AutoArt 1:18 2005 Ford GT LM Race Car Spec. II #4 Gran Turismo 4 When fantasy meets reality, there are always interesting consequences. Review by Rusty Hurley

Overview

There is this great fantasy I have of Jennifer Aniston in a bikini, taking off my shirt, rubbing my shoulders and as her hands slide slowly down my back I reach around and I…

Wake up. Darn it!

That’s the thing about a fantasy – lovely to imagine but just when you get to the good part or go a little deeper – the rug’s pulled out from under you. It’s not real – not even skin deep. Still, doesn’t stop us from fantasizing, does it? Everyone can use a good daydream…

That’s the theory behind this Ford GT LM Race Car Spec II #4 model. The real competition car doesn’t exist. It is a realistically animated fantasy car that rolls slowly out of the paddock and on track accompanied by majestic chords in the opening sequence in the PlayStation 2 driver simulation game Gran Turismo 4. Anyone who has seen it will tell you the first time you view it, it’s a real lump in the throat moment. In the game you can actually drive it and it screams. The first time I saw it I prayed Ford would actually build the thing or something close and take it GT racing. It hasn’t happened, nor will it.

So what we’re left with is the fantasy and AUTO art has done a great job turning that fantasy into reality – even if, like all fantasies, it falls a bit short.

Let’s indulge our fantasy first - the snow white paint with black GT striping and black dominated tampo graphics is a visceral livery. It grabs the eyes and excites the senses. Built using the AUTO art’s excellent Ford GT platform, the stance, shut lines and scale are dead on. There are glistening chrome lock wheels and Goodyear Eagles lettered in boldface type-both upgrades to the original mold.

On the exterior, additional touches make the fantasy more vivid, such as front and rear tow rings, oil and fuel fillers, locking pins for the front and rear bonnets and big spoiler mounted on the rear deck. There are even two “metal” handles on either side of the front and rear bonnets for the pit crew to grab in the event a quick change is needed. Roof mounted aerials complete a convincing external visual package – much more so than the AUTO art Gran Turismo versioned Skyline a few years ago.

On the interior…well, that’s where Jennifer…I mean AUTO art…becomes a mirage. Open those cool, inset doors and…see the subwoofer on the console. Yes, the interior is the same as on a passenger car, same radio, same pushbutton controls. same seat belts, same interior door trim same yadda yadda yadda. Repeat yadda yadda sequence for the engine and front cooling systems.

Now, this isn’t exactly an injustice - since the real race car doesn’t exist who’s to say what a racing interior or an engine might look like? But it seems to me it would have been addition by subtraction to make an effort: take out the passenger seat and thrown in a fire extinguisher or mount a SPARCO racing harness or a SPARCO pilot seat seeing as the SPARCO decal is on the car in no less than four places.

But hey, it’s a fantasy. Experience Jennifer Aniston until her hand slides down to your open your zipper and you…WAKE UP. Or choose not to experience her at all. The choice is up to you, however, if this fantasy sounds good to you consider acting with urgency. The first edition of this model sold out in a heartbeat and was soon going for $150 a pop or more on ebay - more than a PlayStation 2 will run you these days. Fantasy has a price y'know...

Legacy Motors has AUTOart's 2005 Ford GT LM Race Car Spec. II in stock.