We’re just going to preface this with the obvious: we’re a little jealous. Okay, that’s that dealt with then.
Back in the spring of 2016, Ford opened up a four-week application period for its new, 600+ bhp supercar. Over 6500 hopeful owners submitted, but with only 500 cars set to be produced, roughly 1-in-13 people would get the chance to call the car their own. As it happens, one of those people will be Turn 10’s Alan Hartman.
In the video above, Hartman talks about his desire to own the GT after first seeing the car almost two years ago — when it was still known as Project Phoenix, and was about to be announced as the Forza Motorsport 6 cover car. “I was joking with Henry (Ford III) at the time of like ‘I want the first one!'”, recalls Hartman, “and he was like ‘No way, haha, go away'”.
Secretly, Hartman went through all the steps of the application process, and only found out he had gotten the thumbs up a few weeks ago. The carbon fiber order kit arrived last week, and was shared in the Week in Review to get input from the community. A poll is quickly ruled out, on the basis of avoiding a Boaty McBoatface-style incident. Which is probably for the best.
The kit itself looks like quite the piece of automotive art. The latch to open it is a direct reproduction of a piece found on the race car (which was added to the game last June). The minimalist plates for the exterior colour options are stunning. A full set of wheel options is included, with magnetized brake discs to let prospective buyers get a better idea of how their choices will look.
For the rest of us, Ford’s otherwise-excellent GT configurator will have to do.
The role of Hartman’s new supercar? Well, he’ll drive it of course, but it will also take pride of place at the new Turn 10 headquarters, which the team will be moving to later on this year. It will also bolster the Ford Performance lineup at the company, which already includes an F-150 Raptor and Shelby GT350 (the latter driven by Creative Director Dan Greenawalt).
Alan also joins the rather exclusive club of game developers that own Ford’s range-topper: Polyphony Digital’s Kazunori Yamauchi counts a Ford GT amongst his car collection (though his is the retro homage from 2005). We think a club registration is in order…
If you’re looking to have your say in the car’s eventual design, you’ll have to head on over to the designated thread at the official Forza forums. According to Hartman, the design lock-in deadline is February 1, so there’s not much time left.
