Tag: GT Page 1 of 5

First Drive of My New Ford GT: Palomar Mountain

On July 23, 2019

In Ford GT, Ford GT Beauty Shot, Ford GT Carbon Series, New Ford GT, New Ford GT Ownership

It took awhile to get my 2019 Ford GT Carbon Series fully wrapped in paint-protection film, but when it was done I had an easy first drive target: Palomar Mountain.

2019 Ford GT Carbon Series Palomar Front

The sun was still shining when I first got to the top of Palomar Mountain

Palomar Mountain is about 80 miles from my house, and depending on the time of day and the day of the week it can be a pain to get there. But the new Ford GT is a very capable track car, which means the only way to really enjoy it on public roads is to find that magic combination of twisty asphalt and minimal traffic. I’ve taken other highly capable cars on this route, making Palomar Mountain an obvious choice on my first free weekend with my new Ford GT.

2019 Ford GT Carbon Series Palomar Clouds

The images I captured on Palomar Mountain might be the best I’ll ever get of my Ford GT

The route includes a stretch on Ortega Highway in south Orange County, another potentially worthy road for a Ford GT. But traffic is almost always an issue on Ortega Highway, creating a difficult (though not impossible…) opportunity to exercise the GT. After Ortega highway it’s down through Lake Elsinore, onto the southbound 15 freeway and then exiting at California route 76 going east. Most of this drive has great scenery, but the real fun doesn’t happen until arriving at the base of Palomar Mountain.

2018 Fabulous Fords Forever: The First and Last Ford GT

By Karl Brauer

On July 3, 2019

In Ford GT, Ford GT40, New Ford GT

Fabulous Fords Forever 2018 New Ford GT Lola Mk6GT

The first and last Ford GT made an appearance at the 2018 Fabulous Fords Forever show

At the 2018 Fabulous Fords Forever event the standard collection of vintage Fords was supplemented by multiple new Ford GTs as well as the oldest Ford GT. Of course the oldest Ford GT isn’t even a Ford. It’s a Lola Mk6 GT, the car that formed the basis of Ford’s effort to win Le Mans after Enzo Ferrari snubbed Henry Ford II’s bid to buy his company. At the Ford booth one of the three original Lola Mk6 GT’s was parked next to a new Ford GT, and seeing the two next to each other was pretty amazing.

The new 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt was on display near the Ford Booth

The Lola Mk6 GT used a mid-mounted 289 Ford V8 in a British aluminum monocoque chassis. This was an advanced design in 1962 and it laid the groundwork for Ford’s GT40 MkI design. Seeing a Lola Mk6 GT next to a new Ford GT provided an excellent perspective on the new car’s lineage.

2019 Ford GT Heritage Edition in Gulf Livery

By Karl Brauer

On May 21, 2019

In 2005-2006 Ford GT, Ford GT, Ford GT40, New Ford GT, New Ford GT Ownership

The 2019 Ford GT Heritage Edition features optional exposed carbon fiber roundels

As promised, here are some images of the new 2019 Ford GT Heritage Edition in Gulf Livery. This color combination, paying homage to the famous Gulf Livery worn by the 1968 and 1969 Ford GT40s that won Le Mans, will be available for the 2020 model year GT, too. Only a limited number of new Ford GT buyers will be allowed to purchase this Gulf Livery Heritage Edition, and I’m not one of them.

Ford GT Long-Term Test Wrap Up

By Karl Brauer

On June 21, 2018

In 2005 Ford GT Ownership, 2005-2006 Ford GT, Ford GT

In September of 2008 the Ford GT’s official long-term coverage ended with the odometer at just over 16,000 miles. This was 3 years after picking the car up with 7 miles on the odometer on August 23, 2005. A review of the car’s ownership experience, including dealer service, repair costs and lifetime fuel efficiency, confirmed the Ford GT as a powerful and reliable supercar with excellent resale value. (Note: I’ll continue adding posts about my 2005 Ford GT, along with increasingly regular posts about the new Ford GT I’ve been allocated, but this entry does a good job of wrapping up the first 3 years of my 2005 Ford GT ownership.)

The Ford GT proved extremely reliable over 3 years and 16,000 miles

September 2008: 2005 Ford GT Long-Term Wrap Up

At the 2002 North American International Auto Show, Ford Motor Company unveiled one of the most exciting concept cars in the automaker’s 99-year history. In both name and appearance, the Ford GT40 concept lived up to Ford’s hallowed racing legend of the 1960s, yet it seemed an unlikely candidate for production status from an automaker struggling to rebuild its aging product lineup. Eighteen months later, in June of 2003, three production-ready Ford GTs were shown off at the company’s centennial celebration in Dearborn, Michigan. Then, in August of 2005, I purchased a Ford GT and began chronicling my ownership experience.

Ford GT Gets a Nintendo Wii, Plus Track time

By Karl Brauer

On June 15, 2018

In 2005 Ford GT Ownership, 2005-2006 Ford GT, Ford GT

In May of 2008 I took the GT on two driving adventures. The first was a local Best Buy adventure, where what started as a purchase run for a Rock Star wireless guitar controller turned into a Nintendo Wii purchase (plus the wireless guitar purchase). When I bought the Wii and wireless guitar, it put the Ford GT’s storage space to test. The other adventure was on the Streets of Willow race track, where I was able to stretch the GT’s legs without changing a thing from its street set-up.

The Nintendo Wii fit in the GT’s storage area, but I had heat concerns

2005 Ford GT: Wii!!!!!!!

May 5, 2008 at 13,100 miles

What started out as a simple Best Buy run to see if they had any wireless Rock Band guitars for the Xbox 360 turned into a Wii run — all in my Ford GT.

After seeing said wireless guitars on display at the store entrance I casually asked about the availability of a Nintendo Wii. This question has been met with a quick, “Nope, none in stock” over the past 18 months, but on this particular day the store employee said, “Let me check” and returned with hushed instructions to “Go to register 8 and tell them your name.” I think the Wii is still rather hard to get, but an order had apparently just come in. As I was buying mine I saw another guy at the next register getting his.