Since 2005 I have been thinking of picking up an FR500C when the timing was right. Since returning from China I've looked at a few cars but they haven't been the right car either because they were crashed, not original or didn't have the race history I was looking for. Well that all ended 2 days ago when I took deliver of FR500C-001! Yep, the first one!
This car was one of 2 FR500C's which Ford had Multimatic campaign in 2005 in Grand-Am
The car was piloted mainly by Scott Maxwell and David Embringham and won 5 races over the season leading up the team winning the “triple-crown” (Driver, Manufacturer & Team) Grand-Am championships in 2005.
It was also featured in the Documentary "Extreme Mustang, Back to the Track" which highlighted Fords return to US factory backed production based road racing after leaving in 1970.
After the 2005 season the car was never raced again but was brought out once in 2006 for a Ford testing day. After that it was put on long term loan to Multimatic to display in their Livonia facility and I believe it made a showing at Kart2Kart for a couple of months as well before ending up in a warehouse for long term storage.
As with many Ford assets it was decided to take it off the books and Ford sold it through a sealed big process which I was lucky enough to submit the winning bid on the car a few months ago. After a few months of paperwork I was able to take delivery of the car earlier this week!
The car is a time capsule and it just how it came off the track after winning the championship except the wheels/tires were changed and the passenger side mirror was replaced as it was knocked off during its last race. As you can tell the car is in great shape but will need a little freshening up before hitting the track again. The fuel cell will need to be replaced (no surprise there) and then a complete inspection of the car will be performed before it heads out on track for a shake down run. This is also one of the few FR500C's that didn't incur significant body damage or was rebodied which is a major plus!
My perseverance paid off with the acquisition on what I would consider to be one of the most significant road race Mustangs to come out of Ford ever. This car started the factory built race car program that resulted in the FR500C, FR500C-GT3, FR500S, numerous FR500CJ's, Boss 302R, Boss 302S, FP350S, GT4 and a few others.
I'm honored to be the caretaker of this piece of history........
This car was one of 2 FR500C's which Ford had Multimatic campaign in 2005 in Grand-Am
The car was piloted mainly by Scott Maxwell and David Embringham and won 5 races over the season leading up the team winning the “triple-crown” (Driver, Manufacturer & Team) Grand-Am championships in 2005.
It was also featured in the Documentary "Extreme Mustang, Back to the Track" which highlighted Fords return to US factory backed production based road racing after leaving in 1970.
After the 2005 season the car was never raced again but was brought out once in 2006 for a Ford testing day. After that it was put on long term loan to Multimatic to display in their Livonia facility and I believe it made a showing at Kart2Kart for a couple of months as well before ending up in a warehouse for long term storage.
As with many Ford assets it was decided to take it off the books and Ford sold it through a sealed big process which I was lucky enough to submit the winning bid on the car a few months ago. After a few months of paperwork I was able to take delivery of the car earlier this week!
The car is a time capsule and it just how it came off the track after winning the championship except the wheels/tires were changed and the passenger side mirror was replaced as it was knocked off during its last race. As you can tell the car is in great shape but will need a little freshening up before hitting the track again. The fuel cell will need to be replaced (no surprise there) and then a complete inspection of the car will be performed before it heads out on track for a shake down run. This is also one of the few FR500C's that didn't incur significant body damage or was rebodied which is a major plus!
My perseverance paid off with the acquisition on what I would consider to be one of the most significant road race Mustangs to come out of Ford ever. This car started the factory built race car program that resulted in the FR500C, FR500C-GT3, FR500S, numerous FR500CJ's, Boss 302R, Boss 302S, FP350S, GT4 and a few others.
I'm honored to be the caretaker of this piece of history........