Concierge Service

ARE YOU FAMILIAR with the concept of boutique manufacturing? This is where manufacturers in the automobile business seek out businesses that make certain products better than they do, for example, in the old days like the 1960s if you wanted disc brakes on the front wheels of your American muscle car, four wheel discs were still a decade or so away except maybe for Corvette, you ordered them from your dealer and they were usually made by whoever made your car.

In 1966 my dad ordered these new front discs on our Ford Galaxy, they failed twice. Never order anything new the first year of production my dad said until the day he died. Same thing with auto sound systems, aftermarket companies made a fortune replacing the factory stereos with brand names like Kenwood, Bose or Bang & Olufsen until manufacturers realized they could do this themselves and literally put all the aftermarket people out of business, which they quickly did.

Now when you buy a Corvette or Mustang GTD, manufacturers brag that they come standard with Brembo brakes, Tremec transmissions or Fox shock absorbers because manufacturers realize somebody else can make that product better than they do so why waste time on research and development when somebody else has already done it?

A concept that Ford has really developed well is this Concierge service. How many times have you heard about a new car being advertised for a certain price, then you go to the dealer and find out it’s been marked up in many cases to almost double depending on demand. When Ford came out with their second-generation Ford GT you had to apply for the privilege of buying one. You made a video explaining why you wanted one and how loyal a customer you have been, as well as agreeing not to sell it for two years.

I realize on the face of it that may sound a bit elitist, but it was done to chase away the speculators and only allow real enthusiasts to buy the car. Plus you weren’t forced to buy any silly dealer options you didn’t want. This is how I purchased my Mustang GTD.

Multimatic is a small race centric company across the river from Detroit in Canada, but it’s basically the racing arm of Ford performance. Much like the way Carroll Shelby modified production Mustangs and turned them into Shelby GT 350s, or Holman and Moody did with NASCAR Fords, Multimatic takes a production Mustang and cuts the car in pieces to do its modifications.

The really cool part is you can follow its journey. The team is small enough that you can communicate with them all along the way. I went up to Canada to watch mine being built. Corvette has a similar program in Bowling Green where customers can actually take part in the building of their car. This helps build brand loyalty and makes you, the customer, feel like you’re part of the process. I was honored when the team who built my car all signed the chassis.

Over 30 years ago when the Vipers were being built at the old Packard factory on Connors Avenue, I stopped by to watch the build. When my car showed up a few weeks later everybody had signed the chassis.

To this day, I get family members that stop by to see my cars, and they show their kids where grandpa signed Jay Leno’s car over 30 years ago. Sometimes it gets pretty emotional.

The big car companies realize these kind of halo vehicles bring a new kind of customer who really believe in the product and helps spread the word. Think about it, have you seen any ads for the Mustang GTD or was it mostly videos or automotive influencers talking about it on podcasts or YouTube?

I can’t help but think the GTD was brought out to kind of reinforce the muscular image of the Mustang after the introduction of the Mach E. I spoke to many Mustang fans that were furious that there was an electric Mustang — and with four doors no less!

Kind of like all those Corvette aficionados that went nuts when Chevrolet dropped the round taillights!! It’s not a real Corvette unless the taillights are round they screamed!

Ultimately, both decisions proved correct: the new Corvette brought in the younger demo and GTD reinforced Mustang’s performance image. As Mark Twain once said, “I like progress; it’s change I don’t like.”

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