Abandoned 2005 Ford GT Looks Like a Mousetrap, It Needed Four Washes To Look Clean

The Ford GT came in 2005 as a tribute to the legendary GT40, which ticked four consecutive victories in the 24 Hour of Le Mans between 1966 and 1969, including a 1-2-3 finish in 1966, and also marked the FoMoCo’s centennial anniversary. Around 4,000 units saw the light of day, which enhanced the exclusivity of the model. Ford was actually planning to build 4,500 of them. But stopped at 4,038, never reaching the original target.

It looked similar to the GT40, but it was longer, wider, and taller than the race car. With its teardrop shape that minimized drag and maximized downforce, a work perfected in the wind tunnel, carbon fiber body, and high-end engineering, the car dropped as the ultimate road machine.

Ford transplanted the aluminum alloy supercharged 5.4-liter modular V8, mated to a Ricardo six-speed manual with helical limited-slip differential, for 550 horsepower (558 PS) and 500 lb-ft (678 Nm) of torque, spinning the rear wheels.

It did 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in 3.3 seconds, needed 12.3 seconds to reach 124 mph (200 kph), did the quarter mile in 11.8 seconds, and hit a top speed of 205 mph (330 kph).

The car was super light. It was super powerful. It was super fast. And it told a story of motor racing. The engineers had not just pushed the envelope. They had torn it up.

The first generation was in production for only two years, in 2005 and 2006. Ford retired the nameplate and resuscitated it in 2017, when the second generation dropped.

But this right here is one of the cars that fell into oblivion. It just sat outside, having to deal with everything the seasons brought over the years, blistering rain, scorching sun, and everything in between. Bought new in October 2005, and eventually abandoned in the driveway, nobody drove it, nobody touched it, after the owner passed away. That explains why the odometer only shows 2,600 miles (2,500 back in June).

Now the former owner’s son wants to give it a new lease of life, a chance to be pampered, to become a garage queen, to be shown in all its glory at cars & coffee events.

Those 2,600 miles on the clock may sound good. But the moment they popped the hood, lid, and doors open, disaster struck. The car showed signs of mouse infestation everywhere. So the leaves deposited in every single little space they could find in this car over the years were nothing compared to what the rats left behind. So this Ford GT is in desperate need of a wash. It is its first in five years.

Everything goes into vacuuming and then power washing, engine bay included. It is a ‘you have to see it to believe it’ kind of situation. It is incredible how much dirt has been residing in this car. The team spent uncounted hours to scrub, unsoil, flush and floss every inch of the car, inside out. Four washes later, with new tires and following filter and oil changes, the car was finally ready to be presented for sale.

But before being listed on Cars & Bids, it ended up in the hands of Doug DeMuro, who took it for a spin with Larry Kosilla from AMMO NYC. He has one himself, but the color scheme of his car is exactly the opposite: white stripes on a blue body.

He is madly in love with the Ford GT. It was a poster car for his generation. He says it is a daily driver for him. That is how he clocked 40,000 miles. But there is something that he still doesn’t understand: why in the world did Ford put holes in the seats? They do replicate the seats of the legendary GT40 and should do some passive venting, but owners don’t exactly feel it happening.

Besides the low mileage, the GT also boasts a clean, accident-free Carfax report. The owner who passed away had paid extra for the MacIntosh stereo and CD player and the blue stripes over the Centennial White. Around 500 cars were made in white in the car’s first year in production and nearly 93% of them were made in white. This one here is one of those.

The model comes with the Ebony interior with black leather. It rides on 18-inch wheels at the front and 19-inch units at the rear.

With six days to go on Cars & Bids, the Ford GT sits at $256,789. And counting.