Enthusiasts Flock to Ford GT Rally

Written by Lisa Gorzycki Thursday, 15 October 2009 13:25

Enthusiasts Flock to Ford GT rally

By LARRY BOWEN

The Eagle

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, October 15, 2009 - There was speed to burn at the Texas World Speedway on Wednesday, but the drivers going 150 mph didn't dare race each other.

The Ford GT Rally drew about 70 car owners from the United States and Canada to the track south of College Station. It was a chance for the sports car enthusiasts to show off their prized possessions, hone their driving skills and unleash the power in the limited-edition cars that cost more than $150,000.

The annual event will continue at the Goliad Mile on Thursday, where some of the most powerful cars will reach 240 mph on an airport runway. Leaving the straight-away for the curves, the drivers will hold a road rally in the Hill Country on Friday.

The three-day gathering is a celebration of the Ford GT, which was produced in 2005 and 2006. Ford built the car after demand zoomed when three prototypes made the car-show circuit in connection with the company's 100th anniversary. Previous rallies have been held in Detroit, California and Las Vegas.

Other than miles per hour and hundreds of horsepower, the most popular number at the speedway was 4,038. That's how many of the sleek, low-slung cars were made.

"It's the only American super car," said Mark Alloway of West Chester, Pa. "There are Corvettes, but you see them everywhere. You never see one like this, and Ford is done making them."

Most of the owners at the rally paid between $150,000 and $200,000 for their cars. With that much invested, they avoid swapping paint around the speedway like drivers in NASCAR.

Drivers took to the track in groups. There were a couple of novice classes, along with intermediate and advanced. The cars sometimes roared around the track single-file and occasionally flashed across the finish line side by side, but the only real racing came when the drivers hurried to be at the front of the line when a new class went onto the track.

Camilo Pardo was one of the first in line for an intermediate session, and a couple of other drivers passed on the chance to grab a spot ahead of him. Pardo, 46, worked at Ford for 24 years and was the chief designer of the GT.

"This car here pretty much covers all the bases, which is what you want in a car as designer," said Pardo, who was born in Manhattan. "We wanted the lowest, fastest, most beautiful car. We wanted something that was a tribute to the design evolution of sports cars.

"We wanted our car to be on the shelf beside Ferrari, Lamborghini."

American pedigree was one of the things that drew owners to the GT. That was the case with 46-year-old Tim Beck of Houston, whose Silver Bullet reached about 145 mph on the straight-away Wednesday.

"I went in to buy a Lamborghini, and I just felt the Ford GT was better bang for my buck," Beck said. "I'm buying American, and it's one of a kind. They did an incredible job on this car."

Beck said he bought his 2005 model two years ago for $185,000. He already has spent about $20,000 for upgrades, which he said "haven't scratched the surface."

The 2005 and 2006 cars are a modern version of the Ford GT that won the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race four consecutive years in the late 1960s. The many vanity license plates on display included a California tribute to that history: 4 LEMANS.

Other plates that made a point included 600 HPGT from Michigan, GRY GHST out of Kansas, and RLY FAST from Colorado.

Ralph Lehotsky of Mammoth Mountain, Calif., developed his love of fast cars when he worked on pit crews as a kid. He wanted a Ford GT as soon as he saw a picture in a magazine in the early 1960s.

Lehotsky, 67, was an aerospace engineer before going to work in the ski industry 20 years ago. He pushed his $168,000 baby to about 140 or 150 mph Wednesday, wearing a full racing suit and helmet.

After his run, Lehotsky grabbed a couple of bottles of water to cool down in the midday heat. Between gulps, he tried to explain how it feels to go that fast.

"It's not like going fast on a highway, when you know you are going fast," he said. "The distance between corners here is so short that you're either accelerating or decelerating."

Almost all of the GTs in the rally are street legal. Many owners brought their cars by van, but several drove them, some from as far away as Toronto, Seattle and Florida.

Last year, Beck had to drive his car back from the rally in Las Vegas because Houston airports were closed due to Hurricane Ike. He said he averaged between 120 and150 mph on the highway.

"We don't drive around like a bunch of maniacs," Beck said. "We're safe. We're not going to tear it up in Houston traffic. But when you get out on the open road, it's hard not to go fast. The car doesn't run good unless you're doing 100 miles per hour."

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