HR871 - The story

[Tomster]

Googling "Tomster" - no address found...yet...

I never said they (the cf wheels) were in the garage at my house.....

It would suck to go through all the trouble of breaking into Ft Knox only to find there is no gold, but only junk.

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[Steve68]

It will be comforting to not let that tranny out of my sight during the trip across the country. I'll get to see it loaded and unloaded during each flight segment. I just need to double check that pallet size ;)

I'll see if I can find a half pallet. I was thinking the other day it's probably best since it's 150+ lbs of metal in a cardboard box, we don't want it coming out the bottom.

 

[stanglife]

Winning ticket number: 29867
Winner's name: Michael Davis of Kentucky

I guess I'll go back to slumming it...with only 1 R. :(

 

[Tomster]

I'll see if I can find a half pallet. I was thinking the other day it's probably best since it's 150+ lbs of metal in a cardboard box, we don't want it coming out the bottom.

That would be great!

I've never run into this problem before and have never measured it myself. I can probably call and get the maximum permitted dimensions. A quick google came up with a door size of 28" x 53", however I don't know if that is the maximum permitted dimensions.

IIRC, the box was 22"w x 20"h x 39"l. The pallet was 42"w x 5"h x 48"l. The length shouldn't be an issue. I see things bigger (longer) than that go in all the time. The height seems ok.

I just called and was advised that the maximum dimensions are a height of 29", a width of 50", and a length of 52". So it appears we are good. However if you have the ability to find and use a smaller pallet, that would be a safer bet.

Thanks Steve!

 

[Donkey]

Some guy in KY won. The ticket number was in the neighborhood of 29800. I was reasonably close, but no cigar

Damn. Haven't seen any around here yet and I'm all over.. oh well even if I do it won't be the same as mine lol. Local dealer in Louisville just sold the identical car for 116k but I doubt it was a local sale.

 

[MustangGT350]

Very excited for you Tom. It would be nice to walk out to the garage and see 2 R's parked there! You have a great plan in place, I agree that the R is a solid car that you can have a ton of fun in and still get most of your investment back (if not more).

I'm not sure what would be worse, searching for about a year and finally landing a deal on an R, or ordering an R and having that anticipation for what, 15 months?

 

[Tomster]

I'm not sure what would be worse, searching for about a year and finally landing a deal on an R, or ordering an R and having that anticipation for what, 15 months?

Thanks! I've done both and neither was fun. Even when I had an order in, I was always still looking and shopping. This was due to the many stories of people ordering an R and either getting screwed or there was no allocation to begin with. About halfway through the wait, I eventually confirmed the allocation was real with the local Ford rep.

The original order for HR871 was a 10k ADM deal with the dealer fee waived (9k equivalent). The market went stale and the prices fell (relatively). Along came a Tripple yellow R for 5k over. It was the subject of a few threads on a few forums. Nobody bought it. I called and about had a telephone deal done. I called my salesman at my dealership and explained the situation..... they offered to match the 5k deal. I let the triple yellow R go.

About a week later, I had a long LA layover and I decided to text the salesman about the fate of the triple yellow R. IT WAS STILL AVAILABLE. I offered MSRP. Denied. Back and forth and we settled on a 2k ADM cash deal to pickup the next day. I mentioned I had a 16 track pack. They offered to buy it. It went back and forth and I held firm at 51K. They still have it and can't get 52.5k out of it..... it's a shame, that is a great car. Oh well.

Since then a document was leaked illustrating Ford's plan to have a short 18 MY and immediately prices shot up again fueled by speculation of the last year of the GT350. I'm not so sure that a short model year necessarily equates to the last model year. Maybe it's just that they are cranking out more R's in MY17 and it is a physical impossibility to produce more in MY18? That is another discussion for another thread.

The point is that I had long been searching for my R. Probably every bit of a year prior to my order for HR871. Over another year went by before HR871 was built. I saw an opportunity to get another R at near MSRP, while trading in a car that I had for almost a year and a half for about what I paid for it. The rationale? The R will retain its value more long term than a 1 in 5000 regular 350. Even though I do not expect the current (recent spike) values to hold up, I think the triple yellow will give me more return (on a longer basis) than a common 350 would have.

So thank you. All of the above is simply an expansion on the process and the hunt. If anyone who wants one right here, right now, expect to pay. People patient and persistent enough can and have had parallel stories such as this.

So, long story short, there is a method to the madness.
:cheers:

 

[Tomster]

Today, I received a photo of HR871 just before she is to go into the mod shop for wing/CF wheel installation.

A shout out to Gotti for all he does for all of us. This guy is a true enthusiast!

I just hope he puts the windows back up before putting her to bed for the evening ;-)

 

[Epiphany]

Looks like the blue car getting the Track Pack spoiler already has the holes drilled on the deck lid but Tom's R does not. Interesting.

 

[Tomster]

Looks like the blue car getting the Track Pack spoiler already has the holes drilled on the deck lid but Tom's R does not. Interesting.

I wish I had some insight into the exact sequence of it all, but I have no idea how long it takes to get wheels and a wing installed. It looks like there is a line and I'm number 3? Who knows.... Maybe they ran out of trunk stripes...

I would say hurry up, but I definitely don't want to rush genius. Besides, with the fast approaching hurricane, delivery at this time would be cumbersome.

All that said, I am grateful.

 

[swedensky]

Mine was at the mod shop only a day

 

[live2ride90]

Mine was at the mod shop only a day

I think mine was only there a short time to, now its kicking with yours "awaiting shipment" zzzzzzzzzzzzz....

 

[live2ride90]

Today, I received a photo of HR871 just before she is to go into the mod shop for wing/CF wheel installation.

A shout out to Gotti for all he does for all of us. This guy is a true enthusiast!

I just hope he puts the windows back up before putting her to bed for the evening ;-)

He is the man! Thankful to these awesome forum members on here to get in contact with him.

 

[Lurker_350]

When the 500 comes out, I will be selling the TY R. I take excellent care of my cars and it will be the kind of car that a buyer wants to buy. I do not do burnouts or other dumb crap like that. I warm the car up (>190F oil temp) before going over 3k rpm. There is 400 miles on her and I am about to change the oil with a full oil analysis. The CF wheels are in storage in the garage.

So the question was how do you get one? One of two ways.....1) Sit back and relax and wait till the 500 comes out and people like me start looking towards differrnt things. 2) If you have to have it new, you have to practically devote all your free time in pursuit of one and then wait forever to get it. Expect to pay market ADM'S.

The only reason I have two is because I feel an R will have better value retention. I traded my track pack in towards the TY R and got a great value for both the R and the trade. I essentially got what I paid for the track pack and got the TY R for 2k over. A complete no brainer. So, my plan is enjoy the car while I wait for the 500 and keep the miles off HR871.

I would be interested in a yellow R in a couple years........keep me in mind! I would feel comfortable buying a car from you or [MENTION=6571]Bossing[/MENTION]

And BTW, what is the transmission going into? Sorry if it has already been covered.

 

[Tomster]

I would be interested in a yellow R in a couple years........keep me in mind! I would feel comfortable buying a car from you or [MENTION=6571]Bossing[/MENTION]

And BTW, what is the transmission going into? Sorry if it has already been covered.

The tranny was bought brand new by Steve16. He had one of those tech cars that had the limp mode problem. Ford sold reduced priced transmissions for people who had tech pack cars. Steve wound up suing ford and dumping his tech pack and had a brand spankin new transmission. I can ship it for almost nothing, so I offered to buy it. The grey car (HR871) is a car that I plan to keep for the rest of my life. If for some reason there was ever a problem with the transmission, warranty work would simply be a rebuild swap out. The numbers matching part of the car will forever be gone. Again, looking toward the future, I will use it should the need arise.

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