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This Ford GT Has $100,000 Mystichrome Paint, Looks Like a Chameleon

No, the title above doesn't suggest the one-off Ford GT we have here comes dressed in chameleon paint. That would be plain wrong, since the supercar actually features a Mystichrome finish.
Ford GT Has $100,000 Mystichrome Paint 4 photos
Photo: jchwa/Instagram
This Ford GT Has $100,000 Mystichrome PaintThis Ford GT Has $100,000 Mystichrome PaintThis Ford GT Has $100,000 Mystichrome Paint
We're looking at one of the commercial names (another one is Chromaflair) for a pigment used in paint. This involves tiny 1mm-thick synthetic flakes that play the role of a refracting prism, thus changing the way in which we perceive the color of the said paint (think of how you see the rainbow when you come across an oil slick).

Apparently, Ford was the first to feature such a finish on a production vehicle back in 1996, using this on a Mustang Cobra. The shade was once again used in 2004 on another Cobra, this time to celebrate the 40th birthday of the 'Stang.

Well, tech entrepreneur Justin Choi has now convinced the Blue Oval to retrieve this shade from the vault, so he can use it on his GT, following a suggestion from a friend.

And since the aficionado paid $100,000 for the Mystichrome finish of his supercar, Ford can guarantee no other GT owner will finish his machine in this hue.

As the owner explains in the first Instagram post below, the renders for this project were made by Nicolas Proulx, a digital artist whose work we published on many occasions.

Fun fact: the Mystichrome name comes from Allan Eggly, who led Ford's paint and trim efforts back in the day, but the man now helms the same department over at Multimatic, the Canadian partner who helps Ford build the GT.

Oh, and don't forget to scroll down once you consume the Insta posts below, there's a little surprise waiting for you.



 
 
 
 
 
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Here it is- the Mystichrome Ford GT, a color commissioned specially for Ford. Ford was the first to use a chromaflair paint on a production car back in 1996 (originally called Mystic). The color was changed in 2004 to help commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Mustang. The new name Mystichrome was chosen by Allan Eggly- he was inspired by the multichromatic tint that appears on chrome headers when they get hot. Allan was the national head of Ford’s paint and trim at the time- who now happens to do lead paint and finish at Multimatic. I was unaware of the color until it was suggested by a friend. I had @fmpnick create renders. It was tricky but he did a great job of capturing the effect. Submitting the renders and paint request to Ford- I wasn’t set yet on the color but multiple people including the head of Ford GT program let me know how excited they were about this color. Knowing it meant something to them locked it in for me. The complexity of the paint selection meant a few extra months before the car went into production but it was worth it. The camera amplifies the effect- the shifts are more subtle in person and is amazing to look at various angles. The Ford GT, already stunning, is just that extra bit of special. Photos: @laocexotics @joshleap.s #MystichromeGT #Mystichrome #FordGT #NewFordGT #FordPerformance

A post shared by Justin Choi (@jchwa) on Jul 30, 2019 at 12:11pm PDT



Oh, and if you think that adding $100,000 to the $500,000 price of this car was the craziest thing somebody ever did using the Chromaflair pigment, you're wrong.

That title probably goes to a man called Arthur J. Williams Jr., who stamped green-silver Chromaflair paint onto counterfeit bills to replace the hue-changing ink on the 1996 $100 bill, one of the safety elements that was thought to make the said bill impossible to replicate.

$10 million in fake money later, Arthur found himself behind bars, serving six and a half years.

Want to hear something that's even more cuckoo? The man has subsequently reinvented himself as a legit artist, relying on the same techniques that had landed him in jail. And you can check out a sample of his pop art contribution below (yes, this is his Facebook account).

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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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