck engine. With a suggested retail price of $150,000, the limited run was an instant success and the secondary market for the cars has pushed "used" car prices to over 200 Grand. The new Ford GT (the rights to the name "GT40" have slipped from Ford's grip) is low and lean and sexy in all the ways that transports this fat, bald, old man back to his youth. Gazing upon the new car recalls the days when Ford Racing ran supreme. Cynicism and skepticism about all things American were impossible to imagine and the future was bright, safe and secure in a Wonder Bread sort of suburban ideal.

On the main street near my home there is a specialty car reseller, his showroom is filled with Ferraris, Lamborghini's, Aston Martins and Ruf Porsches. He does a good business, fulfilling the automotive dreams of successful business and entertainment executives that pass his shop on their way to Century City or the Fox movie studio. In his window, in a prime location, he has parked a new Ford GT40 that tempts me every morning has I walk past his shop on my daily exercise routine. It calls out to me; it cries for me to forgo my children's education, my retirement plans and my monthly mortgage payment. I could toss all of that aside so that I can make my childhood wish come true. This is indeed my Dream Car. The price tag says $225,000. I wonder if he would take $200,000 for it.

Ford
Ford GT