Some cars are so exotic that even renting one of them for a day is prohibitively expensive for most people. When the 2017 Ford GT comes out later this year, it’ll be priced in the same neighborhood as the Lamborghini Aventador, so it’ll definitely fit that description. In fact, it’ll be so out of reach for most of us that one of the only ways to experience driving it is through hypnosis, the way some of the people at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas did.
Ahem.. Correction: “Experience.”
Comedy hypnotist Marc Savard was at the event to give a few people a chance to drive the Blue Oval beast around a track and down the Las Vegas Strip of their minds. This wasn’t shown in the following video, but, apparently, Savard even convinced one man that the GT has a conventional shifter.
If only someone would’ve found these people beforehand. That person should’ve hypnotized them into a state of awareness that agreeing to be hypnotized into thinking you’re driving a supercar while you’re sitting right next to it is a cruel trick on yourself to take part in.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
