Do you think the factory accoutrament are lame?


bitzman

Permanent Vacation
Oct 7, 2005
193
As a former Ferrari owner, there was lots of Ferrari-labeled stuff I could wear to signal other Ferraristi that I too was a Ferraristi. Even now I could walk into a doctor or lawyers convention and tell the enthusiasts from the riff-raff by virtue of their Girard-Perregaux Ferrari watches, Chopard Mille Miglia watches, etc.

But Ford didn't offer a Ford GT watch. They offered a golf shirt. They offered a baseball hat. They offered a model car, remote controlled. Am I the only one who thinks they don't have very classy stuff for a car that sold for over $200,000 to the first 500 buyers?

Ford owns Aston and jaguar and those divisions offer classy stuff.Do you think it's because the Ford GT marketing people didn't want to ask the Aston and Jag people where they got their cool stuff?

Puzzled in Podunk
 

Cool Runnin'

GT Owner
Oct 6, 2005
40
Miami Beach
I agree. They blew a pretty big opportunity there.
 

SLF360

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
show off stuff, do you really need that ?

I guess lot´s of the ferrari stuff is for show offs anyhow, and they just make indecent money on the merchandising anyhow... But i think it´s right, for any of us having spent (I guess) over 200k for a Ford, something personal would be appropriate. Even a letter from Henry Ford welcoming us, signed in blue would do !
I´d hang it right next to Mr Montezemolo´s in the garage, thanking for the purchase of a Stradale (doesn´t do that for the regular ones, but Bill doesnt need to send his to the Focus boys either! )

stefan

PS: Also surprised they do not call up owners and interview about satisfaction..
 

bitzman

Permanent Vacation
Oct 7, 2005
193
They just don't get it...

I just looked up the Zippo Ford GT lighter.

There's one shown on the net at
http://lib1.store.vip.sc5.yahoo.com/gunther-gifts/forgtbruschr.html

"Tacky" would be the polite way to describe it. I think those guys who work in marketing need to visit a shop selling quality items , like Harrods in London or Polo's NY store. They look like they think it's a big treat to shop at Wal-Mart! We're talking about owners that spent $200 large on a car, and they deserve to have some accessories that show precision, premium materials, like the stuff that Porsche sells. They still have time to improve the quality of the merchandising materials but they need someone with better taste choosing the items from what I've seen so far..that lighter looks like something a Pinto owner would cherish.
 

saber

GT Owner
Sep 25, 2005
153
NYC
SLF360 said:
PS: Also surprised they do not call up owners and interview about satisfaction..
They called me two days after my purchase from the dealer.
 

barondw

GT Owner
Sep 8, 2005
1,109
Yes they missed the boat. But since the boat isn't very large it isn't a big deal to them.

The Ferrari cult is a world-wide phenom with K-Mart shoppers buying their stuff. They have super expensive stuff and relatively inexpensive stuff.

Porsche has its own cult and needs to sell items at high prices because of its cult and its perceived image.

The Corvette following is extremely large and its devotees demand new items all of the time.

The Ford following is NASCAR. Most of those don't care about a GT unless its a Mustang.

As to follow-up they have been better than most. This includes the suspension recall and sending an expensive print of the car because of the early problems.

Even the local dealer, no the car was not purchased from them, provides excellent service and provides the car with priority treatment. Their other customers don't mind as they love to look at the car.

At the end of the day I don't have a need for the branded items and if I do can go and have the clothing made, with logo, to my personal tastes.
 

bitzman

Permanent Vacation
Oct 7, 2005
193
What about factory support of an owner's club?

Maybe this is a separate thread but I remember two things about Dodge support of the Viper
1.)When Bob Luta was with Chrysler he told the Board one time "I'd stay longer but I have to go meet some Viper ownrs"
Also I remember going to the Monterey Hisorica and seeing a tent reserved for Viper owners and they were wearing badges like "Viper #SN___Joe Blow, High Point NC" etc.
My point is that Viper was quickly established as a marque for performance fans to own because Dodge supported it (their owner's club is a model for owner's clubs).
Not to mention Dodge making some racing Vipers which did well at LeMans for a new marque (even supported by the French, who are supposed to be so Anti-American)
Ford created the (old and new) Ford GT but there is no fancy magazine (such as I got from Bentley before they figued out I wouldn't be buying a new one) , no high quality watch (Bentley has several,working with Breitling), no behind-the-scenes support for an owner's club. If they plan on making the GR-1 fastback Cobra coupe as the follow up to the Ford GT, it seems to me that they need to cultivate the higher spending group than the usual Ford buyers (like four times as much as a loaded Expedition) that the Ford GT has brought into the tent. It's alittle like Burger King inviting in a famous chef, serving one fabulous meal and then going back to making burgers. Now that they've got the big spenders into the tent,you would think they would cater to them to keep them happy.
Maybe you're right--you are going to make your own memorabilia, and maybe the aftermarket will make it, nice leather jackets, with Ford GT serial numbers etc. I'm jsut saying they are neglecting this area where Bentley, Aston, Jaguar and Ferrari do a nice job there.
Another way to promote the Ford GT would be for Ford to pay expenses of vintage racers who go to the expense to race their original GT40s in vintage racing (on the other hand with GT40 owners like Rob Walton , they might have more money than Ford...). That was the point of making the new Ford GT look like the old one--capitalizing off the racing victories of the original, so I would hope those racing the originals would receive every hospitality perq that Ford can afford....the guys racing the original GT40s might not be the guys that drove to victory at LeMans but they are out there showing us what made the car legendary.
Actually there was one point where Ford did support the original GT40 owners, no doubt rolling out the red carpet that was at the Laguna Seca press preview for the new Ford GT. I tiptoed into this event uninvited (it's a long story, involving an unalert guard and a lot of fog ) and at the preview they had two or three original GT40s, the same ones that ran at LeMans and Dan Gurney and Sir Jackie Stewart and the owners of the GT40s, Dan and Sir Jackie took interested reporters around the track for the ride of their life. At the time I hoped Ford would give support to GT40 racers for subsequent events but have seen no sign of it (maybe it's all behind the scenes).