IN THIS COLUMN Trying to buy a Ford GT The magic of the GT Third time of trying

Saturday, armed with my cashier's cheque I went to the dealership. My car was in the back next to an open tool box which contained a pair of pliers, a couple of adjustable spanners and a hammer. I got in the car and turned the key. Nothing. Dead battery.

"OK. Got a battery charger?" I asked.

"Yes!" they said. We hooked it up, cranked it. Started. Died. Started. Died. "Did you clean the fuel filters?" I asked. He looked stunned. I opened both of the little glass fuel filters. They were completely clogged. I cleaned them out but that wasn't the only problem. The tyres were at 16 pounds of pressure, lights didn't work, and assorted other things.

"Did you think I wasn't coming back?" I said to the salesman.

"Oh yeah. Yeah. But our bosses told us just sell as is, we don't want to put a lot of work into these cars". I promptly tore up the cheque and walked out.

Many fans believe the new car, foreground, 'cleaned up' the styling of the original

That's where I've left it up to this point. But I've always wanted a GT. If you're a motorsport enthusiast, just like I was, the greatest moment was probably Ford beating Ferrari at Le Mans. That's the magic of the GT. Ford was a huge global corporation and yet they were believed to be the underdog against Ferrari. And yet they won and they won using that classic American ingenuity. Give me a bigger hammer and we'll put a bigger engine in there and by golly we'll make this thing go.

It is the most beautiful shape, too. To this day if you put a Ford GT40 next to any of the current supercars and you take someone who doesn't have a particularly automotive bent, I guarantee you they'll gravitate towards the GT40. There's just something about the shape that just strikes people.