Spotted in Plymouth MI


twobjshelbys

GT Owner
Jul 26, 2010
6,053
Las Vegas, NV
I always thought the snorkels looked like some weapon out of a James Bond movie :)
 

NorthwoodGT

GT Owner
Jun 12, 2009
1,215
Michigan
Ralphie: I had considered the roof scoops but really like the look of the Ford GT styling in that area. My biggest concern was going overboard and end up looking like something that was done in a Pep Boys parking lot. Like I said, not for everyone, I get that but just something I wanted to do on this car. would I do it on an unmolested low mileage GT ??? absolutely not. I've got factory stock units that I love as well. I was contemplating the Talbot mirrors on the front fender and eliminating the painted GT mirrors but those work so damn well I hate to get rid of them. hard enough to see out of the GT !!! lol p.s.: while not everyone likes the front F O R D letters, I did a lot of research and actually found NOS letters from a GT40.
 

MAD IN NC

Proud Owner/ BOD blah bla
Mark IV Lifetime
Feb 14, 2006
4,211
North Carolina
Scott, personally I like the F O R D lettering. If I remember (Ralphie can correct me) many of the GT40's sold via the Ford dealers came that way.........

I would take the letters over the F150 emblem that is on the FGT now
 

Xcentric

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 9, 2012
5,213
Myakka City, Florida
...many of the GT40's sold via the Ford dealers came that way.........

There were 7 GT40 Mk IIIs. Not all had F O R D.

Here is one...photo by our own esteemed automotive journalist MartynL...that Marty test drove through the boroughs of NYC.

GT40, traffic First Ave. NYC 4-67 copy.jpg

MAD IN NC, you are the first owner I have met who isn't proud of the blue oval.
 
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NorthwoodGT

GT Owner
Jun 12, 2009
1,215
Michigan
It's just a matter of taste. I have a split picture of both the GT40 and my GT with the F O R D lettering. I think I have it pretty close. I also filled in all the side marker lamps, removed the front splitter and rear diffuser just because they are so modern looking. also color matched all the trim around the back window and built my own bumper delete kit with a custom filler panel and modified lower grill. I had given my painter an upper grill that where the license plate sits and told him to use it to cut out the mesh pattern to fill in the bumper frame holes in the lower grill. as it turns out, the two different grills actually have a slightly different mesh pattern how the holes are layed out. he then took a piece of metal and layed it in behind the lower grill and proceeded to drill out every hole in the correct pattern. he then metal finished the pieces and put them in the lower grill exact to match up the pattern lines. he did a great job! will have some pics posted of the project shortly. I had a few tight butt moments when we cut up an original Ford GT hood, cut a hole in the top of the door for the bubble and drilled to holes in a brand new clam shell for the rear brake scoops. it was interesting!
 

MAD IN NC

Proud Owner/ BOD blah bla
Mark IV Lifetime
Feb 14, 2006
4,211
North Carolina
MAD IN NC, you are the first owner I have met who isn't proud of the blue oval.

I wouldn't go that far.... proven by my buying patterns which today my garage has the f150 and a 69mach1 and this does not include the other FoMoCo products I've owned...

And I have seen examples where the oval on the FGT has been negated which is more original and a cleaner look, again my preference.

Will I do it - no plans, just saying.......
 

cobra498

GT Owner
Jul 14, 2010
310
Central Ca;ifornia
Guilty as charged! working up a complete build history on the car and what all was done. will post when finished. the camera phone does not pick up the color correctly but also correct is that the car is not the Ford GT red. I will have the car in PLymouth next Saturday morning for Cars and Coffee. the car has a revised chassis and revised suspension done by Superlite Cars which they are putting into production. see ya then !

As long as you don't drive it at triple digit speeds you will be fine, aero is gone, of course original GT-40's were not very good either.
 

MartynL

GT Owner
Feb 19, 2012
184
Sarasota, FL
When I first drove the MK III did not realize that it was car Number One of the line. It was also the New York Auto Show display GT40. It was eventually sent back to UK for updates, damaged seriously in transit (another GT40 was dropped on top of it!), repaired by Kar-Kraft and after a couple of owners ended up in UK where it was converted to RHD and made into a racecar! Interestingly, Ford couldn't give away MK IIIs and street GT40s, this one and others ended up in a warehouse in Secaucus, NJ. Could have bought it for $5,300 (choice of a few) and turned it down. Not sure what i was thinking! Quality was kind of poor, Ford Motor Company was very unhappy about that.
 

Empty Pockets

ex-GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Oct 18, 2006
1,361
Washington State
It's just a matter of taste.

Bingo. That's the 'bottom line' right there. :agree:
 

Empty Pockets

ex-GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Oct 18, 2006
1,361
Washington State
Could have bought it for $5,300 (choice of a few) and turned it down. Not sure what i was thinking!

Perhaps it could have had something to do with the fact that $5,300 back then would be about $38-$39,000 in today's money? That would have stopped me cold as a carp right there. Not many 'twenty-somethings' had that kind of $$$ back then (or have it now for that matter).

Besides, hindsight is always 20/20. :wink
 

Xcentric

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 9, 2012
5,213
Myakka City, Florida
The MSRP of the Mk III was about $17,500. It was a 3 for the price of 1 sale.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
 

NorthwoodGT

GT Owner
Jun 12, 2009
1,215
Michigan
don't forget that the GT40s sold as street cars were basically race cars sold for the street. you had a very expensive car that you couldn't drive in the rain because they leaked so bad into the passenger cabin and not user friendly for parking and backing up. The GTs of today are a world apart better for creature comforts and just easy to drive compared to the predicessors of their day. of course when you're short like me, backing up a GT is no picnic either ! lol
 

twobjshelbys

GT Owner
Jul 26, 2010
6,053
Las Vegas, NV
don't forget that the GT40s sold as street cars were basically race cars sold for the street. you had a very expensive car that you couldn't drive in the rain because they leaked so bad into the passenger cabin and not user friendly for parking and backing up. The GTs of today are a world apart better for creature comforts and just easy to drive compared to the predicessors of their day. of course when you're short like me, backing up a GT is no picnic either ! lol

They were (and are) race cars. They are made to go one direction: forward. Backing up doesn't happen on the track.

I can't see out of mine at all without hanging my head out the window, plus I can't judge distances well in mirrors. So I usually enlist the help of a spotter.
 

MartynL

GT Owner
Feb 19, 2012
184
Sarasota, FL
Ford actually had five GT40s, MK III & street model, for sale as a lot. Some had scratches, minor dents, flat tires, one had bent Borranis. They wanted to sell the lot and offered them to my friend Bill Kolb (who supplied the MK III for me to drive for cover story in Hi-Performance CARS) who was the Shelby sales guy at Gotham Ford in Manhattan. It was the factory store. Bill offered me one and we both ended up doing nothing. Bill was the top Shelby salesman in the country, owned a Ford store now owns a Subaru store and has two GTs, one Tungsten like mine and a Heritage. We still laugh about the GT40s that we didn't buy!
 

NorthwoodGT

GT Owner
Jun 12, 2009
1,215
Michigan
I stll remember a used GT40 up on an outside turn table at a Ford dealer here in Michigan called Stark Hickey West. they were a big performance dealer in the area. lots of shelbys always for sale. I think the asking price was $6900.00 at the time but that was in and around 1970. who in the hell would pay that kind of money for a leaky used car !!! lol (time machine please) as far as even backing up a GT, I installed a back up camera and have the screen where the radio would go. also putting in a low front camera along side.
 

twobjshelbys

GT Owner
Jul 26, 2010
6,053
Las Vegas, NV
Ford actually had five GT40s, MK III & street model, for sale as a lot. Some had scratches, minor dents, flat tires, one had bent Borranis. They wanted to sell the lot and offered them to my friend Bill Kolb (who supplied the MK III for me to drive for cover story in Hi-Performance CARS) who was the Shelby sales guy at Gotham Ford in Manhattan. It was the factory store. Bill offered me one and we both ended up doing nothing. Bill was the top Shelby salesman in the country, owned a Ford store now owns a Subaru store and has two GTs, one Tungsten like mine and a Heritage. We still laugh about the GT40s that we didn't buy!

I stll remember a used GT40 up on an outside turn table at a Ford dealer here in Michigan called Stark Hickey West. they were a big performance dealer in the area. lots of shelbys always for sale. I think the asking price was $6900.00 at the time but that was in and around 1970. who in the hell would pay that kind of money for a leaky used car !!! lol (time machine please) as far as even backing up a GT, I installed a back up camera and have the screen where the radio would go. also putting in a low front camera along side.


The same thing happened with the Cobras. You couldn't hardly give them away. And the old wive's story is that Shelby almost had the Daytona Coupes thrown off the ship in the ocean because he didn't want to pay import tax (all but one were built in Italy).

It's a good thing for the history of the hobby that some people are packrats.
 

NorthwoodGT

GT Owner
Jun 12, 2009
1,215
Michigan
We almost don't have to go back that far either. A Ford dealer here in town had all his 2007 Shelby GT500's ligned up across the front of the dealership one winter when no one was buying them. They got dumped on with loads of snow and salt and he
left them sit there all winter like that. Nobody cared just like nobody cared about Cobras and GT40s back in the day, especially when they were used.
 

mopar

GT Owner
Jan 23, 2014
171
grosse ile mich
NorthwoodGT, If you don't mind posting the last four VIN and year I can help you with your build history as it left the factory. Normally I'd ask you via PM but I am not permitted PM's.

2005 0084 was told it was ether 36 37 38 out the door that day have paper that it was one of the 1st 50 would like to know release #
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
2005 0084 was told it was ether 36 37 38 out the door that day have paper that it was one of the 1st 50 would like to know release #

Have you applied for an authenticity package - that will give you the build number.
 

mopar

GT Owner
Jan 23, 2014
171
grosse ile mich
no where do i do this