Clarksons GT 40

mike65

ooops!

Ford will not be too chuffed with this sort of coverage - you could'nt buy it!

So there we are. A 35-year dream. A two-year wait. Ten years of damn hard work. And what do I get? The most miserable month’s motoring it is possible to imagine.

Strangely, however, as the GT rumbled down my drive for the last time, I felt like Julie Walters watching Michael Caine getting on the plane at the end of Educating Rita. I actually cried.

There’s a very good reason for this. I genuinely believe that some machines have a soul and I can’t bear to think of my Ford sitting in a warehouse now, unloved and unwanted. It is fine. It is perfect. It knows it’s a great, great car that was ruined by a useless ape who fitted a crummy aftermarket alarm system.

Ford has said I can buy the car back any time. It has even lent me an Aston Martin DB9 while I make up my mind. I don’t know though. I just don’t know.

Normally I finish these columns with an opinion of mine. But this time it’s the other way round. I’d love to hear yours.

Mike.

unkel

Not too sure what to think of this story. Some minor electrical problems and he asks for his money back after all the trouble he went through in getting the car?

Verdict So good you can have mine
Rating Five stars

I'm starting to think the car is not as good as he thought at all. Looks like he's been Clarksoned :eek:

Johnny Storm

Clarkson used to be funny......

drdre

yeah i seen this in the sunday times, he did deserve his money back.he waited so long for the car and spent too much for it.so there should have been no probs with it.

DubTony

This quote from his column

I then did something the man at Ford wasn’t expecting. I asked for my money back.

And that, the next day, is what happened.

They put £126,000 in my account and sent a man to pick up the car

He then went on to say that he'd never profit from being a motoring journalist. It could be said that he has.

He didn't get a letter back from the Ford warranty manager saying that the technician's report stated that everything was operating normally He didn't have a muppet technician drive his new GT for 26 minutes (covering only 6 miles) and confirm that it was working perfectly. No, he just said "Gimme me money back" and he got it.

I'm going on about a Renault Megane auto my wife got early last year. Dodgy auto box lost power on acceleration in second gear (A sort of vroom - eh - vroom thing). Renault gave us no satisfaction. In the end she traded it and lost a packet. Anyway, point is, if my name was Jeremy Clarkson would I have gotten my money back?


I successfully discouraged a friend from buying a new Laguna by telling him my Megane problem and that they were pieces of crap. He bought a Nissan instead. :mad:

Nuttzz

DubTony wrote:

This quote from his column




I successfully discouraged a friend from buying a new Laguna by telling him my Megane problem and that they were pieces of crap. He bought a Nissan instead. :mad:

who are more or less owned by Renault

fletch

Surprised he didn't mention this in tonights show

John R

"Yes Mr. Clarkson, you can have your money back as long as you don't say another word about our car."

unkel

I'm disappointed Jeremy didn't call a spade a spade on this occasion like he usually does - to be more pointed: a Ford GT is not what he thought it would be - why else would he demand his money back? Surely not for some basic electrical problems?

I'm getting quite suspicious now too. Ford has done a truly astonishing job in bringing in quality control over the last 10 years. Then Jaguars were as reliable as Ladas, now the're more reliable than Mercedes-Benz

Only managed to catch the last 30 mins of Top Gear tonight (I don't see it at all most Sundays) and the piece about the Oslo run was lame in the extreme tbh

DubTony

Nuttzz wrote:

who are more or less owned by Renault

Lock, stock and barrel I believe.

OfflerCrocGod

Yes, I get the feeling that the GT 40 is actually a lot less satisfying then Clarkson is actually letting on. It was his childhood dream car after all, I doubt he'd want to trash it.

green-blood

" It was his childhood dream car after all"

should have bought a GT40 then and not a retro design FORD GT, if he believes cars have soul (which I do) he'd know you can't photocopy an outline and transfer the soul to a new model, VW failed with the new Beetle, BMW failed with the BINI and now the Ford GT

lomb

he can sell it at a 50 grand profit if he wants, its worth 170 stg and he paid a lot less.

the jew

I kinda felt sorry for his troubles, but then remembered, he spent £126,000 on a car.

MercMad

should have bought a GT40 then and not a retro design FORD GT, if he believes cars have soul (which I do)

.............dont you remember.................he tried !

But he couldn't fit into the thing !!!

So exactly what was wrong with the car ? Did it let him down, leave him stranded or wtf ?

528i

green-blood wrote:

" It was his childhood dream car after all"

should have bought a GT40 then and not a retro design FORD GT, if he believes cars have soul (which I do) he'd know you can't photocopy an outline and transfer the soul to a new model, VW failed with the new Beetle, BMW failed with the BINI and now the Ford GT

each of those have been an overwhelming success, soul me arse, its the bottom line what counts at the end of the day

Praetorian

He should have had a little more patience and kept his dream car. An experience like this would annoy me to no end, but I wouldn't give up on the car. A wire loose somewhere. £126,000 seems like a bargain to me

kaimera

I want one.

CBG gave it 5*.

if not :: gimme THIS! Maybach Exelero

DubTony

528i wrote:

each of those have been an overwhelming success, soul me arse, its the bottom line what counts at the end of the day

The bottom line? 528i, I thought you'd have been more interested in the red line

green-blood

tbh I think he's been doing too many white lines...

dudara

unkel wrote:

I'm disappointed Jeremy didn't call a spade a spade on this occasion like he usually does - to be more pointed: a Ford GT is not what he thought it would be - why else would he demand his money back? Surely not for some basic electrical problems?

I'm getting quite suspicious now too. Ford has done a truly astonishing job in bringing in quality control over the last 10 years. Then Jaguars were as reliable as Ladas, now the're more reliable than Mercedes-Benz

From what I understood in the article, it seems that the alarm was retro-fitted by another company. But still, it seems a bit odd that he didn't go the bother of changing the alarm.

And if you weren't Clarkson, would you get an Aston Martin to keep you happy while you make your mind up?

FX Meister

Well if you were the type of customer that can get their hands on, and pay for a GT them I'm sure you could get an Aston Martin while you made your mind up.

RicardoSmith

I'm happy for him. Hes an idiot. The car has an alarm problem. If it really was his dream car he would and couldafford to get a better alarm fitted. But instead he makes a song and dance about it, and returns it. The man is a moaning wuzz. Top Gear used to be about cars. and driving Now its about Clarksons image and him whining on about some drivel.

unkel

RicardoSmith wrote:

Hes an idiot. The car has an alarm problem. If it really was his dream car he would and couldafford to get a better alarm fitted. But instead he makes a song and dance about it, and returns it

You're missing my point. I don't believe it was just an alarm problem. I'm getting the feeling JC realised the car is nowhere near as good as he initially thought (and hoped and dreamt) it was going to be. Then he just uses the easy way out by reporting a, no doubt genuine, issue with the aftermarket alarm system

I sure hope I am wrong

astec123

Unkel is correct, I was reading a book by him, not sure what the title is but it was an early 90s one and it reviewed loads of exotic machines. His GT40 one was the only one you could see no passion in, he loved the thing from day one, so to be offered the chance of your dream car/home/better half like ford offered him he snapped it up. Clarkson has had a lot of other problems that he has not as publically announced such as the start up problem (which was mentioned a few weeks back on Top Gear), there are others beyond this and if I remember correctly the car has had about 1/4 of the time since it arrived in working order, the rest its been broken and unusable so he is well within his rights to get the thing returned.

I dont like the new GT 40 its not a GT40 any more, the original was 40inches high this is 42/3 (not totally sure) so I dont like that plus about a hundred other reasons I dont like it.

528i

I reckon he's pretending it was only an alarm problem (having received 50k to keep his mouth shut) and that it was infact riddled with electrical faults from the outset.

It is after all, a Ford.

astec123

Correct its a crappy ford, we had an Escort in 00 and it had a brakes problem, if it was washed and put in the garage the next day most of the time it would have the handbrake locked on, the ford dealer in cork (CAB motors) did nothing they kept saying the car was fine, even the mechanic that came to get the car out of the garage had to make an almighty thud to get the car to go anywhere. The handbrake could be taken off and it would still sit there lurching. Good on you ford, you pissed of probably the most important man in motoring with your GT and me with your crappy escort. But clarkson has had numberous problems from the outset.

dahamsta

Slight difference between a mass-produced Ford Escargot and a hand-built GT40. Not that I'd touch either of them with a barge pole.

adam

bmoferrall

If he really wanted to keep the Ford I'm sure those problems could have been ironed out easily enough.

I think the F430 might have something to do with his decision to offload the Ford (it will be interesting to see if he buys one):

"Two hundred years from now, when all this environmental claptrap has been exposed as a sham, and engineers can once again devote themselves to creativity and excellence without having to worry about the trees and otters, someone, somewhere may well build a car as good as the Ferrari F430.

It’s the new baby in Ferrari’s range and it is, quite simply, the best car I’ve ever driven, not just when you’re hurtling along at Mach 7 but also on the motorway, and in town and on country lanes. In every environment, it rides, goes, stops and handles in a way that other car makers will tell you is impossible. "

Lucky he tucked the following comments in a less conspicuous review of the Octavia:

"So next week, finally, I’ll have my GT.

And, of course, I won’t mind two hoots that it’s completely outclassed by the new Ferrari. Indeed, I shall have a handy list of oven-ready retorts if you dare to suggest I’ve bought the wrong car. I don’t know what those retorts might be yet but they’ll almost certainly involve shoving a traffic cone right up your jacksie."

Full article:

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,12529-1620582,00.html

unkel

So we were right then, thanks bmoferrall for the proof

Jeremy has lost a lot of my respect over this

rabbitinlights

Its not as if he can just say to ford, "I actually want the ferrari, please let me return the GT", So publicly he would have to have a reason......