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Thread: Ten Years of FFR GTM

  1. #1
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    Ten Years of FFR GTM

    I have collectively owned a GTM for ten years now. Most likely the most expensive one ever built while being the least expensive. My wife built one of the first completed way back. I, i am still building mine. I haven't been on the forum for a few years so I thought I would chime in to those old timers and welcome the more recent owners of a component car that is second to none! This journey of owning a GTM can not be scripted or taken for granted by any stretch of the imagination. Through the years, I have read stories of excitement and the agony of defeat and disappointment. I say to myself, "maybe this car was not for you." It isn't for everybody. It is not what I would say an advanced kit or even say as some has, "nothing fits well and I have to fix most everything." This kit through the years, I have concluded that it is an attainable super/exotic car and like most exotic cars, they are hand built. The base line, I think, is lost in the expressed frustration is none other that the realization of the automotive and challenge of constructing such a machine, if you will. I have read about builders here that go through such a discovery that excites even the most timid of car enthusiasts. That is what this car is about. It is about the challenge, the imagination, the journey, and most of all, a bonding of people around the world which is a total understatement.

    Ten years ago, I would consider myself as just a normal car enthusiast with no real expertise in car construction. I changed a few motors and the usual starters and alternators, but nothing that would really prepare me for this incredible journey that was about to take place! The knowledge of fiberglass, electrical, geometry, paint and body, fabrication, to say the least. It has changed my outlook on how to solve many problems on the car and in life. This kit as repeated about a million times, "It is a blank canvas and stroke it as you imagine it." The rediscovery of patience and facing its challenges. It is "the perfect platform." This car does cost money to build. Many builders seem to be in a sense of denial when it comes to this topic. You can build one economical or lose sight of a written plan or budget. I have not one disappointing adventure building or driving this beautiful interpretation of an automotive dream come true. I would say to those that appear to hit some sort of road block to step back, be patient, and re-evaluate your ultimate goal with your one of a kind work of art! Then dig in and continue this journey like no other!

    to be continued......

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  3. #2
    Senior Member Presto51's Avatar
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    Well said, and greatly appreciated to hear.

    Please don't be a stranger around these parts, and post often, we can all use, and need the fresh air

    Ron
    "May you be in heaven a full half hour before the Devil knows you're dead"

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    Senior Member beeman's Avatar
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    I agree as well. Was your wife a forum member (very few women on here over the years)? Do you have any pictures of your cars?
    MK3.1 2004 Mach 1 donor. ABS, PS, TC.
    GTM #304 LPE 525hp LS3
    2000 C5 Lingenfelter LS1@489hp
    1999 Corvette FRC/Z06 track car

  6. #4
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    I think this guy has built something on the order of a dozen FFR cars.
    www.myraceshop.com

    GTM solution kits
    Corvette and Race parts

  7. #5
    Senior Member beeman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by crash View Post
    I think this guy has built something on the order of a dozen FFR cars.
    Ah, Richard (and Yvonne). GTM pioneers.
    MK3.1 2004 Mach 1 donor. ABS, PS, TC.
    GTM #304 LPE 525hp LS3
    2000 C5 Lingenfelter LS1@489hp
    1999 Corvette FRC/Z06 track car

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    Next installment......

    There is nothing or anything in the automotive world that I have ever witnessed as such a car created "has a mind of its own!" Except Christine. Going beyond the occasional car show, cruise night or local get together, this car is so different and there are locally few to be seen. My wife's car gave us that weekend destination craving to "get out of Dodge" a couple times a month and leave the work world for a moment. She was so proud when we drove up through the mother lode, stopped at a little restaurant for an evening dinner and the owner runs out to stop us and demanded the owner of the BMW parked in front shall move to allow her to park in front of his establishment. How COOL is that! I have met billionaires, millionaires, pilots, lawyers (mob type, no offense to Italians), stunt drivers, and all sorts of business owners that quickly became a part of this car! While reflecting the last decade of this car being a part of our family, over 400 people have crossed my path to enjoy this journey that was created by a small vision of Dave and Mark Smith. I thought about investing my time in a classic or vintage car, but now I found out that it is not the same as owning a GTM. A word from the wise: Be proud of what you build. Building a car like this in your garage comes with great responsibilities. YOU BET IT DOES!

    The people you meet and the inquiries are beyond anyone's dream, trust me on this one! When you get a call from another country and the gentleman on the other end says he likes your car and wants to drive it! What do you do? Of course! I let him drive it! All that day I could not get him out of the car! Three years later we are very good friends. This is what this car is. This car has changed my life to the effect of job offerings and other perks along the way. I will attempt to share some of these stories on the forum as I believe it is important to the people here that there is a great solution to the quirks that arise in building such a life changing project in the comfort of your own home.

    One more story. NA........maybe next time....
    Last edited by Cobra 61; 12-10-2018 at 09:58 PM.

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    continued

    I know a classic or vintage muscle car or the likes are not in the same class as I found out a few years later. For the past ten years, people have sent me over 100 CD's of GTM car pictures. The impression and attention your creation gets is actually beyond comprehension to any other I have experienced. Just this last outing with my GTM, over 5,000 pictures were taken! A majority of them passersby, but the professional photography is beyond description. Then finding your car on 50 other websites and businesses! Not only photos, but the other stuff. Walking through Walmart a couple years ago in the electronics dept. as I walked by...a screen caught my eye! A double/triple take was necessary as I witnessed a FORZA 6 game demonstrated and saw my GTM racing on the screen! How cool is that! Building a GTM will change your life! This is an honest car with no misleading promises. except I didn't make it what I want, it made me make it what it wanted! At times I felt like a slave to this car as it became routine and the journey kind of plateaued. Then came a new adventure and a new direction! That's for next as the journey continues!

    My wife's car was built right out of the manual and she drove it for 6 years and sold it. It had its flaws and such, but her focus was right in a lot of ways. She built it to drive every day, go to the mall without worrying about the paint or to work with no worries and that is what she got. It was not a trophy car but one to enjoy at the under 40k experience and took her 8 months to put it on the road. With this car, you have to know "when to lift the pencil."

  11. #8
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    I'm really liking how this post started and where it is going. Being a relative newbie in the GTM world, I was just reminded by Facebook a couple days ago what my suspension originally looked like a year ago, its refreshing to hear stories like this, as this is what I truly imagine my GTM experience will be when completed.

    I find myself day dreaming so to speak late into the evenings of what she will look like when completed, how she will perform on the track, and what shows she will attend. A few key events always return to my imagination. I'll share a couple then get back to work.

    As some of you know, I currently work for Pratt & Whitney in West Palm Beach FL and started my career as an Aerospace Engineer with a short stint in the US Army as an Ordnance Officer. Each year in CT, Pratt has a car show for employees to show off their pride and joy. Upon completion of Shoeless GTM, she will be loaded up, hauled all the way up the east coast and put on display for like minded enthusiasts and employees to see. I may be making a little prediction, but I'm guessing she will take home top honors.

    The second hits a little closer to home. My wife is not fond of cars like this. Super low, fast, obnoxious (in her works LOL), but I love every bit of it. In order to get her in the car and take her out on the first date, I have agreed to purchase a tux and take her to the Breakers in Palm Beach. Not a cheap outing, but I see it as a fitting debut to the world of Shoeless GTM. What she doesn't know is I will likely fit in a professional photo shoot along the way.

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  13. #9
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    If you are willing to open the doors to your garage to those that are curious, you will find the generosity of help, knowledge, and jokesters that magically appear! The early years when the word got out to the locals and I can also mention people from as far away as 200 miles would assemble on a Saturday morning working into the evening building parts and stories of every spectrum of automotive engineering. " Looking at the red FFR cobra in my wife's garage, I can't remember one weekend where I didn't hear, "I had a neighbor that had an original one." Three to five energetic enthusiasts would show up and contribute to this project. I don't know if it was the car or my wife's lunch and dinner for those that stayed for the evening. Soon the Saturdays became the "GTM DOG and PONY Show." 10 year olds to 75 year olds had some contribution to this adventure. I dabbled in some circle track racing in the 90's, "but I wasn't very good at it." As the project progressed and near completion, our first official race was the 2007 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Were noticed! The project begin to attract winners of all levels of local types of racing. I found myself surrounded by "winners". This is when the unexpected historical pathway to racing success and admiration no one could have ever imagined.

    Sorry have to go to fun no

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    Now it's prep time for an hour and have no class...

    Entering what could be the most amazing historical journey no one could have scripted in a lifetime! Even the best of sports authors couldn't write or make this up!

    The team as we will call it, but really a bunch of volunteers that dig this car, were getting somewhat bored and so was I. We were feeling that the GTM was not living up to the hard work and all that contributed. A couple years prior, I met Mike Holland on the internet, (not on a 900 chat line), but here on this forum. Preparing for another stab at the 25 hour race, we felt a need for a pro driver. "What pro driver would ever want to take the time to drive a garage built race car? A few calls were made and Mike got a commitment from a pro driver! I was so excited and called my friends and all that was involved at the time. I told my wife, "guess what! Mike found us a pro driver this year to try to beat the other pro teams!" This was the beginning of a long list of amazing drivers that have sat in the seat and "we couldn't get them out! While I did not recognize the name and then got schooled by Mike yelling through the phone for about 4 minutes. She turned to me and with some OK who look on her face, "Elliot Forbes-Robinson" "Who is that, she said. I really don't know but he's a pro driver, google him...She did and replied, "that guy is 70 years old, he'll have a heart attack in our car!" Na..those are pictures of his dad i responded. This guy was the funnest and most inspirational gentleman I have ever met. Totally a class act and a great driver too boot, until my mom came up tome and told me that he pinched her butt! "what did you do mom?" I"I told him I was single" That's mom's for you. While didn't have the outcome we intended, it was another jolt of to energize the volunteers for another season. He kept in touch the following year and followed our success. I just not really grasp for some time what had happened and that a legendary, hall of fame driver would come from North Carolina to drive the GTM in the 25 hour race. We finished 8th in class and 19th overall. This opened the door for a ride that is beyond logic in a sense of, "You can't do that, it just doesn't work that way." Alright, I will admit that it had to be a fluke of some sort. Thinking about the next season and what will this car ask me to do. One night alone in the garage, it spoke to me that it wanted more pro drivers. The car had performed in ways that we didn't know it could do. The GTM got to the point of success, finishing races and winning! The bowling trophies started adding up pretty quick! A few years had passed and found this car is really something shout about! Doing some research, I could not find any other "Kit car" that has performed as successfully in road racing as the Factory Five GTM. We had passed that level of, "oh it's a kit car" to the most threatening car on the track. One year I ran out of money to paint the car and had to rely on house paint from Home Depot. Participating in over 146 races, the GTM has only retired/DNF 9 times, not counting the two during an 11 year run in the 25. Now that we have established a "Heritage of this incredible machine, it is the most performing component car you can personally build! Frequently, I ask myself how this ever happened. And occasionally, I must thank Factory Five for offering such a platform. I was going to stop racing this year as I thought the car had enough and the history books on kit cars have been rewritten and now deserve the respect it demands, but NOOOOOOOOOOO! It wanted to go again and raced off to yet another WERC championship! I thought of composing a partial list of drivers and some other interesting stuff for now.

    drivers (pro)
    Elliott Forbes-Robinson GTP, Nascar, 3rd GTO Lemans with Paul Newman
    Paul Edwards Grand Am champion, runner up to Sebastian Vettle for Formula 1 Red bull team Daytona prototype
    Steve Lisa Ferrari GT series in Europe Mazda factory driver
    Maxx Hyatt 3 Daytona 24 races
    Tim Barber USAC sprint car champion
    Steve Zadic TRG Porsche Daytona 24
    Davy Jones winner 24 de lemans GTP Jaguar, BMW, Indy car, Nascar
    Ken Dobson James Glickenhauss driver, developer Daytona 24 GERMANY
    Carl Rydquist Formula drift, 24 norburgring podium finish in a Porsche Swedish endurance champion SWEDEN
    Last edited by Cobra 61; 12-11-2018 at 05:44 PM.

  16. #11
    Senior Member beeman's Avatar
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    That's awesome, Richard.
    What a great car. What car can offer what you have achieved from it for this price point. Not to mention the reliability of GM components. There are other options out there, but what kind of money and waiting period when you tweak a control arm?
    I didn't know you had a Glickenhaus driver...He would understand your passion and the work it takes to build something amazing in your own shop.
    You talk about retiring the car which makes me a little sad...
    MK3.1 2004 Mach 1 donor. ABS, PS, TC.
    GTM #304 LPE 525hp LS3
    2000 C5 Lingenfelter LS1@489hp
    1999 Corvette FRC/Z06 track car

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    Not this year as Yvonne has been reawakened and discovered this car and its own personal environment!
    Last edited by Cobra 61; 12-16-2018 at 11:50 AM.

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    Here are some historical racing results

    25 hour race: class overall
    2007 15 55 checker
    2008 2 10 checker
    2009 10 35 gearbox?retire
    2010 4 54 crash/retire
    2011 4 4 checker
    2012 7 19 checker
    2013 16 66 FIRE/checker
    2014 11 37 checker
    2015 3 3 checker
    2016 8 27 checker
    2017 3 5 checker
    2018 2 3 checker

    more stuff

    2009 nasa werc champion
    2009 super unl. champion
    2009 SCCA SP 2nd
    2010 werc 2nd
    2011 werc 4th
    2012 no race
    2013 werc champion
    2013 SU champion
    2014 werc champion
    2014 SU 4th
    2015 USTCC champion
    2015 werc champion
    2016 werc 2nd
    2017 USTCC champion
    2018 werc champion

  20. #14
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    2013 was a great year that end ed tragically for the GTM. While the team and drivers won 10 0f 15 races and won 100% of the endurance races that year and score an overall win at Miller Motorsports park 6 hour event, while scoring podium finishes in the Super Unlimited class winning both championships Now time for the 25 hours of Thunderhill with Davy Jones, Paul Edwards, Mike Holland, and Steve Zadig behind the wheel! The car was perfect in every way!

    A MUST read: The damn true experiment This is a blog that the story appeared on and it tells all about the team and the spirit and the love of the sport and the GTM! Please read, YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!

    the damn true experiment: To Hell and back for a two dollar part
    Last edited by Cobra 61; 12-12-2018 at 10:07 AM.

  21. #15
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    Life after 2018...

    The 25 Hours of Thunderhill race, for those that aren't familiar is a race where amateur teams have an opportunity to compete with national and world teams and drivers. That's the fun part and the challenge of beating them in a low budget garage built car. The race doesn't pay any cash purse, but the experience is priceless! Definitely a "bucket list" experience for everyone! Success has its benefits! I found early on that image is everything when presenting yourself at any level of competition. The evolution played an important part of our success. While I committed to this project, I was paying close attention to goals in moderation. Exactly like building the GTM. I din't buy everything at once, I didn't buy the best or most expensive parts. Kind of scaffolding a plan of function durability and affordability. The upgrades and performance increased as people who knew people who wanted to be a part of this project begin to provide the necessary parts to make the car better and better!

    The finish of our 25 hour race yielded more great friendships and possibilities that just could not be scripted our planned! We were offered a full transporter to travel to any racing venues in the western United States. matching Uniforms for all the drivers .
    (firesuites). A better tire deal than last year!, and the opportunity to help develop an new paddle shift 6 speed gearbox for mid engine street and track competition. One of the most memorable thins that happened was I met a gentleman that was once a pro driver in Europe that was walking in the paddock admiring the GTM. Older gentleman, said he drove a car similar to the GTM and I let him sit in the car. He told me of his huge career and stories of participating in the 24 hours of Le mans seven times. I met pro drivers and Le Mans participants before, but one of 7 times? "How did you accomplish such a feat?" He drove for team Renault. He admired the car and I could see it made his weekend as he told stories of endurance racing in Europe. This is what this car is all about! You just don't know, but to be the recipient of positive goodwill. It is so fulfilling talking about this car as it has so much to offer for every walk of life. YOU JUST DON"T KNOW. What else could be a better experience than owning a GTM? To finish the weekend, Another Pro driver from Holland is interested in joining the adventure of driving this incredible car! Is this some kind of dream I am experiencing as I vision a team to field in Utah of Mike Holland USA, Carl Rydquist, SWEDEN, and Danny van Dongen, HOLLAND (no relation to Mike)! Involved principle, (Yvonne, USA) has negotiated a mew LS7 to attempt to dethrone the 5 time winner, Flying Lizard. I am hoping for 2019 to be a double championship year for the team and looking into never before attempt to haul the team to Canada for an endurance event! Canada?, Yes, the car told me so!

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  23. #16
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    Richard-

    I hope you don't mind, but I thought I would provide a link to the story you mentioned earlier. Here is a link to the story:

    http://thedamntrueexperiment.blogspo...or-2-part.html

    I have long admired what Richard and Yvonne have been able to accomplish with their terrific machine! I also appreciate the stories that Richard has started sharing about a small fraction of what they have done. If I can accomplish 1/100th of what they have, I will be immensely satisfied.

    Here's wishing you and Yvonne nothing but success (and safety) long into the future! All the best.

    Regards,

    Steve

  24. #17
    Senior Member beeman's Avatar
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    Great stuff, Richard! Keep it coming! Your enthusiasm is contagious!
    MK3.1 2004 Mach 1 donor. ABS, PS, TC.
    GTM #304 LPE 525hp LS3
    2000 C5 Lingenfelter LS1@489hp
    1999 Corvette FRC/Z06 track car

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    What an amazing read, thanks for sharing Steve.

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