New headlights for 2005/6MY Ford GT
- Thread starter GT101
- Start date
extrap
GT Owner
Good point re finish differences between OEM and these new ones: With the 05/6 GT now being a $400K+ collectible, and apparently rising, I would think interest would be maximized by making the fixtures look as much like OEM as possible.
In other words, I think pretty much every owner would be willing to buy a new fixture that keeps the car looking OEM, whereas not every owner will be excited to buy a fixture that looks different than OEM. They may instead look for other options, like refurbishing / rebuilding their originals, or purchasing refurbs from another source, or paying more for the precious few new OEMs that are out there and come available from time to time.
While having a brighter or fuller light pattern and other improvements would be nice, if I had a light smash I'd be looking for a replacement that looks as close to OEM as possible.
Just one guy's input ... Good luck, and I appreciate all the effort and definitely hope it comes to fruition.
In other words, I think pretty much every owner would be willing to buy a new fixture that keeps the car looking OEM, whereas not every owner will be excited to buy a fixture that looks different than OEM. They may instead look for other options, like refurbishing / rebuilding their originals, or purchasing refurbs from another source, or paying more for the precious few new OEMs that are out there and come available from time to time.
While having a brighter or fuller light pattern and other improvements would be nice, if I had a light smash I'd be looking for a replacement that looks as close to OEM as possible.
Just one guy's input ... Good luck, and I appreciate all the effort and definitely hope it comes to fruition.
I have been following this thread and wanted to share my thoughts - even if they might be wrong.
Something doesn't sit right with me about this new player on the block. In a matter of days he changed his mind after someone suggested a 50 set quantity at $8,000 instead of 100 sets at $6,000.
So it was originally $15,000 worth of deposits that would get the project started, and now it is $50,000. Anyone could walk away from the $100 deposit, that is a joke. $1,000 puts a little skin in the game; however, walking away from $1,000 isn't crazy if his product doesn't measure up. Everyone on this forum is smart enough to understand the sunk cost fallacy.
It seems to me based on his wording that whoever his "manufacturer" is might be the one bankrolling the injection molds and tooling thus dictating the quantity and final pricing.
I'm just very suspicious that $50,000 is the do or die amount of money on this project. If these lights are visually the same as OEM and good quality they will sell themselves, that isn't even a question. The man that gets these to market first owns the market, forever.
I'm thinking of the story of Nick Mason in the late 80's. He put his Ferrari 250 GTO up as collateral to secure the funding to bankroll the Pink Floyd tours. It paid off handsomely for him as well as the whole group. I personally believe that putting your own skin in the game and betting on oneself does make for success, instead of trying to crowdfund the risk and wait around for people to get on board.
I do not need headlights currently, though like everyone else I am one bad driver or unfortunate deer away from that. If I could bankroll this project myself I wouldn't even think twice.
The previous text was written with no malice, just out of genuine concerns that have not been addressed. It is not my intent to provoke anyone or degrade this project in any manner.
Something doesn't sit right with me about this new player on the block. In a matter of days he changed his mind after someone suggested a 50 set quantity at $8,000 instead of 100 sets at $6,000.
So it was originally $15,000 worth of deposits that would get the project started, and now it is $50,000. Anyone could walk away from the $100 deposit, that is a joke. $1,000 puts a little skin in the game; however, walking away from $1,000 isn't crazy if his product doesn't measure up. Everyone on this forum is smart enough to understand the sunk cost fallacy.
It seems to me based on his wording that whoever his "manufacturer" is might be the one bankrolling the injection molds and tooling thus dictating the quantity and final pricing.
I'm just very suspicious that $50,000 is the do or die amount of money on this project. If these lights are visually the same as OEM and good quality they will sell themselves, that isn't even a question. The man that gets these to market first owns the market, forever.
I'm thinking of the story of Nick Mason in the late 80's. He put his Ferrari 250 GTO up as collateral to secure the funding to bankroll the Pink Floyd tours. It paid off handsomely for him as well as the whole group. I personally believe that putting your own skin in the game and betting on oneself does make for success, instead of trying to crowdfund the risk and wait around for people to get on board.
I do not need headlights currently, though like everyone else I am one bad driver or unfortunate deer away from that. If I could bankroll this project myself I wouldn't even think twice.
The previous text was written with no malice, just out of genuine concerns that have not been addressed. It is not my intent to provoke anyone or degrade this project in any manner.
2112
Blue/white 06'
Shark01
GT Owner
Not so fast my friend. Even the first to market has to have a good product at a fair price, good customer service, and earn a level of goodwill from the buying public.
You only have to look at the Ferrari manual transmission conversion market to see this in real time....go search EAG, fun reading.
I agree with many of your points as I stated similar things earlier in the thread....I don't look at these as an upgrade, but as a replacement when mine break (although the carbon fiber shell is really cool). I can afford them when I need them, to sit on a shelf for possibly years not so much.
Then there is the issue of how developed the product will be (we have seen alot of vaporware in the auto space) at first and how well will it work, are there teething problems, etc. The best advertisement are happy customers. I really think that alot of us want to see that upfront before declaring this the 9th wonder of the world.
I hope there are enough early adopters to advance the project....until then, I'll sit and watch my Beta Max (because that VHS thing is a flash in the pan).
Who is the owner of Founders Parts?
Normally I don't really allow vendors in general because of the same concerns expressed, but obviously people need headlights. However, I've seen similar situations where parts are crowdfunded and then don't materialize and everyone is trying to recoup what they can from an entity that no longer exists. Maybe the owner can get on here and provide some clarity.
The money seems to be relatively trivial in the context of the overall project. I believe when SVT re-tooled and produced the GT lights after Guide went bust, they paid around $450k for it. That is a doable amount in this community so long as there is certainty about what exactly is being provided.
Normally I don't really allow vendors in general because of the same concerns expressed, but obviously people need headlights. However, I've seen similar situations where parts are crowdfunded and then don't materialize and everyone is trying to recoup what they can from an entity that no longer exists. Maybe the owner can get on here and provide some clarity.
The money seems to be relatively trivial in the context of the overall project. I believe when SVT re-tooled and produced the GT lights after Guide went bust, they paid around $450k for it. That is a doable amount in this community so long as there is certainty about what exactly is being provided.
The Lighting Guru
Member
No plans yet on a different trim bezel color. No fog lenses at this time. We're focused on the headlights first.
The Lighting Guru
Member
No offense taken and we can understand your skepticism. We're making the best with the information we have available. We're still in early development and will plan to share all images and videos we can. We have seen the other headlights come to fruition so we are still very optimistic as Founders has done a great job on the Ferrari 360 and F430 sets.
For now, some more prototyping footage.
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The Lighting Guru
Member
Thank you for the input. We can ask the question if a close-to-OEM-as-possible solution could be made. While we do think the CF bezel is a nice subtle touch on a 20 year old design, we can still appreciate the original styling and the preservation of that.
PeteK
GT Owner
I sure hope the originals have a long shelf life. I have a pair of new-in-box OE headlights, and I don't even take them out to inspect them.
2112
Blue/white 06'
2112
Blue/white 06'
Having had several apart now, I think as long as you have all the components, you will be good. I would guess if any problem did arise, it would be fogging from the previously mentioned Off-gassing of plastic components.
And that is fixable if you are willing to disassemble and put it back together (not terribly hard).
The Lighting Guru
Member
We have invited the owner of Founders Parts to join the forum. They are waiting on approval though to access the group. Sent you a message.
Tomcat
GT Owner
Hey guys, Im Matt, from Founders Parts. Been in the lighting industry professionally for 20 years after starting TRS & Morimoto back in the early 2000's, but left the [now very corporate] company at the end of 2024 to pursue some new endeavors - one of which includes producing specialty lighting for applications that get no love from the big brands because they're not Ford F150's or Toyota Tacoma's where the numbers are no brainers.
I've been a car guy forever myself, happen to own a 2006 Ford GT, and know how difficult it is to get parts for these cars (I've had a replacement windshield on 'order' for mine since I bought it 3 years ago) - so ultimately putting all of my experience & resources to good use designing & bringing to life products like the ones Chris from TLG introduced to you here.
The tooling costs to produce a set of headlights cost nearly the same as an average Ford GT these days....so as you can understand, the risk profile is pretty high here, thus the need to put some proof in the pudding with $100 pre-order slots to help understand what the market is really like. All of the engineering has been done, and if/when the pre-orders tip the scale in favor of go, we'll make it happen and open the molds.
as for just lenses alone, yes, possible, but nearly impossible to open/reseal your OE headlights without further damage to the housings themselves. I can almost guarantee you'd never be able to properly reseal them unfortunately.
Any questions - just ask! glad to help.
Cheers
Matt
I've been a car guy forever myself, happen to own a 2006 Ford GT, and know how difficult it is to get parts for these cars (I've had a replacement windshield on 'order' for mine since I bought it 3 years ago) - so ultimately putting all of my experience & resources to good use designing & bringing to life products like the ones Chris from TLG introduced to you here.
The tooling costs to produce a set of headlights cost nearly the same as an average Ford GT these days....so as you can understand, the risk profile is pretty high here, thus the need to put some proof in the pudding with $100 pre-order slots to help understand what the market is really like. All of the engineering has been done, and if/when the pre-orders tip the scale in favor of go, we'll make it happen and open the molds.
as for just lenses alone, yes, possible, but nearly impossible to open/reseal your OE headlights without further damage to the housings themselves. I can almost guarantee you'd never be able to properly reseal them unfortunately.
Any questions - just ask! glad to help.
Cheers
Matt
2112
Blue/white 06'
If you make it into production, I would suggest that any logo be placed in an inconspicuous location, ie, not visible when the assembly is in the car.
I hope that you make it into production.
I hope that you make it into production.
@jammer there are around 4x as many Ferrari's on the road as there are Ford GTs, and the headlights were produced by Hella, notorious for crappy UV resistance on the lenses. statistically, much less risky. I also had sales data on the tail lights I made for these cars when still at Morimoto, giving me the confidence needed to proceed without caution.
@2112, definitely. Logo would be invisible unless inspecting from your nose up to the light.
What about the matte finish carbon internals? should we just stick to the textured black plastic instead? OE as it gets, aside from improved optics?
@2112, definitely. Logo would be invisible unless inspecting from your nose up to the light.
What about the matte finish carbon internals? should we just stick to the textured black plastic instead? OE as it gets, aside from improved optics?
jammer
GT Owner
- Apr 19, 2016
- 204
I don't think the 4x estimate is accurate. There were less than 3,100 550 produced between 1997 and 2001 and about 2,600 575 produced between 2002 and 2005. Other than the outer lens, their headlights are completely different. There are actually more FGTs (4,038) produced than either model.