Ford gives GT buyers a second chance

22 August, 2016

 

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If you’re like me and you got rejected with your Ford GT application (just kidding), then you’ve got a second chance!

I didn’t get rejected from buying a brand-new Ford GT, because I don’t have either the coin or the credentials. However, for those who did apply and did get rejected, Ford are giving you the opportunity to apply to own one of their latest GT supercars … again.

However, the third year of production will be for those who were on the waiting list last time as having first dibs. The fourth and final year of production will be for those who were initially rejected, as well as for new applications. 

Why would you want a Ford GT you might ask? Well, here are some specs to drool over. Instead of running a V8 engine as you might think, Ford thought they’d install a 3.5-litre V6 600hp engine with two turbos, named the ‘EcoBoost’. Using an EcoBoost engine was to reflect the direction in which the company is currently heading, using smaller displacement turbocharged engines in a bid to reduce fuel consumption and emissions — in a Ford GT? Yeah, I thought it was odd as well. 

Maybe I’ll start working on my application now for when I win the lottery this year! 

A second dose of Dash

When the car arrived in Wellington in December 2018 it was duly taken along for entry certification. Vehicle Inspection NZ (VINZ) found some wrongly wired lamps and switches — not too bad — but, much more significantly, some poor welding repairs. As the structural problems were probed more thoroughly, we realized the previous owner’s restoration would not do and we needed an upgrade. Dash had made it into the country but it would take some time and money before he would be free to explore any of New Zealand’s scenic highways.
We took the car to our new home in Johnsonville in the northern suburbs of Wellington and I pored over the car in detail to figure out what was next. There were lots of new parts on the car and a very perky reconditioned drivetrain but the chassis needed serious work.

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.