Gallardo is exotic but, depreciates, is expensive to fix, attracts wrong kind of attention and is claustraphobic. I have two friends that were in love with them when they got them but both have tired of them and they are for sale.

 

Have the same problem in the V8V as well. In fact, yesterday a guy almost ran me off the road. He was so busy holding up his camera phone over his shoulder while driving that he didn't realize he was drifting into my lane as the road started to curve.

It must be related to the moon phases. Sometimes my car seems to go completely unnoticed and then other times I feel like I'm being chased down by the paparazzi.

 

I actually find my car creates a small crime wave when I drive it anywhere people can speed. Every guy with a chip on his shoulder needs to prove he can drive faster than me. Guys in infiniti's and burnt out econo boxes seem to be the worst.

Why do they need to drive faster?? What exactly are they proving beyond the fact that we have some self control??

I no longer care about the attention anymore. The thumbs up and photos are nice, the rest of it is just "water off a ducks back".

 

I hear you about the cars being VERY different. Almost polar opposites.

The Aston is timeless, but a little conservative. It is both modern and traditional. There is a subtlety to everything. Each detail is a small gesture and the cars presence is the culmination of them all.

It is a car for those with decerning tastes. If it was a woman, she would have a perfect black dress on and could greet anyone with grace, yet still be a little dangerous.

I love the sound, the look, the interior, the dynamics, the image, the feeling, the size.

The FGT is almost non of those things. It is OF A TIME, there is a retro feel that makes it permisable. Sort of like the blues, of 'A TIME', but perfect for all times. Honest and blunt.

I like that it makes no effort to conceal how ridiculous a car with that amount of power is on the street. It's intentions are obvious and it rejects polite society. It is embracing our childhood. That's not to say it lacks grace, I think it is a sophisticated a design language as the Vantage. Like the Vantage it will look awesome 100 years from now.

If it was a woman, the clothes would be tighter, the dress shorter, more Selma Hayek.

I have considered it because I have the SC Range Rover for the days I want style, luxury and utility.

The TT RS is an everyday car that provides stellar speed (0-60 in 4.1), a buzzy engine note, AWD, a comfortable interior, invisibility.

The FGT is unlike all these. It is an event, a line in the sand between the car guys and everyone else (Jeeps make a similar statement, you get it, or you don't). It has more danger, but I'm also hoping it is more viceral, less normal, slightly harder to live with. Almost a motorcycle for car guys.

As alluring as the FGT sounds, the Aston really tugs at my heart. It's is just soooo good.

Make sense?

 

Two things:

1) You have the soul of a poet.

2) You have already bought the car. Maybe the money hasn't actually changed hands yet. But the deal is done. Go for it. If we ever meet up around town, I'd like dibs on a ride.

 

If it's a good price and from people you trust, buy it. Prices have been going up for years, very rare, very classic. Does your Vantage feel slower then the TT-RS?

 

The TTRS is faster than the Vantage, but the AMV8 is more epic and linear.

The FGT is a good price but they are really low balling me on my car. Games are not cool at all.

 

Maybe that's why they've got the GT for such a good price . But honestly who likes dealing with car salemen? There are a couple on autotrader. Is it in Hamiton? Or at Motion Endeavours?

 

BP: I agree with your assement of the two cars. As I said they are two completely different cars. If the price is right on the GT and it has been properly maintained then you will love taking it for the occasional blast on good roads. Thats really all the GT is good for. You can't take it to dinner shopping etc. It is like a special event car. I love mine and its a keeper but, I only drive it about 1,000 miles a year because of its limited usefulness. You obvioulsly have the GT bug so buy it if they don't rape you on the Aston. However, if you trade off the Aston you will miss it in time. The upside is that you will probably be able to find a used 09 or 10 Vantage in a year or two pretty cheap. So you can buy back in. Life is short drive what you like.

 

qft.

 

I went out and drove the Ford GT today. Here are my first impressions:

When I walked up to the GT I was immediately struck by its presence. It does not look like a normal car. It's not pretty like the Aston, but out in the real world it is exotic.

The ducting at the front, fantastic.
The hidden door handles, McLaren on the cheap
The clam shell, my favorite part
The big stripes, awesome and also too much
The even bigger tires
The low wide stance

Anyway, it is a striking car.

I climb inside. The doors are awkward, but awesome. Likely less bothersome than doors on the SLS. I'm under 6ft so I can get in and out without issues. Closing the door, I still had to watch my head.

The cabin is NOT an Aston cabin. I wasn't sure about it, but it works really well. A few of the materials feel really cheap (the cool toggles are ruined by poor materials). The thing is, once you start driving none of that matters. The cabin works great, the big dials and the parking brake are in the wrong place and fantastic for it. It has some of the idiosyncrasies that make the Aston unique.

Even though the car is much lower than the Aston, you dont feel as sunken once perched in your seat. Out the front you can easily see the hump of each wheel. That's a good thing because it's wide.

You can't see much out the back, but I was able to back it into a normal size parking space. Going forward it was only marginally worse than the Aston, but far worse than my TT RS. I found the side mirrors a little small and the rear mirror as useful as any other go fast car, with comprised packaging.

I can say it was completely rattle free. No creaks, nothing. Just solid.

The seats were very comfortable for my short drive. The position was perfect and the pedals felt nice. Much easier to heel toe. Very cool to have your head higher than the roof as you are sitting in the top ofv he door. The console dials worked well. The radio is beyond stupid and the big McIntosh sub is ugly and pointless in a car like this. A colossal mistake.

One odd thing is the intrusion of the A pillar. It bit felt like it was going to hit me in the face. It's the only car where at times, you feel like you are sitting higher than the roof.

The ride was really very good. At no time was it rough. The steering felt very direct, in fact it is not unlike an Aston. The car tracked well on public roads, at times there was a bit of tramlining with those big tires. It did feel very eager and I'm sure it would be awesome at higher more aggressive speeds.

I was not really able to drive the crap out of it but here are some thoughts.
The engine and transmission are wayyyyy too quiet. The sound of my Aston is epic, the tranny fills the cabin with music. But in the big Ford I just heard wind and tire roar. A real let down. Apparently the Ford Racing exhaust can fix that.

The other problem is the character of the motor. It has a big fat power curve and im sure it's killer on the track. There is always power available, ALWAYS. It sounds like a great problem to have, but in the real world that build up to power, the anticipation and sweat of a naterally aspirated crescendo is big grin inducing.

The Ford is a little like the girlfriend that gives you any kind of sex, any time you want. You dont EVER say NO, but I'm pretty sure you eventually miss the challenge.

Anyway, I liked the Ford a lot. It was unlike the Aston and just stupd enough to make driving to work interesting, though strangely not exotic and stupid enough. Perhaps a longer drive, better tires etc were needed.

I parked my Glacier Blue Aston next to the red Ford Gt. A perfect representation of the conservative Aston and the extrovert Ford. Im crouched and ready to take a photo when another car comes by.

The driver shouts out the window "she is so beautiful"
I reply "I know"
He says "I just love the blue"

I tell him i was talking about the Ford GT and was considering trading the Aston in on it.

His reply. "what? You're crazy, look at that!!!! Its James Bond's car!!!"

Perhaps a V12 is a better idea.

 

The Ford GT was the other car on my short list. I ended up with the Vantage simply because my wife and I planned to do a lot of touring, and luggage space in the FGT is a major shortfall. We aren't into buying clean clothes at Walmart and throwing the dirty ones away when we are on a road trip

However, life is to short, and to quote another - "drive what you want"

 

Nice write up penguin. Interesting to hear about the GT as I've never driven one. The V12 is similar in terms of always having power on tap, and that is in no way a problem. In fact, it's one of the things I like most about the car. I recently drove a Ferrari 360. On paper, it's nearly as fast as the V12V but it lacked low-end grunt. While the car was fast as long as you kept it on the boil, it was disappointing after being spoiled by the torque of the V12.

 

^^^ Ferrari v8 in the 360 and 430 lack torque, just not there. they sound amazing and when kept in their power bands work great, real good on track where you can keep the revs up and the engine singing! Of course all that changes with the 458, that car is a masterpiece

 

No offense but the GT40 is in another league. The Vantage is sort of lost in what it should be because the DB9/DBS are what Aston Martin is about now and the GT40 is a supercar. If I was given the GT40 Vs the DBS I'd take the DBS but against a Vantage it's no competition.