For today we take a quick intermission from Driven coverage, but only because I wanted to get these live for our fellow Ford nuts. Check back soon for Driven Part 3!

In case you hadn’t heard, FCA Alberta’s Cars and Coffee events are back and they’ve already made it a pretty memorable season despite it only being June. I’ve popped by a handful of times so far this season but had refrained from taking a ton of photos; however last week’s was an event I made sure to prepare the camera for.

One thing that I really enjoy about these events is the ever-changing “feature row”. Each week a different assortment of vehicles will be selected to be the stars, for lack of a better word, of that specific event. Of course the selection of vehicles on hand is basically always amazing – it’s a lot full of super and hypercars, why wouldn’t it be – but the organizers work to bring out some extra-special metal (carbon fiber?) each Tuesday as well.

Last week, much to the excitement of all of us Blue Oval owners, the chosen feature vehicles were an assortment of GTs – including a brand new 2018 model! I of course pulled the Focus out for the run over to the business park, and Brandon was free so he made his way over as well to check things out. He got there first and saw me drive in; shortly afterwards we found each other and grabbed a spot by the sidewalk to wait for the GT convoy to show up.

As one extra side note, it’s a really good thing my family is a car family, or at least understanding of the obsession. The same night as this was a little gathering at my cousin’s house to celebrate her birthday, her husband’s birthday (incidentally her husband is Mike Boulanger’s cousin; small world), and their anniversary since they all are very close together on the calendar. I stopped by later of course but had to say that I was not going to skip making this little detour first! Haha

Anyway, Brandon and I took the chance to quickly catch up while waiting as he’d just returned from a vacation. Each loud exhaust would grab our attention and turn our heads, but if it wasn’t a GT of some form we’d settle back down and keep waiting…but then the F50 (you’ll see it in the shot below) rounded the corner and that signaled that the convoy was here; which was only reaffirmed by the sight of this GT40 following it.

…then came a couple of 05/06 GTs…

…and finally the one we were all waiting to see – the new 2018! One thing is for certain; there was no missing it given the paint colour!

Now, of course we’d seen a new GT at the Auto Show back in 2017 but that was a locked, roped-off, and parked prototype. Surely to see an actual, production-spec, customer-delivered, ‘real’ GT in motion and out in the real world would be something else, and indeed it was.

Sure enough, once it entered the venue every other car there might as well have been a Lada for the amount of attention that was being paid to them. At that moment nothing else mattered.

The crowd immediately focused around the GT but I was happy to see this; I always enjoy the opportunity to grab shots like this (like I did back when the P1 or LaFerrari first arrived) as I feel they tell much more of a story than just an uncluttered shot of the car itself. Mind you, I wasn’t going to skip grabbing some of those too.

Fortunately it wasn’t too long before the onlookers dispersed a bit and I could get a better look for myself. The colour, if I’m not mistaken, was Gotta Have It Green from Ford’s own palette, a shade that we’d never seen before on (and surely many of us had never even considered for) the new GT. When the first photos were shown prior to the event – to announce that it would be displayed – it was surprising to see the GT finished in this hue but if you’re already buying such an out-there vehicle, why not pick one of the brightest colours from the company’s range?

Talking with a few others, I think we were most surprised by/intrigued by/fixated on (pick what best suits your reaction) the fact that the car was finished sans stripes, or sans any sort of livery/detailing. Granted the choice of green would perhaps limit the options for complimentary colours a bit, but it was a unique look for the car. Worth noting as well is that it was specced with glossy carbon throughout the exterior, and even had the optional carbon fiber wheels!

Inside meanwhile it was a satin finish over all of the weave. Given that we couldn’t exactly get up close to the prototype at the Auto Show, this provided a welcome opportunity to take a proper look at the interior. Thankfully the windows had been left down to allow us to peek inside.

There are some relatively bold options when it comes to interior configurations for these cars, but the owner instead chose a much more subtle combination for this example likely because the exterior was already so shouty. The small hints of red from the buckles and start button were more or less the only breaks from an otherwise monotone interior. With no shortage of satin CF (one of my favourite things in the automotive world) I was happily admiring it all, though it’s worth noting I couldn’t help but notice the misaligned weave at the seam in the central tunnel – take a look by the hat.

Even though this was the first chance to look at the interior in detail though, I spent most of my time taking in the exterior; I could happily spend an entire day just exploring different angles from which to photograph this thing. Even now, a few years after its unveiling, it still might as well be a UFO; it’s just so far removed from what could be considered the norm when it comes to styling and aerodynamics, even considering what we’ve seen since with the likes of the Senna or Project One.

Anyway, I wasn’t going to spend all of my time pouring over the new GT; we of course couldn’t forget the others that had been brought out to be showcased alongside it, and I had to be somewhat efficient with my time there in order to get back on the road.

The GT40 was an unreal sight itself, so I made sure to get a couple of photos in between all of the other onlookers. We all know of course that it’s 40″ tall (hence GT40) but until you’re standing next to one, you don’t realize how low it actually is. It’s almost ridiculous.

Father and son; or I guess more accurately now, grandfather and father?

After taking some laps around the GTs, and once again finding Brandon in the crowd, I made a quick pass around the rest of the lot for a few final photos before making my way out. The plate on this 944 was definitely worth a shot; well played.

Huracan Performante, with the lift system up (oops, haha). I can’t recall which week it was – perhaps just a couple before this – but one of the Cars and Coffee feature rows had a whopping 6 Performantes lined up together. Six. I legitimately wouldn’t have guessed there were that many in the province (or country even?) yet, so to see a half dozen of the new raging mini-bull in one place was impressive. The regular Huracan never really struck my fancy too much, but the Performante is a different story.

There was also a 720S on hand, with a healthy splattering of bugs across its nose. It’s interesting to see how the styling now looks so ‘normal’ despite being so controversial at launch. Heck, I’m even getting used to (and starting to really like) the Senna’s appearance. Where things go from here, who knows?

And last but not least, this is a pretty good vehicle with which to end today’s post. You’re probably thinking kit car/replica, right?

Well, no.

-Bill