Re: New Ford GT
Whenever Colin agree's with me I get VERY nervous and it also leaves me with no one to argue with. LOL LOL
But Colin while you are in the middle of your Ford GT groovy love fest Midwest tour lets not forget a couple of very important Ford GT facts.
1. It is not really a Ford? Ford does not build this car. Ford originally planned on having their elite SVT unit build the car but fell in love with Steve Saleen's S7 or whatever it's called and contracted with him to build the car. Only Ford didn't do their homework because Steve Saleen didn't actually build the Saleen S7 he contracted it out to a company in England who build it for him. So Ford thought they were going to get Saleen S7 quality (which stinks anyway so what were they thinking? ) but instead got Saleen quality which turned out to be such a terrible nightmare that Saleen fired all his top guys at the Saleen/Ford GT factory after the first year. Ford was so angry with Saleen over the production problems they told him to not bother bidding on any future Ford projects for a while.
In any event the Saleen GT errr I mean Ford GT sorry is built at the Saleen facilty by Saleen employee's. Well that's not exactly correct either is it my juggernaut friend? Because Ford rather than have their SVT unit build the Saleen GT engine dammit I mean the Ford GT engine decided to have Jack Roush build the GT engines for them and send the engines over to the Saleen factory and install them in the Saleen built body and chassis. Which is not a bad idea since Roush certainly knows how to build a fine engine I am sure we would all agree. But unfortunately for Ford they again didn't do their homework and learned later that Roush Inc. subbed the job out to one of his many varied subsidiary companies who eventually installed the wrong rear main seals and created a toxic waste issue for all the oil which leaked out of the early 2005 engines.
However the story didn't end with Roush Inc. sending over the engines to Saleen inc. for installation in the Saleen/Ford GT. Ford employees and especially SVT were not happy at all about the saleen GT being called a Ford GT when no Ford employees were actually involved in the build process so the employee's union had to file a grievance against Ford about putting a Ford Badge on what is essentially a Saleen.
To avoid any further bad press Ford relented and agreed to allow the Roush Inc. engines to be sent to a Ford factory where the Roush built engine would be reunited with the Saleen built body and chassis and installed into a car called the Ford GT.
In my PERSONAL opinion the Saleen/Ford GT is one of the best looking cars ever built. But the fact that Ford doesn't build it in house is a slap in the face to Ford employee's. IMHO the build process resembles more a kit car than anything else?
The fact that people compare the Ford GT to a Z06 Vette and Viper who do build their own cars in house is a slap in the face IMHO to the employee's of Dodge and Chevy who take pride in building their own cars.
Colin , I consider you a friend and you are also the only muscle car dealer in the world I trust to buy cars from. I implore you not to track your Saleen/Ford GT you are a very experienced and successful race driver and will push the car on a track to it's limits. This car is not very well sorted out and in fact very few prototypes were built and tested and and even fewer production GTs were tested(I think three) which is how the control arm problem slipped past and the car does not have years of proven durability on any track you would in essence be the guinea pig? This is a 200MPH car with no track history and I for one would not bet my life on this car with this convoluted build history. My two cents.
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