Do You Remember Your First Drive?

[AtomicGT]

I thought it would be interesting for members to put down their memories of the first drive in their Ford GT.

I brought my wife and daughters down to Santa Monica Blvd telling my wife I had found some really interesting furniture at an eclectic funiture store. We turned on to SM Blvd, she said "There are no furniture stores on this street, are we going to the Ford Dealership?" She was a little pissed until we entered the dealership and there it was on the floor roped off. She sat down, daughters got in it. During that time a ramdom customer came in and asked the saleman if he could sit in the Ford GT. Saleman looked at me and told the guy the car had been purchased and he could not sit in the car. Wife finally smiled and said it was beautiful. To date, she has not ridden in the car for fear of being in a car crash!!!

Picked the car up the next day from Buerge Ford, West LA. March 29th, 2006. Drove it west on Santa Monica Blvd to Ocean Blvd and then down the California Incline to Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Went 25 miles north to a biker hangout place called Neptune's Net on the Ventura County Line, and then back through Malibu to West LA. Coming back down the PCH, across from Pepperdine University, a corvette pulled up and we went the gears until the FGT cut off at the preset governor RPM. Must have made the vette owner proud that he smoked a FGT! Got to my driveway, which is angled to the street. Tried to come into the angle and then up the driveaway and immediately scraped the front end. I was devastated!!! Have figured out how to get in and out without scraping the front end using trailer ramps. Oh, and buying two replacement front spliters and one rear diffuser to boot.

I will never forget that day. :thumbsup

 

[Thugboat]

Atomic,

I have a very similar story. January 2009. I had been looking for a couple years thru flea-bay and locally. I had never ridden in or driven one but knew I had to have Ford's Supercar. I purchased a new 2008 GT 500 hoping that would settle me down. The Wheel hop was so bad I didn't put 1500 miles on it. I had a good friend call me and ask me to go see This GT at Tomball Ford in Houston. I made sure he wasn't interested and drove the GT500 over to take a look. It was on the Showroom floor and the battery was dead. Took 4 salesmen 20 mins. to figure out how to open the front lid with the key and find the battery. After almost an hour of charging the battery I sat in it and hit the starter. SOLD, shut the engine off, wrote a check, gave them the title to the GT500 and drove it home.
First drive was out of the showroom with every salesman and customer watching. Couldn't tell who had the bigger smile, me or them. Drove up the freeway and noticed the oil guage wasn't working. turn around and go back and talk to service manager. He orders guage on the spot and tells me to take it home and he will call when it comes in. I take every long cut, every wrong turn I can find. Takes me nearly 2 hours to go 30 miles. When I get home I park it in the garage where the GT500 had been. My wife comes home a few minutes later and walks by it without even noticing.:frown
She isn't a huge car nut. My 16 yr old son was a different matter. We drove by the house of every friend he has hoping they would see us. First day, 200+ miles = Priceless.

Larry Boatner

PS-Still take it out at least once a week and get "LOST"

 

[roketman]

I remember the night before .I couldn't sleep .I got up at 3:30 watched Vegas on tivo .Much to my delight they had a Ford Gt in the lobby on display in that episode.I figured it was fate !!
The next day Sat. I had to drive 7o miles to the dealer to get my new love.
I couldn't believe I was really doing this. On a side note I did not tell my wife and kids what I was doing.They only knew that I would have one some day !
So got to the dealer .He was very interested in any driving experience I might have .I thought it was a bit strange so I asked him why this interest ? He than stated that he sold 11 Gt 's and 4 of them had been crashed! I thanked him and drove off very carefully! I was so nervous the 1st 50 miles ,my palms were sweating and everyone was looking at me ! I called my best friend and asked him did I do the right thing buying this or am I just immature? He was right I am immature and would soon forget about how much I'd spent !!
So the best part was right before I pulled up to my house I called my son to meet me in front of the house. I had to take him to a hockey game . When he saw me the look on his face I will never forget !!His jaw hit the ground a couple of times !! I said lets see if we can get your hockey bag in the foot well.Well we got the bag in ,but there was no place to put his legs. he twisted them like a pretzel and we drove off.When we parked the Gt it was a mob scene . I finally went into watch his game and my wife and daughter showed up .I said honey let me show you something . At that moment my daughter said you got your GT ! When my wife saw the Gt she gave me a hug and kiss and than asked, are you going thru a mid life crisis? I told her I have been going thru a mid life crisis for the last 20 years ! She than asked how I got that cut on my forehead !
That was a great day !!!
Just owning the Gt makes every day great !

 

[AtomicGT]

Roketman and Tugboat, excellent memories!!!:thumbsup

 

[skyrex]

The first GT I drove was actually not my own. I was fortunate enough to have a member let me drive his.....and I was nervous!!! :willy I remember distinctly hitting a rather large pothole and it was one of the worst feelings ever because I was in someone else's car. Still that drive put me over the edge and I went from thinking I wanted one to having to get one. Very grateful for the first drive still to this day. :bow

I did not buy the first GT that I looked at, and the second one I made an offer and the owner said no. So I left to continue my search. A week later he called with a counter that I declined, restating my first offer. 3 days later he accepted. I rented a car one way to Gilroy, CA and had the man pick me up at the rental car place. All I can say is this, the ride home in the GT was a heckuva lot more fun than the ride to pick it up in the rental. :lol Talk about an upgrade!! :banana

 

[BillyRay]

I remember more the first time it came from off the transport truck.
WOW WOW there is was finally, I bought this car from pics I seen on the web from Tampa FLA area. So I bought this car without ever driving one or seeing the first in person. Need I say it was like the first time you had your girlfriend naked, well on 2nd thought the car looked better!
At the time my buddy showed with his 2 boys ( age 8 and 11) these kids were as jazzed as I was. I had it delivered in a shopping center parking lot off 12st Northeren. Funny there was a guy sitting on hood of his car watching this SEX machine getting backed out of this transport truck.
Really there,s nothing like this car compared to all the other cars I have had. This machine drives people WILD, just watching the reaction people have at stop lights is a rush. Kids from 8 to 80 will stand and stare as if they just saw their 1st UFO. Now we havent even talked about driving this thing yet. Its like a space ship to mars and back...man I,am still in orbit.....
I say this..put on the miles and the smiles...its a dream car ...PERIOD!

 

[Empty Pockets]

Do I remember? Can a falcon fly?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah yes...........' started with the arrival of the transporter. But, that's another story.


The first drive. THAT actually happened about A WEEK after the car arrived. :frown It actually took me that long to get up the courage to take the car out amongst "the unclean" masses. (Unworthy heathens all. :bored)

I actually was trembling a bit (no lie!) when I hit the start button that 1st time and the engine growled to life. The GT seemed to be saying, "Well, it's about TIME, you wimp!" Then I was thinking; "First gear. WHERE THE FROG HAIR IS FIRST G - OH! There it is." 'Eased the GT out of the garage...'stopped at the front of the house to pick wifey up...and headed for - gulp! - THE S-T-R-E-E-T :eek :willy:willy:willy Upon reaching same - to my total amazement - Pockets found out he had somehow INSTANTLY become a god! At the very LEAST - a rock star!

What an instant Z-O-O! We went past a couple of "stuffed shirt" neighbors of ours who'd happened to be getting their mail as we pulled out of our driveway. 'Wish I could adequately describe the looks on their faces. 'Priceless. The two of them met in the middle of the street as we drove away and were standing there talking, watching & pointing as we turned out onto the "main drag" and disappeared.

'Hadn't gone but about 3 blocks on said "main drag" before we'd recieved 2 or 3 "thumbs up" ... and 'had darn near caused a rear-ender in the adjacent lane. The rest of the drive out to the restaurant we were headed to was pretty much a continual replay of the afore mentioned situations. We saw one poor guy darn near drive into a ditch (country road) while looking back over his shoulder as we went by... and practically EVERY passenger in EVERY car we passed did a 180* "neck snap". So did more than a few drivers as well.

About 1/2 way to the restaurant there's this nice wide stretch of road off a signal light...ya see...and... Well, that's when I simply B-R-E-A-T-H-E-D on the right pedal "a wee" (and I DO literally mean JUST "a wee". 'Boost guage showed FIVE LBS) and found out just how e-f-f-o-r-t-l-e-s-s-l-y a FGT goes 0-50 mph (the posted limit, people!) with absolutely NO THROTTLE BEING APPLIED AT ALL. (And remember, this WAS the 1st time I'd driven the GT. I WASN'T gunna push it AT ALL.)

When we arrived at the restaurant......................OMG. :willy:willy:willy You'da thunk Brad Pit and J Lo had just arrived. It was "goldfish bowl" city. 'Totally INSANE. Due to "one way" driveways around the place, it was necessary to drive 360* around the building to get to the parking place I wanted (AWAY FROM THE WORLD). So, everyone in the place saw the car go 'round. Because of that, the RESTAURANT EMPTIED(!!!) and car was surrounded the INSTANT it's wheels stopped rotating. And as soon as I exited the car, the questions started and never stopped.

The trip home was a replay of the trip OUT.

Do I remember? Oooooooooh ya..................!:wink

 

[Mark06GT]

Do I remember? Can a falcon fly?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah yes...........' started with the arrival of the transporter. But, that's another story.


The first drive. THAT actually happened about A WEEK after the car arrived. :frown It actually took me that long to get up the courage to take the car out amongst "the unclean" masses. (Unworthy heathens all. :bored)

I actually was trembling a bit (no lie!) when I hit the start button that 1st time and the engine growled to life. The GT seemed to be saying, "Well, it's about TIME, you wimp!" Then I was thinking; "First gear. WHERE THE FROG HAIR IS FIRST G - OH! There it is." 'Eased the GT out of the garage...'stopped at the front of the house to pick wifey up...and headed for - gulp! - THE S-T-R-E-E-T :eek :willy:willy:willy Upon reaching same - to my total amazement - Pockets found out he had somehow INSTANTLY become a god! At the very LEAST - a rock star!

What an instant Z-O-O! We went past a couple of "stuffed shirt" neighbors of ours who'd happened to be getting their mail as we pulled out of our driveway. 'Wish I could adequately describe the looks on their faces. 'Priceless. The two of them met in the middle of the street as we drove away and were standing there talking, watching & pointing as we turned out onto the "main drag" and disappeared.

'Hadn't gone but about 3 blocks on said "main drag" before we'd recieved 2 or 3 "thumbs up" ... and 'had darn near caused a rear-ender in the adjacent lane. The rest of the drive out to the restaurant we were headed to was pretty much a continual replay of the afore mentioned situations. We saw one poor guy darn near drive into a ditch (country road) while looking back over his shoulder as we went by... and practically EVERY passenger in EVERY car we passed did a 180* "neck snap". So did more than a few drivers as well.

About 1/2 way to the restaurant there's this nice wide stretch of road off a signal light...ya see...and... Well, that's when I simply B-R-E-A-T-H-E-D on the right pedal "a wee" (and I DO literally mean JUST "a wee". 'Boost guage showed FIVE LBS) and found out just how e-f-f-o-r-t-l-e-s-s-l-y a FGT goes 0-50 mph (the posted limit, people!) with absolutely NO THROTTLE BEING APPLIED AT ALL. (And remember, this WAS the 1st time I'd driven the GT. I WASN'T gunna push it AT ALL.)

When we arrived at the restaurant......................OMG. :willy:willy:willy You'da thunk Brad Pit and J Lo had just arrived. It was "goldfish bowl" city. 'Totally INSANE. Due to "one way" driveways around the place, it was necessary to drive 360* around the building to get to the parking place I wanted (AWAY FROM THE WORLD). So, everyone in the place saw the car go 'round. Because of that, the RESTAURANT EMPTIED(!!!) and car was surrounded the INSTANT it's wheels stopped rotating. And as soon as I exited the car, the questions started and never stopped.

The trip home was a replay of the trip OUT.

Do I remember? Oooooooooh ya..................!:wink

So was that also the last time you drove it?

 

[Specracer]

Went to pick it up with the fam. The then 5 year old got the 1st ride he was i think more excited than I. Of course I rolled down the drive way feathering 3rd gear. Say... this is not right...... Ah there is 1st. Then 1st stop was for gas, because the dealer was to scared to drive it for gas. I missed the gas station, then I had to try to turn around. 3 point turn in a drive way, cars coming, Of F! where is reverse?? maybe you have to slam hard THIS way, ah there is reverse.... Then a short ride home, maybe 15 miles. That is of course I figure out how to open the gas cap at the gas station......

 

[ChipBeck]

My first drive was a little rough.

The delivery.

When I bought my car back in 2006 it was in Houston so I flew my Glasair III out from Scottsdale and a nice looking female dealership employee picked me up at the Sugarland Airport. My yellow GT was "looking good" in the service stall and I was giving it my best - this is no big deal, Joe COOL - demeanor as I slipped into the drivers seat to inspect my new ride. Ah yes.....the sales babe is obviously impressed and she probably thinks I'm a professional race car driver!

With this young lady looking on from the passengers seat I then proceeded to slam the door shut on the top of my head, nearly blacking out, and giving myself an instant reverse MOHAWK. The intense pain was amplified as my passenger shrieked, "Oh my god, your hair is stuck in the roof, does that hurt"?!?! I could feel my coolness draining away rapidly. Determined to salvage the shred of dignaty that remained, I said, "No problem darlin".....and then proceeded to swing the door open and jauntily stepped out....slamming my forehead into the corner of the door with such force that it drove me to my knees. "Oh my god, are you allright?" my saleslady gasped as she rushed to my aid. "I'm pretty sure Dan Gurney didn't do this" I was thinking as my hair drifted down from the top edge of the door.

I struggled to clear my head and regain my vision. The dealership's General Manager had witnessed the entire spectacle and the look on his face told me that his enthusiasm for letting this out of state "hot shot" test drive their only Ford GT had noticeably diminished.

Christ.....this has to be some kind of a record. I've already had two serious injury accidents and she hasn't even given me the keys yet! "I'm fine, I'm fine", I exclaimed as I staggered to my feet. "Let's go inside and do the paperwork before I kill myself out here". After the paperwork was done I puttered the GT around the block without hitting a curb. The car was shipped to AZ and I was able to fly my plane home without crashing. My hair and my ego are both slowly growing back.

Chip

 

[Superfly]

The delivery.

With this young lady looking on from the passengers seat I then proceeded to slam the door shut on the top of my head, nearly blacking out, and giving myself an instant reverse MOHAWK. The intense pain was amplified as my passenger shrieked, "Oh my god, your hair is stuck in the roof, does that hurt"?!?! I could feel my coolness draining away rapidly. Determined to salvage the shred of dignaty that remained, I said, "No problem darlin".....and then proceeded to swing the door open and jauntily stepped out....slamming my forehead into the corner of the door with such force that it drove me to my knees. "Oh my god, are you allright?" my saleslady gasped as she rushed to my aid. "I'm pretty sure Dan Gurney didn't do this" I was thinking as my hair drifted down from the top edge of the door.

Chip

Oh god Chip, I'm seriously howling with laughter!!! :lol:rofl:lol Thanks for sharing that!!! :cheers

 

[fjpikul]

While I bought the car in October 2005, the weather around St. Louis had been bad for 2 months. The dealer, a personal friend, had the car in his garage at home so no one would mess with it. I thought Thanksgiving would be the time to pick it up, but weather was bad again. I had to wait until New Year's Eve during the day for the weather to be good enough to pick it up and drive home. Had not driven the car at all. Just hopped in, backed it out, and drove all the way across St. Louis and into Illinois doing the speed limit and getting used to the car. Lots of stares, but no incidents. The next day a lot of friends and relatives came over to see it and we went for rides, one of which I lost the back end while punching it turning a corner. That was a lesson I NEVER forgot and it has not been repeated in the last 4 years. No other exciting stories except Albert Pujols did not want this car after seeing it.

 

[Empty Pockets]

So was that also the last time you drove it?

:tap: AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH SHUDDUP!!!!!!!!! :slap:slap:slap

 

[Fast Freddy]

3 years ago today i bought my Ford GT from Lone Star Ford in Houston, Texas for msrp. i trailered it home with the Trailex trailer i bought from the vendor row at the Barrett-Jackson two weeks earlier. the day i picked up the car was the first GT i had ever driven and the only one i have ever driven since. i took the salesman for a ride with me who sold me the car and i said "i feel like batman driving this car" :cool and he said "i feel like Robin" :biggrin

 

[Fast Freddy]

to celebrate the ending of my warranty today...... some 3 years and a mere 3600 miles later i drove the batmobile today in area 51 and hit 180+ mph in the mile......:cool

 

[FlagstaffGT]

My GT is all my wife's fault. She was at our local Flagstaff Ford dealer for service, called me Thursday night, telling me to come see this drop dead gorgeous sports car in the show room, behind ropes. Told her it was a stupid idea, asked her what was the car. She looked and said a Ford GT. Of course I'd read about it and lusted about it. Told her again, not a good idea. She said I'd love the color. I told her last chance, what color is it. She said midnight blue (same as my first car a 65 Mustang conv that I still have). I said that's it. Went to Ford that evening. Couldn't get the doors open, battery dead (sitting in the dealership several months). No one knew where the battery was (I suggested the front). I said I'll be by next Friday morning to close the deal and they said it would be ready. That Friday morning Barrett (of the auction) called Ford and tried to buy MY zero miles car, but the dealer said it was sold. I almost learned the hard way one doesn't push the throttle pulling out of a driveway (cleared vehicles as I fishtailed on both sides maybe by inches), but thankfully four years later, still safely enjoy her.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Went to Ford that evening. Couldn't get the doors open, battery dead (sitting in the dealership several months).

Sounds familiar! 'Battery was dead on #1079 when I bought, too! (Evidently there were a lot of dealers who didn't bother to "read the instructions" on parking "long term", so to speek! :lol)

 

[Fubar]

Great thread idea.

I had seen a few GTs before I bought mine but I hadn't even sat in one. I was scared to death to drive it because of the stories I heard about "exotic" cars being difficult to drive, very twitchy, and racy clutches. 1/4 mile down the road and I was in love. The car just did everything right. I didn't get it over 55mph for about 20 miles. Then a guy in an Audi S8 decided to goose it and see what I would do. I was still nervous but I ran the speedo up a bit. We went through a pretty tight S turn and I was following. I noticed the body of the S8 rolling badly out of the turn and it occurred to me that I wasn't so much as tilting my head. The GT was just so beautifully in her element at 100+ mph sliding though turns that I wasn't even aware of my speed. I slowed down and smiled all the way home.

What a car! I still get a big smile when I drive though that section of road.

 

[S592R]

I'd driven a GT a few times before and frankly the drives have become a mental side note. Great car, fun and easy to drive. But since i have owned a few, they kind of blended together. Frankly, the real FIRST drive that I had in a GT was 1076 driving it home with my son (his first ride in an exotic). He was so excited (has not been that excited for xmas before or since) he chatted and giggled all the way there. Looked at the car with such wide eyed fascination .... we closed the deal and loaded up to drive home, my father having driven us to the dealership. With carseat safely tucked in, we were off. Rolling slowly thru town with the sound of the exhaust bouncing off the buildings he smiled and laughed with the windows down. We finally made it to the highway and I brought her quickly up to speed, while shutting the windows. after settling in for the cruise a few minutes later I looked over and my son was sound asleep the excitement too much for his five year old body to take. I have posted that picture here many times and will refrain this time. But as Paul Harvey would say "thats the rest of the story."

We drove cross country in another GT he and I (his first road trip) but to be honest. I will never forget that day .....

 

[Delexjb]

I remember the day back in 06 like it was yesterday. Had to wait for days until weather had cleared to pick it up here in Portland, Oregon. Finally on a Saturday the weather cleared enough to go get the prize. I have 8 brothers and sisters and I swear most of them were their when I got the car from the dealer. After everyone got done sitting in it and taking pictures I was ready to drive it home.

I have driven many cars in my life but for some reason I was more nervous than I have ever been getting in this one. I am 6'4" and had to get the seat set, take my hat off, close the door, grab the seatbelt, open the door because the seatbelt was behind the seat, get the seat belt in place, close the door, open the door again because I did not close it firmly enough, have the dealer tell me to crack the window when I close it, crack the window, close the door and I was ready!

I started it up easy enough and slid the car into gear. I waited for traffic to clear, and with at least 15 of my friends and family looking on... I nailed it! The only problem was the car was in third gear, it bucked twice like it was my first clutch, and died in the middle of the very busy street out front of the dealer. So there I sat, in the middle of the street, with cars on both sides of me, frantically trying to find first gear. Eventually I was able to get the car into first and, not wanting to take the chance I was still in third, I nailed the throttle hard!!

So now I am staring at the car that was, just a second ago, directly behind me. Having performed a perfect 180, in the middle of the street, with traffic stopped both ways! Killed it again trying to stop the turn, starting rolling backwards, and was lucky not to hit anything. My brother runs out in the street and gently directs me backwards (I was rolling, not in reverse, for the simple reason that I could not find the gear and traffic was really starting to back up) so I could try again.

This time it came off without a hitch, I pulled out of there like I wished I would have on the first pass. 3000 miles and lot's of stories later, the GT is still my favorite car in my shop and I have never regretted buying it.

Other than the day I bought it! Man...did I mess that up! At least my brothers were very understanding and I have only had to hear about it every...single...weekend...since!