As you’ll recall, when Ford was getting ready to introduce its brand-new GT supercar, the automaker made the rather out-of-character decision to require applications from prospective buyers, selecting just 500 of the more-than-6,000 individuals who applied to purchase examples from the first two years of production. Their criteria included things like notability and social influence.
On the surface, then, financier and film writer/director/producer James Glickenhaus seems like he ought to have been a shoe-in. He’s one of the most notable names worldwide in car collector circles, with a fleet that includes the world’s only Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina, and a 1967 Ford GT40 Mk. IV.
Indeed, a shoe-in he might have been – had he bothered to apply.
“I was so busy racing I never sent in an application,” Glickenhaus remarked, according to Road & Track. “They got over 7000* applications for 500 cars.” (*The actual number of completed applications totaled 6,506, according to Ford.)
Road & Track compiled a list of some other notable individuals who did apply to own the new Ford GT, and whether they’d been accepted or denied. On the “accepted” side are names like record producer/DJ Deadmau5, singer/songwriter Amy MacDonald, former MLB pitcher C.J. Wilson, retired racing driver Dario Franchitti, and YouTube celebrities like Brooks (Dragtimes) and Shmee150. TV legend Jay Leno, entrepreneur Andy Frisella, and tuners Jack Roush and John Hennessey have also been approved, and as we learned just today, so has McLaren Executive Director Zak Brown (not the country musician).
Some of the applicants that have been denied are somewhat puzzling, however. They include YouTubers Rob Ferretti (Super Speeders) and Salomondrin – each of whom has fewer YouTube subscribers than Schmee150, but many times more than Dragtimes.
Alas, some questions must go unanswered.
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