Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Supercars, Ford
The last Ford GT rolls out of Saleen's Troy, MI facility
The end is nigh for the Ford GT, as the last production car has rolled out of the Troy, Michigan Saleen facility where most of the car's final assembly was completed. BlueOvalNews.com was on hand to cover the occasion, which saw Ford's Fred Goodenow, SVT Design Engineering Manager for the GT, pose for photos with Saleen's Ford GT Assembly Manager, Mike Zielinski.
Also present was the red and white final GT, whose ultimate destination will be a customer's garage somewhere in Canada. Before it can head to the Great White North, however, it'll get it's drivetrain installed and interior completed at Ford's Wixom plant.
This is the 4,038th Ford GT built overall. With the factory supercar's departure, the Shelby GT500 assumes the mantle of top dog in Ford's performance stable.
Head over to BlueOvalNews.com for more coverage, including a full photo gallery of the car as it came off the line.
[Source: BlueOvalNews.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jason_801 5:54PM (10/01/2006)
Sad. It's a long step down to the GT500.
Reply
Evan Hayden 6:09PM (10/01/2006)
This sucks. I really like the GT, not that I'll ever be able to afford one... Hopefully they'll decide to make a production version of the GR-1. (although asking Ford to keep the mirror finish in production form may be a bit to much to ask)
Reply
DPC car videos 6:35PM (10/01/2006)
This car will become a true classic, whoever owns one should not sell it.
Reply
jamie 6:51PM (10/01/2006)
Oh, what I wouldn't do, to own one of these babies!
Ford should reconsider this grevious error. "Image" is Ford's current dilemma with the buying public; and the GT has a lot of IMAGE!
So now you want to dump the DB7 et al? Foolish idea.
And Jaguar just isn't up to snuff yet, because you decided to emigrate downwind instead of leaving the pack eating your rubber at the stop light.
Therefore keep this tiger by the tail and run with it.
It's all you got (Mustang excluded).
Reply
Greg 6:56PM (10/01/2006)
I wonder which Asian Car Maker will make a copycat of the Ford GT, price it under $35k with a decent engine and transmission displayment, and sell 300,000 Units a year to the American Consumer.
Then, I wonder which Ford Executive will be questioned by Ford's New Boss with his first question being something like... 'Why didn't WE do that?'
Reply
Jason_801 7:21PM (10/01/2006)
Are you high, Greg? Drunk? Serious head injury?
Reply
Richard Warren 7:34PM (10/01/2006)
Bye, Bye Baby!
Reply
Green Lotus Elise 7:38PM (10/01/2006)
That sucks that theres less than 5,000 of them although I'm sure ther current owners are rejoicing. I didn't really care for these things at first but after seeing & sitting in one they've grown on me. We've got a local one that is running decals as a campaign against smoking, you can see photos of it at http://www.drivecancerout.com/
Reply
Greg 7:39PM (10/01/2006)
Jason,
Very sober actually.
I mean it by the way.. and I wouldn't be surprised if a company like Hyundai does it!
Reply
Jason_801 8:05PM (10/01/2006)
Ok, I'll explain my reaction. Let's say you took a genuine supercar, be it the Ford GT, a Ferarri Enzo, or a Koenigsegg. Basically, somehow, sell it for $35k.
Yes, you'd sell a lot of them. But 300k?
300k buyers, per year, won't put up with supercars.
Trunk space?
Ease of entrance and exit?
Fuel economy in single digits?
Rear view visibility?
Tires that cost $300 each to replace?
Ground clearance? How many people want every speed-bump to be an adventure?
Safety? Or even, perception of safety? Your eyeballs are level with the license plate of an SUV.
Reliability?
Insurance? Sure, in this magical-land you paid just $35k for it, but it still has 500+ horsepower and is pretty fragile.
All-weather driving?
Rear seats?
Did I mention reliability?
Width? Ever try to park a supercar at the mall?
Maintenance? Ever keep one of these things running? Expensive doesn't mean trouble-free.
To sell 300k you need a car that's all things to all people. A Ford Taurus, Dodge Caravan, or Toyota Corolla type of vehicle that will work for men, woman, tall, short, young, old and all those people and do what needs to be done, every day. All the "boring" stuff that gets put down by sexy automotive articles.
Reply
That One Person 9:43PM (10/01/2006)
I actually saw a dark blue GT with manu plates on it today. It's a gorgeous car. I think in the last couple years, this was probably Ford's smartest move...
This really makes me sad but all good things come to an end. Now about that GR-1...
Reply
John B 10:16PM (10/01/2006)
The good news is that anyone here has a chance to own that Ford GT. A Ford GT (maybe that last one) will be one of the prizes at the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation lottery that will be held shortly. All it costs is a $100 ticket (proceeds donated to cancer research). Here is the link:
http://www.pmhfcashandcars.com/grand4.php
BTW - one of the other prizes is a Ferrari F430 Spyder. Not too shabby as they say.
http://www.pmhfcashandcars.com/early.php
Good luck!
Reply
Aaron 11:17PM (10/01/2006)
Sad, sad everyone loves a super car and watching one go down is a fading fantasy.
Reply
Lucas Zaffuto 12:10AM (10/02/2006)
Sad to see it go. It's the only Ford I lust after. It is too expensive to make and to buy, but that overblown Mustang isn't even 1% of the car that the GT is. Ford should be ashamed if it thinks it can pawn it off as the replacement.
Reply
christopher 8:48AM (10/02/2006)
Yeah, the Mustang is just not that attractive in my opinion... I really don't understand what the hype is all about and why Ford is pinning their company on selling gobs of them. Once the Camaro and Challenger come out then Mustangs will look ridiculous in comparison.
The GR-1 should definitely be made and sold in regular if not limited quantities. It is the coolest Ford I've ever seen... and that's probably why it will never see production. Too edgy for fuddy duddy Ford...
Reply
sam the jeep man 9:11AM (10/02/2006)
as a lucky owner of red/white 05 #1451, i was not sad about the last one built(actually elated--only 4038), but very sad for all the dedicated folks that worked on this wonderful peice of machinery. most of the ford employess are being layed off and the wixom plant is being closed down, and i think it sucks.
the people at ford and saleen put their blood, sweat and tears into this project, and they all deserve better.
from the bottom of my heart, and i speak for many of the other gt owners, thank you for building the best car america has seen in the past 30 years.
Reply
John B 10:55AM (10/02/2006)
16. sam the jeep man:
For God's sake man, don't just leave us hanging. What's it like to live with and drive one of these beauts. Since I doubt anyone else here will now own one, we can live vicariously through you. Cheers ;-)
Reply
Adam 11:51AM (10/02/2006)
The GTO didn't do anything to improve Ford's image, infact it made it worse.
Want to show the world how innovative your company is? re-design a car from years ago...
The GT didn't upgrade Ford's image, infact it just re-inforced it as the NASCAR fan's wet dream.
Want a sports car? look at Porsche, Mercedes AMG and BMW M series. Ford did not defeat any of those brands with the GT.
Reply
sam the jeep man 12:06PM (10/02/2006)
i own and have owned many very great cars
as far as i'm concerned the gt is the best car i have ever owned,
to put it imply, "it is the most fun you can have with your clothes on"
if you are intested visit our site at:http://www.fordgtforum.com
thx-----sam
#1451-------red/white
#003 ----saleen extreme
parnelli jones------on order
Reply
Dan Hamer 10:05PM (10/02/2006)
A mid engine design has always been a tough sell for the American market. Unlike our European neighbors a mid engine car is a rarity to the point of being a red herring.( i.e. Fiat X19, Deloren, Pantera, Corvair)
The Ford GT is a beautiful car and I join every other red blooded American that would love to see it sitting in my driveway. Oh I wouoldnt drive it. Just look at it. Call my gearhead buddies and let them come over and look at it. They could tell their friends they know someone that owns a Ford GT. OK.
So say I can come up with the $200 K to buy one and can afford the 2 grand a month to insure it and pay for $1500 carbon fiber brakes. Now what? Drive around in second gear to keep the valves clean? Park in the farthest parking space for fear of door dings?
You say wait! Anyone that can afford to look at a Ford GT dont have to worry about cost of ownership of an exotic car. Well for some reason Ford feels otherwise and aimed it's rusty guns a little lower and fired a shot across the bow of middle America and say what you will the new Shelby GT 500 is a good reasonable facsimile
The Ford GT is and always has been a great car but at this price point the performance car buyer can have a ball with a fraction of the money and end up with a car that does can be driven to get groceries.
I could really enjoy the feel of a tight powerband at 5000 rpms as it climbs to 7000 intermingled with the scream of a supercharger. I had a ball on the autobahn in my 1.6 BMW going a lot slower than about 3rd gear in a poorly tuned Ford GT. But it was a lot of fun to really open it up! That 4 banger with side draft carberators sounded just as good to me as any supercharger. I wanted something I could drive and enjoy not something that draws tickets in Daytona like crap draws flies.
The Shelby GT 500 and or a Saleen mustang, Rousch Mustang, Steed equipped mustang or a Superformance replicar among others, is not a Ford GT and never will be. Is this Ford GT anything like the original save the shape? The original was raw, hard to handle, smokey, loud and squirelly as a bastard. The whole car throbbed with power and wanted to run. That made the Ford GT what it was. I saw real Ford GTs run and this aint no Ford GT.
The the automotive stratosphere of supercars exists because there are few real supercars and the Ford Gt has richly earned it's place with only the elite of any supercar gathering. With a heritage befitting a true champion and throughbred, the re-release of a spiffed up reasonable facsimile was a bad idea then and with the issues Ford has right now the demise of the Ford GT was inevitible.
That said anybody want a 1/25 partner in a Ford GT?
Reply