The Supercar Conundrum and the NGT

daytrayd · Feb 6, 2017

Its funny how the next shiny thing always loses its luster. Ive been through this dilemma but I buy older cars (relatively) so the I dont take the hits you do on new cars. But the feeling is similar as for "whats next." My approach has always been if you like it new, and still like it 5 years later, buy it. There have been many cars that came and went as far as desire is concerned. A handful have stuck. The 05 FGT being the first and favorite. A couple other have stuck, and now I sit with roughly a car for every day of the week and dont drive any of them enough. This strategy has worked for the most partt but I dont drive any of them enough. Its nice to hop in the Ford after a couple month hiatus and relive it like the first time. I wish I drove it more, partly due to kids, partly due to work, yadi yadi yada... I've started to get to the point where I want more time with one car. I want it to be my baby, I want to grow my bond behind that wheel. The 675 has been a car on my radar since I have yet to get a NFGT allocation. But its no Ford GT. Fingers crossed, NFGT will always be on that radar, its just one of a kind, and being a Ford just makes it that much sweeter. #pray2020

Ed Sims · Feb 6, 2017

You hit it right on DBK!

Ed

jaxgt · Feb 6, 2017

Kingman said:
I understand your thought process and have just one question.....................what # wifey are you on currently?

(No disparagement intended. Just want to know what 'social club' you frequent that provides the necessary volume of selections)

Trading in wives makes trading in cars seem inexpensive. Fortunately, mines a keeper (and hasn't traded me in yet).

Sinovac · Feb 6, 2017

GTdrummer said:
Shockingly, for me--the original wife for 34 years! Over that period I have traveled constantly, missing birthdays and kids' games and having transporters show up at 2 am unloading cars. Canonization.

I tell young lawyers all the time that the law is a very jealous mistress (Soroush-I'm talking to you and your lovely wife). I've been fortunate that my practice has never required extensive time on the road.

soroush · Feb 6, 2017

Sinovac said:
I tell young lawyers all the time that the law is a very jealous mistress (Soroush-I'm talking to you and your lovely wife). I've been fortunate that my practice has never required extensive time on the road.

Im all ears... maybe Ill have more time to play with the new GT

w. mitty · Feb 6, 2017

Sinovac said:
Great advice regardless of your faith:

1 Timothy 6:6-7
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we will carry nothing out.

BANG! Direct hit. Well done and point taken.

w. mitty · Feb 6, 2017

soroush said:
A big part of the reason I bought the 05 ford gt was because I realized even at 180K there is good value, but I never thought there is good value because the price might go up I genuinely thought I would get 180K worth of enjoyment out of the car even if I don't make a dollar back and so far i feel like I have received every pennys worth, so much so that as soon as I realized how much value there was in that car I bought a second one...for me the car was clearly underpriced and current market trends seems to agree with me. Besides my black GT will leave a Bugatti Veyron in the dust in the mile, so I guess what I said about not needing to have the fasted was just a little lie

Couldn't agree more. Just wait till you see what Jason Heffner has up his sleeve... car is headed from Jonesboro to Sarasota this week...

w. mitty · Feb 6, 2017

maxemus said:
. Only way around it is frankly to stop buying new. A local high end dealer suggested I just accept the steep depreciation curve and assume a 20-30k loss a year and chuck it up to "hobby" costs. I simply decided to stop buying altogether.

Funny, I've had the same conversation and walked away shaking my head in despair.

w. mitty · Feb 6, 2017

GTdrummer said:
I went through two of the cars you mention in rapid succession; have too many cars now; but just bought an S63 AMG and waiting on the NFGT. About every other day I say to myself " why?" , and still no answer.

You'd think a reasonably well educated person at some point would get over the same person saying he can't pay you more than 60% of the car's purchase price five months, and 3500 miles after he sold it to you above sticker. But, sure enough I keep coming back for more. You don't want to let the guys down at the local Cars & Coffee.

In the end, my long suffering wife hit the nail on the head saying, " you love the hunt more than you love the car." It's calling and emailing the dealer over and over, reading up, checking the specs. Then, a month later I have the latest, greatest Lambo in the garage and I have to remind myself it's there.

Part of my problem was growing up in a family that loved cars , but couldn't afford them . I would tell myself " someday". Once I started....

Anyway , this has been a painful self analysis sadly resulting in no improvement. I'll go back to reading the DuPont Registry.

GTdrummer, you might be my twin. For your sake, I hope that's not the case. Your post actually made my eyes well up for a minute. Then I pretended it was allergies.

w. mitty · Feb 6, 2017

DBK said:
Your perspective is skewed by the fact you've been buying McLarens and how punitive it is to buy them new. If you'd forever been on the merry go round buying specialty Ferraris or Porsches, you wouldn't think twice. Imagine having bought a 918 and gotten allocations for GT4, GT3, GT3 RS, 911R, etc. Oof. The 918 would practically be free just selling the others back to the dealer. I would continue to approach buying McLarens with an "until proven otherwise" attitude.

Yes, I should add that I haven't been slaughtered on every car deal I've done. The Speciale, SLS Black Series, and the GT treated me righteous.

w. mitty · Feb 6, 2017

DBK said:
Ford GTs are cars built at a moment in time for a very specific purpose. The 05/06 was greenlit as a celebration of company history for the Centennial. Minus the Centennial, that car would not have happened. Likewise, the 17 would not have happened if not for the 50th of the 1-2-3. Ford typically does not have the appetite for risk associated with cars like the GT, and we're lucky that the current boss is certainly the most performance-centric PD guy in my lifetime, and probably ever, at just the right time.

The new GT doesn't make that compromise. The pursuit for GT was to perform a superior platform for a race car. In turn, the road car feels like a race car. The seating position and view out is pure race car. You will not mistake it as being a capable grocery getter. There's a point in production where they could take what is being constructed as a road car and just ship it off to be completed as the GTLM race car. My guess is that this raw nature and its pure driving dynamics will make the GT more desirable long term. And I know this sounds ridiculous given the price, but when you see the car apart, I really do think people will realize that they are getting value relative to the market.

I see it more clearly now, this was the differentiation that the NGT deserves, but I couldn't quite articulate it. You managed to nail it.

w. mitty · Feb 6, 2017

Kingman said:
I understand your thought process and have just one question.....................what # wifey are you on currently?

(No disparagement intended. Just want to know what 'social club' you frequent that provides the necessary volume of selections)

Ironically, I'm still on the same and only marriage for the last 33 years. She knew what she was marrying, however. My wedding gift to myself was a Porsche Carrera. I was 21. The car was financed. It all went into the crapper from there...

Vincent998 · Feb 6, 2017

This discussion/argument is exactly the same for anyone who wants "state of the art" equipment. Hi-fi stereos would be the same. There will ALWAYS be a newer better example being created for as long as we live, and trying to keep up is like a dog chasing its tail - you can't catch it. The question is, can you find something that you like and that will satisfy your needs in the long term? If not, you are doomed to buy, try, sell, repeat. I have four cars and they all serve specific purposes, but only one of them is a permanent keeper, and that's my 05 GT. I love to drive it, look at it, and appreciate its abilities and design, so much so that I don't want any of the newest-best.

ThatPhilBrettGuy · Feb 6, 2017

DBK said:
..... If you'd forever been on the merry go round buying specialty Ferraris or Porsches, you wouldn't think twice. Imagine having bought a 918 and gotten allocations for GT4, GT3, GT3 RS, 911R, etc. Oof. The 918 would practically be free just selling the others back to the dealer.

Well....

...I stepped off the Porsche merry go round for the promise of a NFGT so I'd rather not be reminded of the heavy penalty I've paid so far :facepalm:

I understand the no compromises game and that can produce the most pure sort of car, in one area. But there's the rub, if you crave the 'sense of occasion' but it doesn't fit usage wise with many situations, you might find you're not going to get it that very often. A bit like having a noisy track car that you can only use once or twice a year as the rest of the time the noise police pull you over on your first lap. Or you get invited to a trip across Europe but have to carry your own baggage. It says something when you start looking enviously at La Ferrari luggage capacity!

Owning an icon is a wonderful thing as not only do other people admire it as such, but you have the knowledge that it's more likely to be a safe financial bet. The 05 car is definitely an icon, I think we can all agree and for people that bought near list a great financial bet. Will the NFGT be an icon? Good question. Will it burn you? Better question!

The F40 icon. Listed at $400k in 1987, was going for double that on the premium market, was down to $200k in 2000. About $1mill now I guess, but if you paid much over list way back you'd still be lucky to break even.

The XJ220 icon. Let's not go there.

The McLaren P1 icon. Interesting one, didn't think it would be then there it was. Happy buyers that lot...

The NFGT icon. Will the crystal ball show a world of adulation and money, or will it drop on your foot? Bloody heavy those crystal balls, it would hurt, a lot... If you go with your heart, don't let your wallet know.

jaxgt · Feb 6, 2017

w. mitty said:
Couldn't agree more. Just wait till you see what Jason Heffner has up his sleeve... car is headed from Jonesboro to Sarasota this week...

If you have another FL trip upcoming, you'll have to swing by the NE coast!

soroush · Feb 6, 2017

w. mitty said:
Yes, I should add that I haven't been slaughtered on every car deal I've done. The Speciale, SLS Black Series, and the GT treated me righteous.

seems like you should have hung on the sis black a little longer, they're are going through the roof!

dbk · Feb 6, 2017

ThatPhilBrettGuy said:
Owning an icon is a wonderful thing as not only do other people admire it as such, but you have the knowledge that it's more likely to be a safe financial bet. The 05 car is definitely an icon, I think we can all agree and for people that bought near list a great financial bet. Will the NFGT be an icon? Good question. Will it burn you? Better question!

I can't make any prognostications on what the car will be worth, because singular exogenous shocks can upend the exotic car market at any time. I will say this though: the Ford GT could do nothing but sit on auto show pedestals and it will be a design icon. It's identifiably got the GT40 DNA but has also gone to crazy places nobody else in the market has. Maybe that will be deemed valuable, maybe not, but at a minimum it will be talked about long after its contemporaries are forgotten.

Every time I see the car in person, I can't help but think "I can't believe this thing even exists."

It's done pretty well as a race car 12 months in as well, so for a 20 unit per month car, you could find less interesting ways to spend the money.

Ed Sims · Feb 6, 2017

There hasn't been a production car like the NGT ever. And it took Ford to do it! Even better.

Ed

soroush · Feb 6, 2017

w. mitty said:
Couldn't agree more. Just wait till you see what Jason Heffner has up his sleeve... car is headed from Jonesboro to Sarasota this week...

I expect nothing less than another legendary comparison write up and plenty of pics :thumbsup

w. mitty · Feb 6, 2017

soroush said:
I expect nothing less than another legendary comparison write up and plenty of pics :thumbsup

Believe me, I'm gonna unleash some words I aint never used yet...

The Supercar Conundrum and the NGT

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