The Return of Grab R

[50 Deep]

In the car world I have found that the only thing more interesting than the cars we drive, are the people behind the wheel. Today, I wanted to introduce you to my buddy Mitch Fotes and his 2017 Grabber Blue GT350R, otherwise known as GRAB R.

Mitch is a tried and true octane addict living in the Pacific North West (PNW). He has been racing 2 wheel motorcycles since 1987, and holds an expert license with the Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association. He is also currently a control rider and instructor for the Track Time Motorcycle Track Days. What Mitch will tell you is that just because you can drag a knee on a motorcycle, doesn’t mean you can power slide a car through an apex. The driving dynamics are totally different, and he has been enjoying learning the R.

GRAB R was purchased in December 2017 with 3500 miles, and now has about 7000 smiles on the ticker. It is 1 of 2 Grabber Blue GT350R’s with the stripe delete, black roof, and electronics package delete produced in 2017. The previous owner of the car was able to order it trough a VIP allocation, so Mitch was able to get a lot of cool history with the car through its build process.

You can find Mitch running GRAB R at the Ridge or other courses in the PNW. But keep an eye on the driver as his wife races the R and motorcycles as well. Make sure to stop and say hello next time you see them passing you before the apex. Here are his modifications to date, and some photos to enjoy.
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2017 GT350R​

Grabber Blue stripe delete
Electronics delete
7000 miles

Suspension
Maximum Motorsports camber plates
ARP Rear wheel studs
Caliperfexion caliper studs

Wheels & Tires
Signature Wheel Track Series SV502 w/anti-slip bead knurling
Gloss Black 19x11 et50 square – 305/30/19 Michelin Sport Cup 2

Safety
Competition Motorsports Roll Cage (Grabber Blue)
Profi II ASM FE harness

*Rolling photography credit to Robert Gluckman Photography
*Static phtogpraphy credit to watermarked entities

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[Demonic]

Awesome. Are there any pics with the CMS roll bar installed? I thought I was one of the first to order and assumed I wouldn’t be able to see any installed pics other than the company ones on the site, but if it’s already been installed that’d be great to see or know if there are any tips.

 

[Epiphany]

Great shots, beautiful car. Those wheels are a perfect match too. Thanks T!

 

[FP350S]

Excellent color on that R that also looks great stripeless. As well it is a color I would love to own!

 

[Atlas1]

pretty sure i've seen this car outside benchmark auto in lynnwood wa. its gorgeous. grabber looks so good on the shelby

 

[PP0001]

Excellent color on that R that also looks great stripeless. As well it is a color I would love to own!

Grabber Blue is a very cool color for sure especially for some of us old guys that grew up in the 60's Muscle Car era.

The original owner is a good friend of mine and I just had a long conversation with him just the other night and I know that he misses this car a lot. He also owned a very early production 2012 CO Boss 302 and also misses that car a great deal as well but has a couple of Porsches that he spends a lot of time with.

We both ordered our 2017 Base 920A cars pretty much at the same time and remember discussing with him the likes and don't likes of stripes on certain cars. I personally like stripes but really like the looks of this car without stripes and it is just 1 of 44 Base R's cars ordered for the 2017MY.

If I recall Justin had a PPF wrap installed over the complete car which should certainly help it during its track time.

 

[50 Deep]

Awesome. Are there any pics with the CMS roll bar installed? I thought I was one of the first to order and assumed I wouldn’t be able to see any installed pics other than the company ones on the site, but if it’s already been installed that’d be great to see or know if there are any tips.

Didn't grab any yet, but I think it will be in soon.

 

[PP0001]

Didn't grab any yet, but I think it will be in soon.

Congrats to the relatively new owner of a beautiful GT350R!

Also, the photographer did an outstanding job of capturing the outstanding lines and color of this R model.

 

[Trackaholic]

Beautiful!

-T

 

[HR213]

Awesome. Are there any pics with the CMS roll bar installed? I thought I was one of the first to order and assumed I wouldn’t be able to see any installed pics other than the company ones on the site, but if it’s already been installed that’d be great to see or know if there are any tips.

I'm hoping to install the CMS roll bar this weekend once I get the car cleaned up from the T-Hill track day. I'll be taking a good amount of pictures and video to hopefully expand what they currently have.

 

[HR213]

Grabber Blue is a very cool color for sure especially for some of us old guys that grew up in the 60's Muscle Car era.

The original owner is a good friend of mine and I just had a long conversation with him just the other night and I know that he misses this car a lot. He also owned a very early production 2012 CO Boss 302 and also misses that car a great deal as well but has a couple of Porsches that he spends a lot of time with.

We both ordered our 2017 Base 920A cars pretty much at the same time and remember discussing with him the likes and don't likes of stripes on certain cars. I personally like stripes but really like the looks of this car without stripes and it is just 1 of 44 Base R's cars ordered for the 2017MY.

If I recall Justin had a PPF wrap installed over the complete car which should certainly help it during its track time.

Thank you for the info. Justin is a great guy and we are ecstatic to be able to continue the journey with GRAB R.

 

[HR213]

Congrats to the relatively new owner of a beautiful GT350R!

Also, the photographer did an outstanding job of capturing the outstanding lines and color of this R model.

Thank you!

 

[PP0001]

Thank you for the info. Justin is a great guy and we are ecstatic to be able to continue the journey with GRAB R.

Yes, Justin is a great guy as you mentioned and a true automotive enthusiast and enjoys driving his Focus RS to and from work everyday and as mentioned is an avid Porsche enthusiast as well.

Justin and Grab R (which Justin named this car even before the car had arrived) had a great deal of fun together while under his ownership and it's great to see that this same R model is in some very capable and enthusiastic hands and wish you good luck during your journey with this cool car.

Him and I are planning to get together around Christmas for lunch or dinner in Seattle so if you are in the area around then it would be terrific for all of us to get together!

 

[CSL]

^^Yes, let’s do! Justin and I have been trying to coordinate schedules for months to get together for lunch. Justin and I became fast friends when Grab R was a mere twinkle in his eye. Would be great to get Mitch and Justin together.

On edit....sorry, I just realized I invited myself. I’ll wait for an invite ;)

 

[PP0001]

^^Yes, let’s do! Justin and I have been trying to coordinate schedules for months to get together for lunch. Justin and I became fast friends when Grab R was a mere twinkle in his eye. Would be great to get Mitch and Justin together.

On edit....sorry, I just realized I invited myself. I’ll wait for an invite ;)

Awesome and hopefully we can all make this happen.

I will be reaching out to Justin over the next month or so and hopefully you can do the same thing after which time we can coordinate a mutual time that will work for all of us and look forward to meeting you all at that time!

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