Ford GT: How I Met Jesus After a Car Show

But not for long. Ford's Premier Automotive Group and Mazda North American Operations stepped in to give the show a new home in their shared parking lot in nearby Irvine, California. Now named Cars & Coffee, it was the the obvious place for me to get my morning Joe--now that I had something worthy to bring, that is.

And the car show did not disappoint. A mutitude of Ferraris, Alfas, Fiats, Corvettes, Porsches, Lambos, Jags, NSXs, Lotuses (Loti?), Minis, Saleens (S7, F-150, Mustangs), Cobras, a few hot rods, a US-spec Ariel Atom, and a few other Ford GTs, rumbled into the tree-lined parking lot. It's very informal. "Entrants" and spectators can all wander in for free. Coffee and donuts and bagels and fast cars to look at. What could be better?

After a couple of hours, I'm cruising home at 70mph on the 5 freeway. "BANG! THUMp, THUmp, THump, Thump, thump, tick, tick, tick." Suddenly, I'm looking for a place to pull over, RIGHT NOW, as I gradually nurse the GT over to the side of the freeway with a left-rear devoid of air. Luckily, about 300 yards is all I need to find a very wide, and paved, place to get 25 feet out of lanes and start making telephone calls.

From the noise it made, I'm expecting the worst. But after climbing out, I see that the tire stayed in one piece, and the wheel never touched asphalt. I never did see anything coming at me. As near as I can tell, as I changed lanes from right to left, doing a head check as I prepared to exit, another car a few lengths ahead was doing the opposite, moving from right to left as he merged onto the freeway. Whether his car kicked up the piece of debris I hit, or merely blocked my view of it, I'll never know.

Since my wife camps with HER coffee at the computer most mornings, right away I call to ask for internet help in locating a tire. Make that two tires, as both rears are down to the wear bars and were due for it anyway. P315/40ZR19 Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires might be hard to find on a Saturday morning, but there isn't a spare on board one of these things, and the hole is too big for the on-board flat repair kit, so it's my only shot. 

About ten minutes later, the wife calls back with good news. Villa Ford, about 6 miles straight ahead of my position, will have one, perhaps two, in an hour. Service writer Steve Gailey is expecting me. Now that I know where I want to go, I call AAA for a tow. The dispatcher not only knows what a Ford GT is, he knows that it needs a flatbed even before I request it. From repeated experience maybe? I hope not.

In 25 minutes, I see Jesus. Jesus the tow truck driver. Jesus likes supercars, and to prove it, he keeps a plastic model of a Jaguar XJ220 on his dashboard. No, I am not making this up! As you might expect, Jesus treats me and the Ford GT right. In a few minutes, and judicious use of 2x4 and 4x4 shims to keep the GT's splitters from dragging, we're loaded and on the road.

Jesus and I learned something: if you screw the tow eye all the way in, it sits at such an angle that his winch hook would have rubbed the paint on the adjacent scoop. Loosen the eye about 1/8 of a turn to orient in horizontally, and Jesus' tow hook will assume a vertical position, unable to mar the paint. We wrapped it with a rag anyway for insurance. On to Villa Ford!

Stay tuned for part 2

Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing  @ 6,985 miles