Congratulations to @SnakeCollector for being FordGT500’s September 2021 ROTM! Here is his story and sexy Ford Performance Blue 2020!
Awesome being picked as the ROTM this month – big thanks to Tim for this great online community!
My story begins in Finland where I was born. I grew up going to the monthly cruise-ins around the capital city, Helsinki. Contrary to what one may think, American cars have been a popular hobby in northern Europe (Finland and Sweden in particular) for several decades now. It is not uncommon to see cars that are exceedingly rare even by U.S. standards. Many nights were spent watching various muscle cars duke it out on the streets of Helsinki. Entire blocks would at times be engulfed in tire smoke from burnouts! By the time I turned eighteen and was able to get my license, I knew something with a big V8 would be the only way to go. I ended up getting a 1990 Chevrolet 454 SS sport truck as my first vehicle. Achieving a mighty 7-8 mpg, it was a great choice with gas prices hovering around the $8 per gallon mark at the time…
Due to my background of having gone through an American school as a kid, I ended up moving to the U.S. to begin my university studies. Fast forward to six years later, I was back in a situation where I could resume my car hobby. I ended up buying a 2007 Dodge Magnum SRT8 with the 6.1 Hemi. Even though the factory 425hp felt quite peppy at first, I quickly got used to the power and ended up bolting on a Vortech V-3 Si-Trim centrifugal supercharger. The car put down 502 rwhp at only 5.5 psi and was an awesome sleeper. Many a Vette was left wondering what the heck that black Dodge wagon was!
All through college I had been drooling over the newly introduced 2003 Mustang SVT Cobra. I looked around for a long time and finally found one that was a bit of a unicorn: a black ’03 with Parchment interior, only 12k miles on the clock and the factory pulley cover still installed! The car didn’t stay stock for too long and finally settled into a ~500rwhp reliable cruiser. To this day the Terminator is the one car I still regret selling. It was a fantastic, reliable, fun car.
Sticking with the reptile theme, next up was a 2008 Dodge Viper SRT-10. I had been a Viper fan since a very young age. The car had full bolt-ons including Belanger long tube headers bolted on to (essentially) straight pipes. Needless to say: you could hear the V-10 snarl of the Viper bellowing from the side pipes really far away. The car gave a new meaning to ‘race car for the street’ as the only thing keeping the 700 crank horsepower in check were anti-lock brakes and your right foot. No traction control, stability control or any other ‘nannies’ here!
As much fun as the Viper was, after 6 years I had started longing for a more boost-friendly platform with easily accessible horsepower, much like the Terminator was. I had started hearing things about an upcoming GT500. At the time there were only rumors about it having an unusual transmission. To be frank, once it became public that it would only be available with a DCT I was a little hesitant coming from a manual trans background. As soon as the performance potential of the platform started becoming obvious, I started my hunt. It took several months of hunting for the right spec until I finally found one several states away in Louisiana. I had found a base handling package GT500 in Ford Performance Blue, white vinyl stripes, Recaros, carbon dash as well as the technology package.
After agreeing on the details, off I was on a flight to go look at the car in person. Once I was able to sit behind the wheel and take the car out for a little spin it only took a few minutes to realize what all the fuss about the DCT was about. It was incredible.
After taking delivery the car was immediately dropped off at Auto Paint Guard / Presidential Automotive Detailing in Tampa. The car received a full paint correction, XPEL PPF and was topped off with a GTechniq Crystal Serum Ultra 9-year ceramic along with a hydrophobic EXOv4 coating. Their work is well known around the country, and it really made the color pop even more!
I happily clicked off the break-in miles getting used to the car and everything it has to offer. While getting my first oil change, I decided to also install a JLT CAI as well as a Lethal Performance resonator delete x-pipe.
Next up was something I had already been planning on for a while: a nice set of custom forged wheels. I had exchanged several e-mails with Terrance from Signature Wheels, and we agreed on a set of SV108s in Brushed Bronze Tinted cut in the super deep concave fitment. They turned out exactly as I had envisioned and, in my opinion, give the car the aggression it was lacking with the base wheels. At the time of receiving the wheels they were the only set in the world in this spec.
Currently, I find myself flip-flopping between going with one of the simple CARB legal packages from VMP or perhaps waiting a little longer to step up to the newly introduced Whipple 3.8! Either way, this is the part of the hobby I personally enjoy the most: seeing all the excitement in the GT500 community including the aftermarket companies and owners themselves. The car has so much potential and is truly something very special. That is what will keep the car fun and interesting for years to come.
Awesome being picked as the ROTM this month – big thanks to Tim for this great online community!
My story begins in Finland where I was born. I grew up going to the monthly cruise-ins around the capital city, Helsinki. Contrary to what one may think, American cars have been a popular hobby in northern Europe (Finland and Sweden in particular) for several decades now. It is not uncommon to see cars that are exceedingly rare even by U.S. standards. Many nights were spent watching various muscle cars duke it out on the streets of Helsinki. Entire blocks would at times be engulfed in tire smoke from burnouts! By the time I turned eighteen and was able to get my license, I knew something with a big V8 would be the only way to go. I ended up getting a 1990 Chevrolet 454 SS sport truck as my first vehicle. Achieving a mighty 7-8 mpg, it was a great choice with gas prices hovering around the $8 per gallon mark at the time…
Due to my background of having gone through an American school as a kid, I ended up moving to the U.S. to begin my university studies. Fast forward to six years later, I was back in a situation where I could resume my car hobby. I ended up buying a 2007 Dodge Magnum SRT8 with the 6.1 Hemi. Even though the factory 425hp felt quite peppy at first, I quickly got used to the power and ended up bolting on a Vortech V-3 Si-Trim centrifugal supercharger. The car put down 502 rwhp at only 5.5 psi and was an awesome sleeper. Many a Vette was left wondering what the heck that black Dodge wagon was!
All through college I had been drooling over the newly introduced 2003 Mustang SVT Cobra. I looked around for a long time and finally found one that was a bit of a unicorn: a black ’03 with Parchment interior, only 12k miles on the clock and the factory pulley cover still installed! The car didn’t stay stock for too long and finally settled into a ~500rwhp reliable cruiser. To this day the Terminator is the one car I still regret selling. It was a fantastic, reliable, fun car.
Sticking with the reptile theme, next up was a 2008 Dodge Viper SRT-10. I had been a Viper fan since a very young age. The car had full bolt-ons including Belanger long tube headers bolted on to (essentially) straight pipes. Needless to say: you could hear the V-10 snarl of the Viper bellowing from the side pipes really far away. The car gave a new meaning to ‘race car for the street’ as the only thing keeping the 700 crank horsepower in check were anti-lock brakes and your right foot. No traction control, stability control or any other ‘nannies’ here!
As much fun as the Viper was, after 6 years I had started longing for a more boost-friendly platform with easily accessible horsepower, much like the Terminator was. I had started hearing things about an upcoming GT500. At the time there were only rumors about it having an unusual transmission. To be frank, once it became public that it would only be available with a DCT I was a little hesitant coming from a manual trans background. As soon as the performance potential of the platform started becoming obvious, I started my hunt. It took several months of hunting for the right spec until I finally found one several states away in Louisiana. I had found a base handling package GT500 in Ford Performance Blue, white vinyl stripes, Recaros, carbon dash as well as the technology package.
After agreeing on the details, off I was on a flight to go look at the car in person. Once I was able to sit behind the wheel and take the car out for a little spin it only took a few minutes to realize what all the fuss about the DCT was about. It was incredible.
After taking delivery the car was immediately dropped off at Auto Paint Guard / Presidential Automotive Detailing in Tampa. The car received a full paint correction, XPEL PPF and was topped off with a GTechniq Crystal Serum Ultra 9-year ceramic along with a hydrophobic EXOv4 coating. Their work is well known around the country, and it really made the color pop even more!
I happily clicked off the break-in miles getting used to the car and everything it has to offer. While getting my first oil change, I decided to also install a JLT CAI as well as a Lethal Performance resonator delete x-pipe.
Next up was something I had already been planning on for a while: a nice set of custom forged wheels. I had exchanged several e-mails with Terrance from Signature Wheels, and we agreed on a set of SV108s in Brushed Bronze Tinted cut in the super deep concave fitment. They turned out exactly as I had envisioned and, in my opinion, give the car the aggression it was lacking with the base wheels. At the time of receiving the wheels they were the only set in the world in this spec.
Currently, I find myself flip-flopping between going with one of the simple CARB legal packages from VMP or perhaps waiting a little longer to step up to the newly introduced Whipple 3.8! Either way, this is the part of the hobby I personally enjoy the most: seeing all the excitement in the GT500 community including the aftermarket companies and owners themselves. The car has so much potential and is truly something very special. That is what will keep the car fun and interesting for years to come.