Of the 4,500 GTs originally planned, approximately 100 were to be exported to Europe, starting in late 2005. An additional 200 were destined for sale in Canada. Production ended in 2006 without reaching the planned lot. Approximately 550 were built in 2004, nearly 1,900 in 2005, and just over 1,600 in 2006, for a grand total of 4,038. The final 11 car bodies manufactured by Mayflower Vehicle Systems were disassembled, and the frames and body panels were sold as service parts.
As with many exotic vehicles, when the Ford GT was first released, the demand outpaced supply, and the cars initially sold for premium prices. The first private sale of Ford’s new mid-engine sports car was completed on August 4, 2004, when former Microsoft executive Jon Shirley took delivery of his Midnight Blue 2005 Ford GT.[2] Shirley earned the right to purchase the first production Ford GT (chassis #10) at a charity auction at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Auction after bidding over $557,000.[3]
A few other early cars sold for as much as a US$100,000 premium over the suggested retail price of $139,995 (Ford increased the MSRP to $149,995 on July 1, 2005).[4] Optional equipment available included a McIntosh sound system, racing stripes, painted brake calipers, and forged alloy wheels adding an additional $13,500 to the MSRP.[5]
I’m sure Jay Leno must have a least one of these GT’s. They were beautiful to look at. I saw one on the road and it just seemed to say “where is the nearest race track”.
I become brand agnostic when cars look like that!
I’d also probably be sleeping on a steam vent if I owned one.
It would be fun to quibble with the salesperson over the miscellaneous expenses…so what’s this $125 documentation fee you guys are tacking on, you’re ripping me off!
I would expect these cars to become very collectible over time due to the limited production numbers and attrition over time due to wrecks on the street or track. They’re beautiful to look at, no doubt about it.
For what it’s worth, a local guy here owned an original in blue with the orange stripe quite a few years back. I’m not 100% positive but I think his was the race version and it did get taken out on the public roadways at times. I’ve been directly behind it at night while waiting for a light to change and the blue flames from the exhaust were illuminating the area pretty well before it went wailing off at high speed.
The car met an end one night about 10 o’clock when a friend of his took the car out on an 8 mile long, straight stretch of deserted highway. The circumstances behind it were always hushed up but the state patrol claimed the speed at which it left the roadway was “approximately 35 MPH”. The car went over a 1000 feet, tumbling the entire way while mowing down fence posts and scrub trees. The driver was barely injured but the car was shredded to pieces.
The troopers obviously giving the guy a huge benefit of the doubt on estimated speed…
The owner of this car also ran an F1 race car and while I did not personally witness it, I have it on good authority the guy actually fired that car up one Saturday afternoon at the dealership and gave it a short, high speed blast down the 4 lane there.
I saw a GT40 for sale recently, completely set up for race with the sliding polymer sidewindows, track wheels & tires, and polymer windshield. I didn;t ask about the history, but it had plenty of battle scars.
You reach the point of diminishing returns with brute (427) power…Keeping the car under control, especially “at speed” requires skills few drivers have…No automatic traction control back then…They were just starting to realize how important aerodynamics were…You get one a LITTLE sideways at 200 mph and it took off like a bird…
RS200. A ground-up build for group B rally. Mid engine, all wheel drive. 4-banger with up to 450 hp in race trim, and over 300 for the production car depending on which upgrade kit the dealer installed. 0-60 of 3.5 seconds, in 1984. They had to build 200 production cars to be legal to race, so that’s how many they built. Very rare little gem.
I know of 2 dealers that still have thiers, one being in the showroom right now. When these first came out I found one at a Ford dealer in a one horse town in central IL. This showroom had enough room for one car, dark and greasy, and the sales office was across the street in a trailer. I figured the owner knew someone of Ford had no standards other than money talks and talk walks.
Alloy rims as an option??? What was the alternative? Black steel fleet wheels? ( ;
The vid posted by bscar2 is a perfect example of why lux car makers must absolutely make sure that the car is perfect when it is delivered. – must provide top service when the car is still “new”. and make sure to supply a twin of the car as the loaner while the owners car is being repaired.
That RS200 is an interesting little car. It would be a real hoot drive that thing and those are pretty outstanding numbers for a 4 cylinder back then.
Regarding the GT that Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear had, I don’t think he owned that car very long as it was problematic from the delivery with refusals to start, constantly reporting itself as stolen, and so on. It does look good though although seeing it on a tow truck probably diminishes it to some extent…
