Factory Five GTM-200

[Mike Dozier]

Factory Five is now taking orders for their mid engine car.
Looks better in person than in their photos.
Will be interesting to see how many of their Cobra
owners step up to the GTM considering it's not historic.

Kit pricing is published at $ 20k, and looking at the list
of components FFR provides, looks like a great value,
so long as you're not looking specifically for a GT40.
FFR signed an agreement with Shelby not to do a GT40 replica
and for consumers that's a real shame. But for those already
in the GT40 replica business....IMHO they dodged a bullet.

MikeD

 

[Mark Worthington]

I wonder where they're sourcing the windshield and how close it is to that of a GT40.

 

[Mike Dozier]

I was told it is a GT40 windshield...no idea from whom.

MikeD

 

I went to the Factory Five Racing factory a week ago for an open house and to check their new GTM. The car is awesome, except for the GM parts /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Im a FORD ONLY guy, I guess. After seeing their facility and production techniques and lerning they have sold over 4500 roadster replicas (more than all other companies COMBINED) and a bunch of daytona coupes, I agree with Mike Dozier, the other GT40 manufacturers dodged a BIG BULLET. The place was impressive.

The GTM is nice, nice. There were 3 or 4 GTM's there, one with an LS-7 crate motor (500hp out of the box!)

 

[Chris Martino]

Donno - the car doesn't define any niche, not old, not new, doesn't really represent any car from the past or present. In the world of Lambos', Ultima's and other 'supercar' designs, I don't think this car has the legs to make the sales to warrent 3 years developemnt costs anytime in the near future. They should have done a 40.

IMHO of course.

Chris

 

[Brian]

I went to the FFR open house with a couple of forum guys. At the beginning of the tour, the gentlemen taking us around said that they originally set out to do a '40, but quickly got tangled up in legalities, so they opted for the clean sheet of paper design with the GTM being the result. It is NICE car and I personally took away a lot of stimulating ideas in regards to design, for example the rod shift mechanism is elegant and unlike any I have seen in a '40. If the client base keeps the quality high enough, FFR make make some decent market penetration. However, there is no emotional perspective to the design , as there is with the '40, for people to hang on to. Some call this a liability, some call it an asset because it is not trying to be anything but itself. The market will have to decide this one for us. I personally think some of the body attributes should have been dialed back a bit to give it a "familiar" feel.


Brian

 

Brian & Chris, The GTM sure has come a long way from when I was involved with FFR. I saw the first attempts of puting some ideas down on the floor. They really started with some large round steel tube on the floor and some T-Bird suspension parts proped up to start the process.
I think the proplem with the body design is that they used a GT40 windshield. When you pick a windshield design like that, you have to design the whole body around the windshield. When I shaped out the Daytona Coupe for FFR, the windshield they chose to use for the Daytona, it dictated the whole shape of the body back to the tail.
I must say seeing the car in person is a lot different than seeing pictures of it. The shape kind of grows on you with time.
It can not be that bad, they have sold one hundred of them so far!

 

[Mike Dozier]

Bill...no doubt...the GTM looks much better in person.
Come to think of it...same could probably be said for
all sporty cars.

I suspect Chris is correct about FFR not hitting
break even on the project for a long time. Still...I get
the impression the Smith brothers weren't expecting BIG sales of this one...I get the impression it was a labor of love for them.

I see they're branching off into boat design. They get props from me for taking risks and making their dreams come true.

MikeD